Gary Palmer, who has been Austria's coach since 2001, was in Vienna again last weekend, helping to put the training squad, from whom the squad for the 2003 ECC Notts Sport® Trophy will be selected, through their paces. The National Team trained at Concordia CC's Markommannenstrasse ground for the first time, with batting, bowling and fielding practices during the Saturday session, and then match practice on the Sunday.
This season has seen the adoption of new qualification criteria, which has already made a considerable number of players, who were unavailable under the former qualification criteria, possibilities for selection for the tournament in August. A large number of players were making their first appearances in the training squad, and some will doubtless go all the way into the squad for the forthcoming championships.
Gary Palmer has worked with the Australians and India as well as several county sides, and is renowned for his innovative coaching methods. His father played Test Cricket for England, and recently retired as a first class umpire, and Gary himself spent several years playing County Cricket for Somerset. The Austrian Cricket Association are very grateful for the work he puts in.