Ben returned to the UK in March to resume his time with the MCC YC’s having ironed out some chinks in his technique and in his game plans. “I came away feeling like I had a great understanding of how I wanted to play which put me in a good place for the season ahead”. Ben started off the season scoring runs in both red and white ball cricket, this included a 161 vs Worcestershire 2^nd XI in the championship, 80 against Leicester in a 50 over game and 94 against Yorkshire in a T20 in the first month and he has not looked back.

Midway in the season, he was given an opportunity to join Northantamptonshire CCC 2^nd XI and through trusting his processes started to return some great performances. He was rewarded by being selected for the 1^st XI to play against Derbyshire in the NatWest Blast and has recently been selected to play in the County Championship opening the batting alongside Ricky Vasconcelos who is a long term attendee at the GKC. With 3 games left to go in the season Ben has been awarded a contract with the county for next season and hopes to end off the year with a bang.

Ryan Cook, the High performance Director at GKC said, “We are so proud of Ben’s accomplishments this season. He arrived very determined and motivated to take his game to the next level and I am glad to see him starting to fulfill his potential. To be a part of any players journey is special and this is marks the beginning of another road.” Ben reflected these sentiments, “I hope to return to the GKC next year to continue the strides we made at the start of the year, I felt the balance between training and down time was perfect as it allowed me to focus hard on my cricket and keep me refreshed going back into the new season”.

We will keep tracking his progress and providing updates on his performances. For more information on the GKC High performance Academy go to www.garykirsten.com/highperformanceacademy

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Six more players have joined the Ryan Cook led programme which offers exclusive interactions with Kirsten and other top coaches as well as one-on-ones with world renowned professionals from a variety of different backgrounds.

“The players come from around the world so some opted to go home for the festive season while others decided to stay and enjoy the fruits of Cape Town,” Cook said.

The new boys in the camp have hit the ground running and will join the rest of the group as the programme now shifts towards a focus on the shorter formats of the game.

“The new players have been for their tests at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa. We have also done some video analysis of their batting, bowling and fielding,” Cook explained.

In the coming weeks they will play T20 games against Stellenbosch University and a host of Premier League Clubs.

“It is a chance for them to test themselves in the middle,” Cook said.

“We spent a lot of time focusing on test cricket during the first half of the programme. Now we will prepare the guys to adjust their game and make the most of their ability,” he added.

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