NV Play: The tech helping England discover the next generation of cricket

Every summer, England’s most promising under-15 cricketers meet at the Bunbury Festival for a full week of intense competition. The event has proven a major talent pathway for the ECB – with some of the country’s finest players, such as Ben Stokes and Joe Root, emerging through the Bunbury pipeline.

But what does it take to find these talented young cricketers, and how does the ECB make sure the right players take the field? The answer, increasingly, lies in data – and in technology like NV Play that makes gathering it at scale possible.

The peer vs peer pipeline

Preparation for the Bunbury Festival starts long before the first match. Across the country’s four regions, as many as 18 peer vs. peer matches are played – including a combination of T20 and 50-over formats – all captured, streamed, and analysed with NV Play. From these regional matches, the best players are selected to move through to the Bunbury Festival itself.

The shift from gut feel to data-backed decisions

As ECB national talent manager Alun Powell explains, technology like NV Play has significantly impacted the process of discovering these young players.

“Historically, talent identification relied on a subjective judgement based on a snapshot of performance,” he says. “We now gather a wide range of information, including performance data, analysis, scouting reports, and physical assessments, to build a holistic picture that better assesses current performance and future potential.”

Identifying talent from anywhere

Before NV Play, talent identification at this scale would have required coaches and scouts to cross the country in person. Now, the ECB’s team can follow matches remotely, in real time.

Scott Thomas, England men’s pathway analyst, describes what that means in practice. “NV Play allows all of our coaches, scouts, and cricket staff members to watch every ball from their own devices and share valuable information to our pathway team, which we use consistently in our talent ID system.”

When everyone – on and off the field – can access the same data simultaneously, the conversation around player potential becomes richer, faster, and more consistent.

From talent identification to player development

For many of the cricketers selected, Bunbury Festival marks the first time their game has been coded at a professional level – a major step-change from their experience to date.

“NV Play gives us the scope to provide feedback to players efficiently in real-time and post-game,” says Thomas. “We use both captured video and data to enhance the players’ technical and tactical abilities, using NV Play’s PCS Pro in-game filters to bring to life overall trends, find any match moment in a few clicks from multiple video angles, and give brilliant context on all deliveries captured.”

For a 15-year-old player, this level of feedback can be transformative. “It’s a great opportunity to gain an early understanding of how they can utilise an analyst’s help in the future,” Thomas says. “We hope this gives players and coaches the skills to action visual feedback, and allows them to enhance their development.”

Sharing Bunbury Festival far and wide

As Powell explains, the festival’s purpose is clear. “We want to inspire current and future pathway players to dream of playing for England. We want them to commit to the sport, and to their development. Festivals such as Bunbury have an important role to provide the ignition spark for young people.”

To achieve this purpose, extending the festival’s reach is essential. That’s where NV Play live streaming plays a key part – bringing the competition to families and supporters who can’t be there in person. With broadcast-level graphics, NV Play live streaming brings even more professional polish to an experience that already surpasses anything the young players have encountered before.

Fast-tracking the future

As a proud partner of the Bunbury Festival, NV Play is thrilled to play a pivotal part in the event – and plans are in place to deepen the partnership in the future.

“We definitely feel like NV Play has allowed us to accelerate the talent ID process within the pathway, letting us collect a wide range of video and performance data of the highest potential players,” says Thomas.

“The value of NV Play is second to none in our processes, and I can see it developing further in the future – capturing even more pathway cricket across multiple age groups, enhancing insights, and helping to find the next English cricketers.”

To find out more about NV Play – the platform changing the game for elite and recreational cricket – visit nvplay.com.

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