From starting playing garden cricket with the family in Hertfordshire to meeting an English Turf farmer in Spain to creating the junior cricket strategic arm of European Cricket Network with local schools in Andalusia. Jay pinches himself when he looks back on his journey in cricket
Played cricket for Lancs as a pro between the age of 18 and 26 but by his own admission didn’t really live up to his potential.Came away from the game and moved into business but reconnected to the game after becoming a Personal Trainer.Became immersed in finding out more and more about the craft of coaching and ended up leading the ECB Level 4 Coaching Qual.Always remember to ask yourself as a coach:What is my purpose today? Is it to help a player develop skills or confidence?
Adnan will be known to many people already through his part in Andrew Flintoff’s tv series Field of Dreams.What people won’t know is how quickly he has immersed himself in the game and forged an ambition to make a career in the game since arriving in the UK from Afghanistan a little over three years ago.
Ian is a head coach for Oxted and Limpsfield CC who has dedicated most of his adult life to the development of youngsters at the clubs he has worked at.
Matty is a sixteen year old lad brought up in Hungary where he plays multiple sports including cricket. In this episode he tells us more about opportunities for cricket in Hungary in club and school as well as for the national team.
Karl is a former professional cricketer who has found coaching as his full time career after retiring. He is a massive believer in keeping the coaching of kids as unstructured as possible and keeping fun at the centre of every session. His goal now is to help kids want to continue to play cricket beyond school.
Will is still only 20 years of age but aged 11 he went on a cricket tour to Sri Lanka and came up with the idea of starting a charity whose purpose was to provide clothing and equipment to cricketers overseas who had nothing.In this episode we hear how the charity has grown and developed since then and what is in the pipeline for the future with Will very much at the helm as CEO
Chris is club junior coordinator at North Weald CC.Through his early involvement in coaching kids at the club he saw himself forging a career in teaching which he now does.Chris is very grateful to Bob Wood for his mentorship and stresses the importance of the kids having fun and enjoying themselves when they practise. Seeing the look on their faces when they enjoy their cricket is the thing that makes all the investment in time so worth it.Chris’s coaching mantra is all about:Dealing with the cause not the symptom Have a lot of patienceAsk good questionsIntuitionKeep things simple.
Sara is by her own admission not very outgoing and quite shy. In cricket she found a safe place to be herself and for it to become her second home.As she became more involved in coaching she realised how cricket helps interaction between boys and girls and she has done so much to use cricket to help people’s communities for the better and to help other women to take on a coaching role.
Liam is the Head Coach of Brazil Cricket Women’s team and still pinches himself when he wakes up each morning and reflects on this. When he looks back at his cricket coaching journey which started back at a university he still finds it amazing how the game has taken him to South America to be one of the key stakeholders in helping the game grow and in doing so create so much good for the community.
Chris is Chairman of cricket and second team captain at Adwalton Cricket and Athletics Club in Yorkshire. He sees his role as being a custodian of the game and in this episode he describes how he goes about creating a safe place for kids to play and developing an environment where they feel at home.We also hear about the loan system in place in the cricket league system around Adwalton which enables clubs to work together to enable players to play more cricket.
Amy is the Mum of two cricket mad sons who play 4-5 times a week in the Summer. In this episode Amy gives us an insight into her world of how she manages her time and balances everything at home.
Dan has undertaken the role of club junior coordinator and in doing so has taken it upon himself to develop a culture that prioritised togetherness and community. A definite must listen for all club cricket junior coaches and coordinators.
Episode 76 with Asif Mujtaba. How Asif having reached the top of the game in representing his country Pakistan found the love of coaching and after loving to USA got immersed in coaching the youth of Texas.
Graham started his career in accountancy but after ten years felt the need for a change. Ten years on he is working in Further Education and helping young adults with their cricket and their career options as well as coaching juniors in a local club.
How to start your cricket journey in Brazil and see how far reaching the sport is in providing education and sport to many who previously had neither
Dom is in his GCSE year at Charterhouse School and is part of then Sussex County Age Group Pathway. It is fascinating to hear his thoughts on what drives him to become better as a youngster who plays school, county and club cricket.
Jenny Thompson is driven by the purpose of sharing stories about women in society and through cricket. This has inspired her to travel the world starting with the 54 countries that have an ICC ranking for women’s cricket. What she has witnessed and observed first hand are amazing examples of people introducing cricket to kids where before they had nothing and in this episode we hear some wonderful examples of this.
Itai is such a wonderful role model for young cricketers under his care. He sees cricket as much more than a game in which you bat and bowl. He understands the importance of enabling kids to have fun through playing sport and goes far beyond this to show them the important life skills it teaches kids as well.