With the domestic cricket season drawing ever closer, Lancashire County Cricket Club (LCCC) have stepped up their preparations for the 2018 campaign, having completed the first of two separate four (4) day warm weather training camps at the Desert Springs Cricket Academy.
Between Wednesday 7th – Sunday 11th February, Mark Chilton (LCCC Coach) and David Roberts (Lancashire County Cricket Clubs official medical services partner), accompanied nine (9) players who completed bowling, batting and fielding practice as well as strength and conditioning training sessions at Desert Springs Resort, Europe’s only international award-winning luxury family resort and championship desert golf course with its very own dedicated Cricket Ground and Academy, in the Almanzora region of Almeria, Andalucía in south-east Spain.
LCCC Coach Mark Chilton commented: “Desert Springs has provided us with an excellent 4-days experience. It serves its purpose completely as a training camp venue prior to the English season. The staff and food have been outstanding with service levels received impeccable.”
The training camp worked on a specific and carefully planned programme covering technical skills, strength and conditioning and both individual and group activity. Lancashire CCC players said of their pre-season training experience at the Desert Springs Cricket Academy:
“This is my second visit to Desert Springs, a fantastic facility and all-round resort with perfect weather for this time of year, thank you.” Karl Brown
“Brilliant facilities all round and a great few days training, see you next month for our second visit!” Simon Kerrigan
“It’s great to be back at Desert Springs, everything was top draw!” Tom Bailey
“Fantastic training facilities and perfect for this time of year and the weather was great to!” Liam Hurt
The players and coaches were accommodated in some of the privately-owned villas and apartments normally reserved for holidays and short breaks at Desert Springs and the resort’s executive chef was on hand to cater for the special dietary requirements of individual players dining in El Torrente Restaurant.
Lancashire CCC will be returning to Desert Springs between Wednesday 28th February – Sunday 04thMarch 2018 to complete their second pre-season training camp.
- For details of Cricket & Sports Training Camps, Corporate Golf Events and Meetings at Desert Springs call 01242 680 116 or visit the website, desertspringsresort.es
- To find out more about the Desert Springs Cricket Academy visit the website:
http://www.desertspringsresort.es/home/sport-camps/cricket-camps/
Additional background Information
Warm weather winter training camps at Desert Springs
Desert Springs, Europe’s only international award-winning luxury family resort and championship desert golf course, is already known as a resort specialising in family holidays, however it is also known as a centre for warm-weather training for cricketers, athletes, and footballers, as well as golfers and is proving to be one of the most popular destinations for sports warm weather winter training camps.
In addition to Lancashire CCC, visiting Cricket groups have included; the ECB Test and ODI Squad, the ECB Women’s Senior Academy, the ECB Young Lions, the ECB Pace Programme, Sussex CCC, Yorkshire CCC, Somerset CCC and Middlesex CCC to name but a few.
All sports camps to Desert Springs are bespoke. If desired, the programme can include time away from the resort for some local sightseeing in what many regard as ‘the real Spain.’
During their stay attendees have opportunities to swim, play tennis and use the gymnasium, trim trail, jogging tracks, paddle tennis and beach volley ball courts.
Desert Springs is easy to reach from the UK, thanks to three international airports. They are: Almeria Airport, around 40 minutes away by road; Murcia Airport, 80 minutes by car, and Alicante Airport which is a drive of less than two hours. Airlines currently flying to the region from the UK include British Airways, EasyJet, Ryanair, Jet2, and Fly Thomas Cook.
Accommodation is provided in the apartments and villas available for holidays and short breaks at Desert Springs. Meals are served in the resort’s Croc Restaurant, part of the family-friendly Crocodile Club that is geared up for a wide variety of leisure activities and the award winning El Torrente Restaurant at the Club House.
The Desert Springs Resort & Golf Club
Facilities already completed and in use at Desert Springs Resort include:
- The Indiana course, a par 72 -18-hole USGA specification golf course, designed by former Great Britain and Ireland Golf Team Captain Peter McEvoy who was inspired by the desert courses of Arizona and California;
- a golf academy whose PGA qualified teaching professionals cater for several international teams, for many of the English County Union’s elite squads; PGA European Tour, PGA Europro Tour and LET players.
- two tennis courts, two paddle courts, beach volley ball and two football pitches – one is a full-size grass pitch; the other is designed for five-a-side games;
- a cricket ground with an eighteen (18) wicket square, constructed to ECB standards and specifications open all year round. Complimented by a Marquee pavilion, sightscreens, scoreboard, sprint strips, and associated facilities, it provides an outstanding facility to practice and play cricket.
- a Cricket Academy with facilities that comprise; twenty-four (24) grass wickets and run up with nets, one artificial wicket with nets, a full length artificial grass wicket, a Professional Bola Bowling Machine with 28 ball feeder, requisite training equipment and a specific hard standing area, which provides outside space for facilities such as a free weights gym, stretching mats and a medical area.
- a Spanish colonial style Golf Club House with a lounge, bar, restaurant, locker rooms, TV and reading rooms, and a Ralph Lauren Golf Boutique;
- The Crocodile Club which provides family fun at the heart of the resort with pools, equipped sand play areas, a kid’s battery powered John Deere Gator circuit as well as a Jacuzzi, sun lawns and a pool bar;
- a health and fitness club and spa.
Awards
Desert Springs Resort was awarded Best Golf Resort for Groups in Europe by the 2016 European Group Travel Awards (EGTA). The Indiana Course at Desert Springs Resort has also been recognised as the 6th Best Golf Course in Spain, based on the reviews of players who rated the course on the Leading Courses website. Out of the 345 courses present on this ranking the Indiana Course at Desert Springs occupies 6th place with a score of 8,8/10, and awards Desert Springs Golf Club with the “Outstanding” badge. This distinction is only given to the best 10 courses in the country.
Desert Springs Resort has been awarded the Daily Mail Best Almeria Award and the Bentley International Property Awards for the Best Spain Development and Best Architecture, as well as the Spanish National Madera Verde Prize for Environmentally Sensitive Development, the SICTED award for the distinction of “Commitment to Tourism Quality” and Andalucía’s Premier Tourism prize for 2017, the coveted and prestigious ‘Excellence in Management’ Award.
El Torrente Restaurant has received the New Millennium International Gastronomy Award for the Tourist, Hotel and Catering Industry. This award was created by the Trade Leaders Club with the aim of distinguishing companies from all countries, for the outstanding quality of their products or services.
The climate of the Almanzora coastal region
Desert Springs takes its name from the region’s desert microclimate, which is unique in Europe. It has the warmest winter weather on the continent with an annual average of more than nine hours of daily sunshine and maximum daily temperatures of between 16°C (60°F) and 30°C (86°F) throughout the year. Annual rainfall is less than 200 mm. The Almanzora coastal waters are among the cleanest and warmest in Europe, attracting both fish and diving enthusiasts.
Reader enquiries:
NOTE: High Resolution images available upon request.
Simon Coaker
The Almanzora Group Ltd
The Manor, Boddington, Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire GL51 0TJ
Tel: +44 (0) 1242 680116
Mob: +34 678 235 716
e: scc@almanzora.com
www.desertspringsresort.es
Lancashire CCC Pre-Season Winter Training Camp at Desert Springs Cricket Academy
Lancashire CCC Batsman practice taking place at the grass wickets at the Desert Springs Cricket Academy
Lancashire CCC Fielding practice taking place at the Desert Springs Cricket Academy
The newly developed Desert Springs Cricket Ground at Desert Springs Resort scheduled to open later this month to be host to its first game!
A typical example of the Apartments at Desert Springs Resort where the ECB Pace Programme players and team officials were accommodated
