Miguel Machado arrived at the GKC High Performance Academy in November 2017 with the motivation to deepen the understanding of his game and explore his potential as a cricketer. Fast forward to July 2018 and the Frinton-on-sea Cricketer not only has made his debut for the club 1st XI but now sits 4th on the leading run scorers list in the East Anglian Premier League after 16 games having scored 724 runs at an average of 80.
“My first experience at the HPA will always be remembered. Getting to live with 10 individuals and play in a team with them was so interesting and helped widen my view of the game along with the coaches input.” Miguel credits his discipline in the basics as a reason for his success this season. “I got off to a flyer at the beginning of the season, I got 39 not out to finish the game in the first match and the following day made 94 not out in a National Cup game and this helped my confidence grow.” He hasn’t looked back, he has scored five fifties and a hundred in all formats. His highlight however has been being able to get 6 not outs in just 14 knocks. “Being able to see the boys over the line was something which I wanted to pride myself on and I have been able to do so on a few occasions, these performances have been so special to me.”
His aspirations for the rest of the season is to try to keep making contributions to the team and hopefully break into the Essex 2nd XI squad. Miguel will be joining the GKC High Performance Academy again in 2019 and Head Coach Ryan Cook is looking forward to the working with Miguel again, “Miguel came as a rough diamond to the HPA in 2018, being exposed to the professional environment enabled some polishing of his technique and skills. His attitude and willingness to improve over those 4 months is showing in his performances this season. We welcome him and a few other previous HPA players back this year, this is exciting for us as we can continue to walk the journey with them.”
For more information on the GKC High performance academy 2019 and to enroll in the program go to www.garykirsten.com/high-performance-academy/
