Scaling the cricket pitch to fit junior players

ABSTRACT

Studies in several sports have shown the benefits of adapting the playing environment to fit junior players. Frequently the changes are pragmatic choices based on space constraints or existing line markings, or the result of simple scaling based on stature. In this study, a method of scaling the cricket pitch length is presented which is based on the age-specific size and performance of the bowlers and batters. The objective was a pitch length which enabled young bowlers to bowl good length deliveries while releasing the ball at a more downward angle, similar to elite bowlers. The steeper release angle has the benefit of reducing the sensitivity of the ball flight distance to the variability of ball release. Based on data from county standard under-10 and under-11 players a pitch length of 16.22 yards (14.83 m) was calculated, 19% shorter than previously recommended for under-11s in England. A shorter pitch also increases the temporal challenge for batters, encouraging a wider variety of shots and improved anticipation skills. Pitch lengths scaled in this way to fit the players’ abilities as they develop will enable a more consistent ball release by bowlers and more consistent temporal demand for batters.     

Foucault, narrative and the subjugated subject: Doing research with a grid of sensibility

This paper introduces the grid of sensibility, a strategy that engages Foucaultian analysis and narrative research to provide a theoretical basis for research on subjugated knowledge. This strategy was devised in response to the specific needs of a study that sought to consider the experiences of subjugated and disqualified young people who had been told they were mentally disordered. The grid of sensibility functioned as a communicative meta-tool that provided a flexible, responsive and connected way to access the ideas and considerations that informed the research process. The grid of sensibility is discussed with reference to this study. The paper outlines the grid of sensibility, how it was applied, and suggests its potential application in other studies seeking to consider the perspectives of subjugated disqualified knowledges.     

The Impact of an Inquiry-Based Geoscience Field Course on Pre-service Teachers

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to determine the effects of a field-based, inquiry-focused course on pre-service teachers?? geoscience content knowledge, attitude toward science, confidence in teaching science, and inquiry understanding and skills. The field-based course was designed to provide students with opportunities to observe, compare, and investigate geological structures in their natural environment and to gain an understanding of inquiry via hands-on learning activities designed to immerse students in authentic scientific investigation. ANCOVA and MANCOVA analyses examining differences in outcome measures between students in the field experience (n?=?25) and education students enrolled in the traditional, classroom-based course (n?=?37) showed that students in the field course generally had significantly higher scores. Results provide evidence of the value of the field and inquiry-based approach in helping pre-service teachers develop the needed skills and knowledge to create effective inquiry-based science lessons.     

Web-Supported Chemistry Education: Design of an Online Tutorial for Learning Molecular Symmetry

This paper describes our use of the ADDIE protocol to design and develop an interactive tutorial for students learning molecular symmetry operations and point groups. The tutorial provides a 3-D environment where students can examine molecules, structures, and symmetry elements. Most such tutorials are connected to courses or instructors in ways that make them difficult for others to use. Our goal was to create a freely available tutorial that would be independent of course, textbook, or instructor but would scaffold student learning of these abstract concepts. A usability study was also conducted in order to assist the designers in creating or improving key features of the tutorial and to determine whether the tutorial would be viewed as valuable to students. We found that students appreciated the features, especially mouse-overs and applets that afforded the opportunity to freely rotate accurate images of molecules.     

A Difference We Can Call Our Own

The article contends that communication scholars' most influential work is often not identifiably “communication” research. This phenomenon is a result of: (a) theory, which emphasizes message effects rather than message content, and (b) method, which has failed to provide valid, detailed, and shared methods for the quantitative examination of message content. It is suggested that a stronger focus on message content is required if communication is to maintain a disciplinary identity and a unique disciplinary contribution.     

Perceptions of communication in a family relationship and the reduction of intergroup prejudice

From a contact theory perspective, links between variation in young adults' perceptions of communication with their grandparents and attitudes towards older adults are examined. The analysis pays particular attention to variation in communication with multiple grandparents, and finds links between that and perceived variability in the older adult population as a whole. More variation in perceptions of communication with grandparents is associated with perceptions of older adults as more heterogeneous. However, variation in grandparent relationships is associated with more negative attitudes towards older adults on measures of attitudinal central tendency. The results are discussed in terms of intergroup communication processes, contact theory and possible interventions to reduce prejudice in this and other contexts.     

The ecology of broadcasters in the United States

Forbidden to censor, and saddled with an undefined (and perhaps undefinable) criterion of the “public interest, convenience and necessity”; for deciding among otherwise‐qualified applicants for a broadcast facility, it is little wonder that the FCC has relied upon a patchwork of precedents and rule‐of‐thumb standards. Possibly because of the uncertainty of these standards, and partly because the staff has not increased in size as greatly as has the workload, the Commission has avoided whenever possible the enlargement of license application hearings to include anyone other than the applicants themselves. Sometimes, however, the courts haven't allowed the FCC to so restrict the number of participants in a hearing, and sometimes the courts have had to remind the Commission that the laboriously accumulated body of administrative practice and precedent is not always the same as the language or purpose of the Communications Act of 1934.

“Economic injury”; is a station owner's concept. It is at the interface of theory and marketplace reality. It is the almost impossible‐to‐prove claim that the establishment of a new station in one's market will so split the available revenues that both stations will fail—or, at least, that both stations will have to operate with substandard (e.g., cheaper) programming, and thus will not serve the public interest. At first, the FCC listened to some of these claims, but soon evolved a policy of avoiding them, by whatever means and reasoning that it could. Over the years, and despite substantial prodding from the courts, the FCC's policy of avoiding this claim has become rigid . . . thus providing us with an excellent and fascinating case study of administrative policy formulation.     

The performance environment of the England youth soccer teams

Abstract

In the present study, we examined the performance environment of the England youth soccer teams. Using a semi-structured protocol with a prospective sample, national coaches (n = 6), sport scientists (n = 3), and players (n = 4) were interviewed directly following international tournaments about the factors that positively and negatively influenced performance. Qualitative content analysis revealed the following factors as major positive influences on performance: adhering to a consistent tournament strategy, player understanding, strong team cohesion, organized entertainment activities, detailed knowledge of opposition, an effective physical rest/recovery strategy, and previous tournament experience. Major factors perceived to have negatively influenced performance included: over-coaching, player boredom, player anxiety, physical superiority of the opposition, physical fatigue over the tournament, problems sleeping, and lack of information on the opposition. Eight overall dimensions emerged to describe the performance environment: planning and organization, physical environment, tactical factors, development and performance philosophy, psychological factors, physical factors, social factors, and coaching. The findings support recent work that suggests the performance environment is multifaceted, with performance being contingent upon a broad range of interacting factors that go beyond the traditional psychosocial and physical domains.