Jamshedpur, July 8: The wishes of cricket coaches across the state who wanted to upgrade their skills have been answered.

The six-day Level-1 coaching course, conducted by the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) from Monday, would provide the much-needed push to the coaches associated with coaching centres in the districts and Jamshedpur.

An estimated 30 candidates, including three women, would participate in the course conducted in the presence of former Indian medium-pacer Bharat Arun, ex-Bihar Ranji skipper K.V.P. Rao, sports medicine expert Kinjal Suratwala and a representative from Maharashtra. JSCA has included women candidates in the course for the first time.

Arun, Rao and the Maharashtrian representative are National Cricket Academy (NCA)-accredited Level III coaches. Jamshedpur-based Rao was the joint-third in India at the examination conducted recently by NCA in Bangalore. The course would be conducted on the NCA pattern. While the first five days would have theory and practical coaching, the last day would have a written exam, a viva and a practical, JSCA officials said.

A similar exercise was held here in 2005, where about 18 candidates passed and are now qualified Level-1 coaches.

“The basic objective of Level-1 course is to bring coaching uniformity. Aspiring cricketers get confused with diverse training methods, which is why the NCA had started this course,” an official said.

The NCA gives permission to state cricket associations for the course on prior request. “The course also creates a reserve pool of coaches,” said a JSCA official.

Earlier scheduled at Ranchi, JSCA authorities changed the venue to Jamshedpur on account of heavy rains in the capital, said JSCA secretary Rajesh Verma.

Verma added that the candidates were asked to report at the JSCA on July 8.

Women coaches like Pushpanjali Banerjee, Charanjeet Kaur and Seema Desai from the state women's cricket association would join the course along with their male counterparts from Bokaro, Chatra, Dhanbad, Dumka, Garhwa, Giridih, Godda, Hazaribagh, Jamshedpur, Jamtara, Koderma, Latehar, Lohardaga, Pakur, Palamau, Ranchi, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Simdega and West Singhbhum.

“We plan to conduct such courses regularly, as aspiring cricketers need trained coaches,” JSCA officials added.