Ralph Dellor reports from Telford in CricInfo's regular Sounding Out feature Listen

It was two years ago that the ECB Performance Department broke new ground by staging the first such event. Taking the opportunity offered by having so many outstanding coaches, players and former players in England for the World Cup, the first Cricket Live event was held at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. The acclaim for that undertaking demanded that a second such conference be held.

That is why some 1,000 delegates from 17 countries representing the A to Z of world cricket, from Austria to Zimbabwe, assembled in the Telford International Centre in the first two days of May to listen to some of the world's experts on the game talk on their specialist subjects. It is hard to imagine that any left disappointed with the fare set before them.

In his introduction, master of ceremonies Mark Nicholas (from the sponsors, Channel 4 Television) referred to "an orgy of cricket" – a description that summed up proceedings for those who were lucky enough to be there.

The Chairman of the ECB, Lord MacLaurin, and Performance Director, Hugh Morris, began the formal programme by welcoming the delegates. Lord MacLaurin underlined the opportunity given by the gathering to share best practice and made reference to the ECB's desire to create and maintain "the most efficient cricket coaching education programme in the world". Hugh Morris expanded on that theme, defining coaching as a process that actually changes behaviour, and that there were some vital ingredients to be incorporated in any plan for success, like investment in players and coaches, sports science and technical innovation, high quality coaches, pitches, and facilities and a number of other factors.

England coach Duncan Fletcher received a moving reception when he came to the podium to further explore the identification and development of success factors. In outlining his recipe for a successful national side, he focused on a management structure that could apply to industry as well as to international cricket, and the way he applies it to the England team. As well as explaining his philosophy of coaching, he demonstrated some practical drills. Asked, as he would be, how England would fare in this summer's Ashes series, he would say no more than "we're going to compete". It would have been a surprise if he had committed himself further!

The delegates then moved into a programme of workshops and had the opportunity to visit the stands of the 53 exhibitors in the exhibition area. The workshops were headed: Developing Spin (Terry Jenner) Coaching in Schools (David Leighton and Pete Ackerley) Spin Vision (Mushtaq Mohammed) Winning against Spin (Tim Boon and Mike Gatting) Winning Again (Frank Dick) The Academy Principle (Hugh Morris and Rod Marsh) From Business to Sport and Back Again (Michael Fordham) Harmerizing (John Harmer)

As ever, the organisers were striving to ensure that only the very best performers in their field were available to present their views and observations to the audience. There is no doubt that Barry Richards fitted that criterion when he spoke on Batting against Spin. As a player, he made the game look ridiculously easy. As a coach, he assumes that same basic premise. It is only the players who make it seem difficult by introducing unnecessary complications.

So much of cricket is played in the mind, and it was on the subject of mental strength that Frank Dick spoke under the title Winning. The audience was held spellbound as this master of motivation undoubtedly applied Hugh Morris's contention that good changes change behaviour. Everyone present would have been changed to become more positive by listening to an inspiring session.

The afternoon session of workshops available were: Developing Fielders (Chris Stone) Prepared to Win (Nigel Stockill) A Lifetime of Learning (Tom Cartwright) An Introduction to Video Analysis (John Abrahams and David Parsons) Is Attitude a Talent (Dr Steve Bull) Communications Skills for Cricket Coaching (Keith Tomlins) Coaching in Women's Cricket (Paul Farbrace, Joyce Brooks and Jane Powell)

Two more arena sessions were on offer before the day was complete. Bob Cottam spoke about identifying and developing fast bowlers, stressing that change should not be made for the sake of change and fine tuning was the rule in simple terms.

Who is better qualified to talk on the art of spin than the former Indian Test great, Bishan Bedi. His plea was for spinners to bowl slowly while he applied some eastern philosophy, recognising that cricket is a reflection of life. Life is becoming too hectic and, in a memorable phrase, he asked: "What is the point of joining the rat race? Even if you win it, you're still a flipping rat!"

On to day two which began with a welcome address from ECB Chief Executive Tim Lamb and Director of Development Keith Pont, who gave an insight into how the game was growing.

Wicket-keeping is a subject that is rarely treated adequately by coaches who lack the confidence or knowledge to help these important members of the side. That could all change after a display of wicket-keeping coaching by Ian Healy. Labelled a "wicket-keeping master class" it was exactly that. Well constructed and well presented, the former Australian wicket-keeper demonstrated that he had managed to transfer all his ability as a wicket-keeper into an outstanding ability as a coach.

There was very much an Australian flavour to proceedings at this stage, with leg-spinning guru Terry Jenner unravelling some of the mysteries of his art in his own highly amusing and informative fashion.

A full programme of workshops was available once delegates had come out of a spin, including:

Foundations of Alignment, Movement and Balance (Mark Sheppard and Tim Boon) Working with Disabled Cricketers (Arthur Travis) Practical Solutions to Common Problems (Toby Radford, Andy Pick & Gary Palmer) Winning Margins (Adrian Moorhouse and Dr Steve Bull) Opening Up (Graham Gooch and John Abrahams) A Question of Style (Keith Tomlins and David Parsons) Vision Training for Cricket – Fact or Fiction? (Simon Falk)

Back in the main arena, John Harmer continued the Australian theme. The man who had coached the Australian women's team to the top ranking in the game and who has now been enlisted by the English women's team as coach, examined the role of the bio-mechanist in cricket coaching. Some might doubt the relevance, but such doubts were expelled by the man who has revolutionised the way cricketers can benefit from the appliance of his science.

From the body to the mind. ECB consultant sports psychologist Dr Steve Bull led a discussion involving 1988 Olympic 100-metre breaststroke champion Adrian Moorhouse, Graham Gooch and Barry Richards entitled Minds of the Masters – a great opportunity to understand a little of what makes a top sportsman mentally strong enough to succeed.

The theme was taken up in one of the final workshops that followed:

Mental Preparation for Cricket (Dr Wil James) Analysing Performance (Dr Keith Lyons) Opening Up (Graham Dilley and John Abrahams)

Just as Mark Nicholas had described it in that opening address, it was an orgy of cricket, but also an orgy of knowledge and information. As is always the case, some sessions worked better than others and some were of more appeal to individuals than others. That is not a criticism; it is a fact of life and Bishan Bedi had already drawn the link between life and cricket. And just as only a fool does not learn from life, so anyone at Telford for two days who did not learn about cricket must have been very foolish indeed.

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