How NV Play’s game changing platform is helping the ECB identify future talent, and bring it to the 2026 Bunbury Festival.
Every summer, a collection of England’s highest-potential under-15 cricketers descend on the Bunbury Festival for a week of high-level competition. It’s one of the ECB’s most established talent pathways, with players including Ben Stokes and Joe Root among those to have taken part in the festival.
But finding the players with the potential to go all the way takes more than watching a handful of matches. Increasingly, the ECB is combining expert judgement with rich performance data. And NV Play is helping capture, analyse and share that information at scale.
Laying the pipeline early
The journey to Bunbury begins months before the festival itself. Across England’s four regions, up to 18 peer-vs-peer matches are played in T20 and 50-over formats, with every game captured, streamed and analysed using NV Play. The strongest performers then progress to the Bunbury Festival.
From snapshots to the bigger picture
ECB National Talent Manager Alun Powell says that technology has completely transformed how the ECB approaches talent identification.
"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."
Talent identification without borders
Once upon a time, identifying talent at this scale meant coaches and scouts had to travel the length of the country, watching matches in person. With NV Play, the ECB’s team can follow games remotely, in real time.
As Scott Thomas, England Men's Pathway Analyst, explains it, "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."
Everyone gets access to the same data, at the same time – making conversations around player potential faster, richer, and more consistent.
Turning data into development
For many of the young players on the field, Bunbury is also their first experience of having their game coded at a professional level.
"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 teenage cricketer, that kind of insight 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."
Getting more eyes on Bunbury
The festival’s purpose is two-fold; identifying talent, and also inspiring the next generation to believe they can reach the top.
As Powell puts it, "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."
NV Play live streaming helps extend that experience beyond the ground, bringing the action to families and supporters who can't be at the festival in person. Broadcast-level graphics give the festival a professional finish – while making these emerging stars accessible to a much bigger audience.
Fast-tracking the future
As a proud sponsor of the Bunbury Festival, NV Play is excited to play a role in one of England’s most important talent pathways – with plans already underway to deepen the partnership.
"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."