Hi everyone, this is Dave Wright and welcome to the Play Development Project podcast. I hope you're having a great week with your players where you're tuning in. As always, a quick content recap from some of the most recent work we published on Play Development Project.com. It's been a huge month in terms of practical content at PDP and over the last three weeks we've released three live sessions which I was lucky enough to deliver with A-Link Club Melbourne victory late last year.
The theme of the session was defending and it's delivered with the clubs under 20 groups. The live session video is taking through the reason for the session, adaptations, progressions and key points to look out for. All three practices are live on the site now. Special thanks to Druszerman and Granbriven at Melbourne Victory for their help in providing the activities the facilities and players were filmed and look out for more great practical content coming to the website soon.
We also recently featured a long-form Masterclass discussion with Mark Upton and our lead researcher at PDP, Jimmy Vaughn on creativity and control. It was fantastic to host Mark and Jimmy, they're both brilliant thinkers and innovators in the coaching space and this conversation will hopefully challenge you on the environments we create, organisational culture and much more. Now today's podcast features part of our latest Masterclass discussion and this is with the head coach of Auckland Aces Cricket team in New Zealand, Henrik Milan. Auckland Aces are currently the domestic one day cricket champions and have a highly talented squad of international and domestic cricketers.
This conversation we talk to Henrik about has experienced the nature of developing individuals within a team, the evolution of cricket technique and skill acquisition as well as the process of supporting players to deliver their best performance. Thanks to Henrik for his time and for the full version of this conversation, head over to the website now. As always if you're yet to sign up for PDP you can choose some arrangement membership options at playtobotreproject.com to suit you as an individual coach or to support your club. When you join you'll not only get access to our enormous library of coaching content but you'll also gain access and be able to join our Slack community where activity, conversation and engagement is increasing every week.
Lastly, if you get time today leave us a review via your podcast app and I really hope you're enjoyed today's discussion. Hi everyone my name is Dave Wright and welcome to another Play Development Project Masterclass discussion. Today I'm joined by the head coach of the Auckland Aces cricket team in New Zealand, Henrik Milan. Henrik how are you?
I'm good Dave how are you going? Yeah very good very good looking forward to this conversation and really pleased to have you with us it's great to be getting some understanding from the world of cricket where developing the individual within a team is such an important focus and a topic we cover a lot. Henrik before we dive into your current role and some of your experience can you tell us a little bit about your playing career and that transition into coaching? Yeah, and I was thanks for having me first and foremost.
Yeah, look from a playing point of view, enjoyed the brief career even though I had a spread over a couple of years. Unfortunately that was one of those guys was always on the brink when international players were coming back or not coming back. So I had to find different methods and ways to try and get into the side and try and play different roles and be a different sort of player. But that also exposed me to the coaching world which I'm very grateful at this point in the time and a lot of coaching pretty young and started coaching at the age of 27 and stopped playing.
So yeah, I had an easy transition as I was still playing with a lot of my mates but that also a lot of challenges. Well, as you said, it is a pretty young start when it comes to coaching cricket and then obviously working your way through to domestic cricket in New Zealand as well. Starting at that young age and transitioning out of the game is a player quite young perhaps before others were normally. What were some of the challenges you faced early on when you were heading into coaching?
Yeah, the main thing honestly was just wondering whether you actually got enough to do this. And also for the first couple of years when we had a lot of teams in the first couple years, it was exactly that trying to show people that you know what you're doing versus actually doing your job. So that was probably one of the key learnings that I took over the first couple of my journey over with SEGS. From a playing perspective, you know, you've obviously got a limited experience at a high level.
You know, and all of a sudden you're coaching Jamie Haar who's playing at World Cups and opening the bank for New Zealand. So you, but then you also think, you know, it's not about me, it's about them, but it's about finding a way to connect with them and figure out how can we make you a better player. And you know, they're probably the overriding philosophy around my coaching is, you know, I get judged on results unfortunately, you know, whether we can win or lose. But I don't wake up in the morning worrying about winning or losing.
I wake up in the morning with a fire burning about trying to get my players to be better, understanding the way we want to play and be able to, you know, give them the skills to change their method and play what's in front of them. Yeah, it's really interesting. I mean, just on that transition from coaching and working with younger players, so then working with guys who played on the international scene, how much of your own ego I guess had to be pushed to the side a little bit when it came to, okay, these players may have skills that they actually don't need me to develop. But there may be a few tools that you can add to the toolbox in order to help them perform when they need to perform.
I mean, how difficult was that sort of transition and just getting an understanding of how to manage those bigger profile players and getting over it a little bit and trusting yourself to actually have an impact? Yeah, the key for me was, you know, really focusing on building that relationship. And once you build a relationship and they become comfortable with who you are as a person, then you can start having those tough conversations around, you know, I think we can maybe add a little bit here or take a little bit away here in terms of how you play or how they're doing the role we need to do to play for this team. So, I was also blessed in the group that I was working with.
I had one of the players, your career in the zone of Bonnets and your Jamie Howes, who've been playing the best group of all long time in New Zealand. And I was fortunate that we became good friends over a period of time and they really brought into the way that I was trying to do things. And then I had a really young squad, the rest of them, all sort of 21, 21 year olds. So, you know, trying to influence those young guys with the backing of the older guys in your environment is obviously a lot easier.
Yeah, like I said, I was pretty blessed to start my overseas coaching career in that profession. Yeah, absolutely. I've certainly heard a few people even to be talking about connecting before correcting and that relationship being so fundamental, I think it's a really key part of the messenger you're talking about there. Now, just going back to your playing, you know, we all have memories of our own sporting experience, whether that's playing or coaching.
And if you look back on your time as a player, whether that's a schoolboy player or whether that's sort of at first-class level, do you have memories of particular coaches who had a really strong impact? And if so, what were some of the reasons that you look back fondly on coaches who had that positive influence? Yeah, as you move through grades, you'll have a lot of people that come across your path. And then definitely I'm trying to take as many attributes, you know, good or bad, I'm trying to implement that into the way I go about my business.
I think one of the key things that, you know, from a loss of people, for me is that it's trying to create that environment where we create that pot and there's a lot of information that gets shared, but trying to make that applicable to what your game looks like. And I think that's one of the key areas that players are going to learn, you know, that they also are going to move between environments. So, whether it's playing for me, playing at first-class level or moving to the end of the day or playing for the Black Apps, you know, and different people are going to give you different information, you can try and bring them back to what they feel is important and how they can make that applicable to the ways they need to play to and enhance the team game plan. And you touch on the New Zealand Day, which is obviously, I guess, a feeder team into the Black Apps, the international squad, who are doing so well on the world stage at this stage in time.
I mean, what's your experience working with the New Zealand Day set up and, again, managing that transition of players heading towards the real performance into the game? Yeah, I've been lucky enough enough to spend some time in the New Zealand A program for the last two years in various roles, assistant coaching roles, which challenges me as a head coach to go into an environment and learn a different skill set. But I've also been a coach at that environment and, yeah, I've also spent some time at the Black Apps as a betting coach. So I've been through the whole ranks in just learning massively in every environment, but you know, changing the player from environment to environment and level to level, from the basic to international exposure.
Again, making sure to be really clear in terms of what the individual is like and what he wants to be like. So to me, it comes back to what and how, what he needs to do and how does that impact his everyday moves. So trying to be really clear in terms of your role in the side and not worrying too much about anything else. I mean, there's a lot of external pressure that you move up the train, whether it's a team, a team that's coming on the rise and now, or will come, then maybe second year and T20 and these things keep running.
So there's always going to be those pressure. So trying to make things simpler, but more specific to the player. Yeah, really interesting. Now, let's talk about cricket.
Obviously, it's a team game. And it's one of those where I spoke to previous and other cricket coaches and there is a challenge in the sense that cricket players are almost known, sometimes being a little bit insular and focused on themselves because it really is about executing individual skills within a team environment. So how do you go about managing and assisting in the development of individual roles within a team sport like cricket, which is quite unique? Yeah.
Honestly, that's where I feel like this coach has got the biggest impact in cricket environment. We set together with the players and try and create that vision or the game plan. So you have a lot of time people talk about the team first scenario. But the players have got their own method and they're going to play a certain way.
I feel our job is coaches to make sure that we give them enough information and skill to be able to change the method according to the vision. So what's the game telling us? What do we need? If you've got to play the situation, it's 24-2 and you're coming into bed at number three or four, you're going to have a total different set up to when you're coming in at 100-4-1, in terms of the score of the game.
So you're going to play differently. So do the player have the ability to change his method and our job's off coaches to make sure that we can upskill them to be able to choose the method depending on what's in front of them. You'll hear coaches, players talk about, we've got to be more adaptable. We've got to learn quicker.
I'll look at all those things and then I'll look at how people prepare and try and potentially do it the same way. It doesn't matter what the conditions or who the opposition is. So then I really change that conversation around how are we learning or being adaptable. So the preparation for this is really key for me in creating that opportunity for players to drive their two so that they become connected to what they want to try and be on a specific service.
Or against a specific opposition. Sure, sure. The point around adaptability is a debate, I guess, that happens a lot. I know in the football coaching scene where people are talking about isolated technique or different forms of skill development or adaptable players and developing decision makers.
Do you use scenarios a lot when it comes to putting players on the pressure at training and trying to simulate certain moments in the game? Yeah. I mean, trying to learn off other codes. You know, you obviously look at what the soccer guards are doing or the block training from a golf point of view.
You know, and some constraints to it. I mean, definitely we try and create all those stories. One of the toughest things in cricket obviously to do is that accountability of training in the net, knowing that if you keep betting. So yeah, sometimes we do add the constraint in the RTR and we can have a short day in terms of preparation day.
But trying to find a way to put that pressure on them. But a lot of the time, you know, we are here at back level before they're two to be able to say, you know, yeah, we've got to be specific, but we also got to develop the players to be able to play different roles. So training to me is all about that. So if you've got someone like a lucky Ferguson, you know, his boys to obviously make his day this week, which hopefully happens.
But with a new board, he's unbelievable. And in the day period in the T20 game, you know, he can hit the orcas. But as he got the skill in the middle overs, just all take wickets and be effective and buy a different way. And he can play softball coming around the wickets.
You know, just having a different side that he can be selected or be available for selection or three blocks. And again, you know, if I look at my main focus as a coach, just trying to develop players with more skill to be able to play anyway. But you know, do we challenge them in that? So why do we just worry about the argument, you know, trying to get wickets so we can win the game?
I mean, let's talk about adaptable challenges and coaching, you know, they're dead, my challenge. Yeah, certainly very interesting. It sounds like the right approach. And you touched on the idea that you'd had to experience in the Black Cats and Byron's a batting coach and specialist coaches are saying which have been prevalent in cricket for a long time with that following, fielding, keeping or betting and so on.
A lot more sports are starting to do this. We recently interviewed Aaron Danks up at the FA who was a specialist coach up there. It's been there for a couple of years after 10 years at West Brom and this is saying it's becoming more prevalent in the football environment. And obviously you see sports like rugby as well with specialist scrum coaches and so on.
What's your view on the pros and cons of having a diverse and specialist coaching team? What are some of the real advantages or disadvantages of that? Yeah, the cricket landscape is moving in an interesting direction. You know, you have all these explainers who are obviously becoming icons or mentors in the coaching world.
And I honestly believe that's a good and a bad thing. You know, a good thing. So pro would be the fact that, you know, those guys have got a lot of experience to share and communicate back to a playing group. I don't think X-Plays always the best coaches in terms of giving people the skill to be able to do that.
So I still think there's a massive opportunity for us as the workers on the ground to work together with those guys. So, you know, if I go back to the three key things for me, the vision, the method and the skill, you know, those guys will lay out the vision. The player will adapt his method and us as coaches will really focus on the skill development part of things. I think there's a real collaboration that can take place there between us as current coaches and the X-Plays to really drive that environment forward.
But yeah, it's going to be interesting in time to come, you know, with more and more T-Special T-20 competitions around the world, more and more Special T-20 players. You'll see that, you know, it'll become like a golf coach. You know, you'll get flown around between competitions coaches and players. Those players will still be part of a team within the T-20 competition, but he'll have his Special coach working on, you know, his technique in the way he goes about his business, which in time I think it'll be at the back of the market.
It'll probably be a good part of chapping the world by working with the Capital specific players as tennis and golf coaches, obviously, currently do. Yeah, it's a very interesting prediction of a white and sea eye. I certainly could see it happening because cricket, the way it's changed so rapidly over the last 20 years in terms of multiple formats. Obviously, we had the advent of cricket max on the Martin Crow years ago in New Zealand, which has probably led to T-20 as it is now.
So, very interesting. Now, here you mentioned, you started your coaching career in New Zealand at Central District since some of the players you've worked with there. Obviously, over a period of time, you had a great deal of success there, and you also mentioned you worked with the youngest one. So, what were some of the key drivers behind that success?
Yeah, an interesting question. I think one of the key things when I started making sure that they were probably a foundation of fundamentals and what they looked like. And also creating an understanding of work ethic doesn't always relate to your success. You know, we try differently, we try to probably more than some of the other environments, but it doesn't guarantee success just to go out there and go do your jobs.
So, that was a great part of the second part that I was building a real depth in our squad. I remember my second year, we had quite a few injuries and we used probably 27 players over the season, which was quite a large amount. We only got 15 contract players. So, we can probably lead to a massive part of our success at the back end of year five and year six, where we had played a lot of finals in one of the couple trophies.
But, you know, we all said, I think about eight players over that period of life when you're in New Zealand, which is nice to win trophies. And, you know, before we get judged on by the day, that's a key part of my philosophy, is trying to get players to play at the highest level and, you know, expose them to different challenges. So, when they get there, they don't just play, but they actually perform and then do a job versus, you know, trying to figure out what that looks like. Fantastic.
So, you've also obviously transitioned recently to head coach LeONk and Dassus. You've got talent in the squad in the likes of Colin Monroe, Martin Gup to Locky Fergus, and then you've touched on some big names you get to come back and be a part of that environment. So, what's some of the key challenges in that role going forward? Because Auckland Crickets have been a big association, traditionally been very strong.
And how does that role look for you now? Yeah, no pressure, obviously. And, it's been a great challenge, like you mentioned, it's a diverse squad. We've got six, seven, eight yards, we've played international cricket regularly over the last two or three years.
And we've got quite a few yards in that sort of middle block. We just started to show that they've got to get that first level. And then, as always, you can have, you know, in a big MA, which Auckland's biggest MA and you can have some exciting young talent. So, you know, I've always said, I think the wheels turning pretty nicely for Auckland Crickets.
They were in a new format last year, the year before that they won the one-day competition. So, they've always been pretty successful. So, the wheels turning pretty nicely. But how do we as an organisation and as a staff, how do we grow this wheel a little bit bigger?
And how do we make it to impost it? You know, that's the key question and the challenge for us is as staff. I mean, that's something we try and catch up regularly on, you know, in terms of making sure we're all on the same page and pushing the squad in the same direction. Yeah, really good.
Well, I hope it goes well. Now, you've touched on some of those young players going through. I mean, how do you go about integrating athletes from that sort of developmental space, perhaps age-grouped squad into that performance context playing in men's cricket? Yeah, it's one of the key challenges, isn't it?
For me, it comes back to a real understanding of being valued and feeling engaged in your environment. You know, to try and create that athlete-sub-centred environment where they know what they're looking for because of the conversations and the information that gets shared with them. So, you know, if we've got a young guy coming through that environment, he'll get exposed to, you know, like I mentioned earlier, we had some scouting meetings this morning with some club net by the joining our practice. Head-those-guests in a meeting with Colin Monroe and Martin Gartil, you know, and those guys talking about how they look at the opposition, what they look for, what they convey back to the rest of the group.
And I said, as a 17-18 year-old, you know, that's magic to be sitting in and learning from those guys. And it's also about being aware, you know, being clear on what your succession plan looks like. I think that's been one of the biggest challenges for me coming after six years, and I mean, exactly what my succession plan looks like to, you know, you know, environment, not knowing any of these players, I mean, being able to put face to a name. So, unfortunately, those sort of things take a bit of time.
But, you know, having a good support staff is also really important. You know, guys that have been around the traps, especially in the open environment. So, you know, you've got to lean on those guys to give you some information and, you know, the creative time, you know, those decisions will become a little bit clearer. The words that sort of pop into my mind, as you speak about these things, seems to be there's a lot of openness given the meeting and the chat between the youngsters and the experienced pros and then obviously the trust within your staff, which is so critical, isn't it, in terms of building that environment and making sure that everybody feels valued?
Yeah, you know, I think there's a major learning for me in my first few years with you know, I was a 30 year old dude who played a little bit of cricket, you know, not an international name, won the deck while to get a job in New Zealand. You know, that's pretty much how I got it. So, you sort of put so much pressure on yourself to try and show people that you know that I can do this or I want to do this. So, you know, we know I'm way more relaxed around the way we go about our business.
Yes, I'm pretty organized and planned person. But, you know, that's my blueprint in my head and from there I can be pretty fluid and flexible around how I want things to run or, you know, whatever's happening in front of me, I can direct the conversation or take away from the conversation. So, yeah, I think it's something you learn over a period of time and, you know, as you get exposed to different environments, you got to adapt to those different environments, obviously, too, you know, again, from my previous life through the stage, you know, there's not too many international cricketers and all of a sudden, you know, I've got six or seven, I've got a million. So, how do I get the best out of those guys?
You know, thinking that Monica has been two World Cups, you know, I call him one of my husband number one better at the team in the world, you know. So, how do I get them to feed that information to the next year so that the transition becomes easier for those guys moving up to train. Which is the nice challenge you're going to put on. Thanks for joining us on the Play Development Project podcast.
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