You see it on every cricket coaching website in the country. ECB qualified. It sounds reassuring, but most parents booking a first session have no idea what sits behind the phrase, or whether one coach’s qualification means more than another’s.
Here is what it actually means, and what you should look for.
Who the ECB are
The England and Wales Cricket Board is the governing body for cricket in England and Wales. Alongside running the professional game, it sets the national standard for coach education. Every legitimate cricket coaching qualification in this country runs through the ECB, so ECB qualified means a coach has completed formal training assessed against that national standard, rather than simply having played a lot of cricket.
That distinction matters more than people expect. Being a good player and being a good coach are different skills entirely.
The coaching levels, in order
The ECB restructured and renamed its qualifications a few years ago, so you will still see the older level numbers used alongside the newer titles. Both refer to the same ladder.
| Current title | Old equivalent | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| ECB Support Coach | Coach Support Worker | Trained to assist a qualified coach, not to lead sessions alone |
| ECB Foundation Coach | Level 1 | Qualified to plan and lead sessions independently |
| ECB Core Coach | Level 2 | Leads sessions independently with deeper technical grounding across batting, bowling, fielding and wicketkeeping |
| ECB Advanced Coach | Level 3 | Works with performance players, units and teams |
| ECB Specialist Coach | Level 4 | The flagship programme, with specialisms such as batting, spin bowling, biomechanics and performance psychology |
ECB Foundation Coach is the entry point for anyone qualified to run their own sessions. It combines face-to-face modules, e-learning, observed coaching and an assessment, and candidates must be 18 to be certified.
Level 4 is a different proposition altogether. Coaches apply, are interviewed and shortlisted, work through core and specialist modules, and are assigned a mentor throughout. There are not many Level 4 coaches in the country, and fewer still working in community facilities.
What sits behind the badge
A qualification is only part of it. Before certification, an ECB coach must also hold:
- A valid ECB Disclosure and Barring Service check. The ECB will not accept a DBS issued by another organisation.
- Current safeguarding training, renewed on a fixed cycle rather than held indefinitely.
The ECB publishes its safeguarding standards openly, and any centre working with juniors should be able to confirm that every coach on the floor meets them. First aid is no longer a certification requirement, though most active coaches hold it anyway.
If you are booking coaching for a child, those two checks are arguably more important than the level number.
Why it matters when you are choosing a coach
Search cricket bowling coach near me and you will find plenty of options. The qualification tells you three useful things.
Safety. Coaching a young fast bowler badly is a genuine injury risk. Workload, action and progression all need managing, and that is taught content, not instinct.
Structure. A qualified coach plans a session with an outcome in mind. An hour of throwing balls at someone is practice. An hour built around one identified fault is coaching.
Progression. Higher-level coaches have been trained to develop players over seasons rather than sessions, which matters enormously if your child has county ambitions.
The level you need depends on where you are. A beginner learning to hold a bat is well served by a Foundation or Core Coach. A club player trying to fix a technical fault under pressure benefits from someone further up the ladder.
ECB qualified coaching in Sawbridgeworth
Every coach at Hertfordshire and Essex Cricket Centre is ECB qualified, and the team spans the full range of the ladder.
Luke Humphrey leads the centre. He became one of the youngest Level 3 coaches in England in 2003, was selected for the ECB Level 4 Master Coach Award in 2010, and has since worked as Lead Batting Coach for the England Talent Tests at Loughborough as well as spending eight years with Hertfordshire County Cricket Association. Brad Oakes is a Level 3 coach working towards his Level 4 specialism, and coaches across both the boys’ and girls’ pathways at Essex County Cricket Club. Behind them sits a team of Level 2 coaches, including a Sport and Exercise Psychology graduate, all working year-round with our academies.
You can read each coach’s background in full on our About Us page.
We are based at Tharbies Farm, Sawbridgeworth, CM21 0LL, on the Hertfordshire and Essex border, minutes from Bishop’s Stortford and Harlow and an easy run from the M11. Five indoor lanes, bowling machines, video analysis and integrated physiotherapy all sit under one roof, and we are open seven days a week, so sessions run through the winter as normally as they do in July.
If you want to work with a coach at a specific level, book a one-to-one or small group session and tell us what you are trying to fix. Not sure which coach suits you? Get in touch on 01279 724782, or see who you would be working with first.