“Oh yeah, these guys are the future of their respective clubs,” is the genial 40-year-old coach’s prompt answer to an anxious enquiry about the eight junior players who have come along with him. “Last year, the England Promotion Programme players came to England and three players out of that batch are currently in the England squad. We are here as the winter training programme of the Nottinghamshire Academy as the weather in England now is not good for training purposes,” says Tolley who has been in the Nottinghamshire right from the time when the academy was set up in 2001.

But having seen the young trainees at the club level in England, Tolley believes it is important for the youngsters to get an experience in the sub-continent. “The conditions in India are quite different from those in England and this programme provides us with an opportunity to include a diverse range of activities such as spin bowling sessions and sports psychology sessions coupled with a daily module of rigorous practice,” says Tolley who played for Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire in a career spanning from 1989 to 2002.

Since Tolley was appointed the Cricket Development Officer at Nottinghamshire in 2001, the thrust has been on pooling in young talent. “Most of the guys in the academy have been there for long, also in the case of Worcestershire, Surrey and Northampton. Nick Langfold and Scott Elstone have been at the academy for quite a long time and I see them as the future of Nottinghamshire. If they are nurtured well, I hope they will soon make their way to the senior level,” Tolley insists. Then in the next breath, he concedes that one has to be patient for getting the results. “All these players are gelling well as a group and they understand each other well,” says Tolley.