How did your business come about?
I started Pro Coach with Andrew Gale
and it has grown really well. It is now fifty per cent owned by
Yorkshire CCC but we currently have 55 coaches working for us
throughout the county and are working with around five thousand
youngsters. Simon Guy, who has recently joined Derbyshire, of course,
was doing some work with me and there's quite a few guys with
first-class experience.
Then in 2010 I was asked if I knew
anyone who had a use for a massive two thousand square foot building
outside Headingley cricket ground. I had the idea of starting a
cricket equipment business and made a Dragon's Den style pitch to the
father of one of my friends, who invested in start up companies, to
go into partnership with me.
At the end of it, he said yes, and we
moved in and gutted the place. All Rounder Cricket Ltd opened on
March 11, 2011 and we recently learned that we are now the fifth or
sixth biggest cricket equipment supplier in the UK. That's something
I am very proud of and we have around 270 clubs signed up around the
country as clothing and equipment suppliers.
The business now has ten full-time
employees, while there's a further five at Pro-Coach. As Managing
Director of both, the hours are long but it is very worthwhile. My
brother is physio at Sheffield Wednesday and more recently I have
gone into partnership with him and we have eight physiotherapy
clinics around Yorkshire under the banner of Sano Physiotherapy.
There's not enough hours in the day...
But you still manage to find time
for cricket?
I do. My wife and I moved to
Lightcliffe, where my father-in-law had played for the village team.
In 2010 the club finished near the bottom of the second division of
the Bradford League.
I attended my first committee meeting
in the wooden shack on the boundary edge. When I said that I saw the
club in the medium to long term competing in the top half of the
first division I think some thought I was crazy.
Last season I skippered the side as we
won the Priestley Cup and came near the top in the league. I am
proud with how we have turned the club around. I have a house on the
boundary edge and it is a lovely club, but the secret now is making
sure that I keep the right work/sport/home balance, as we all work to
live, not live to work.
I am grateful for what cricket has
given me and I enjoy being able to give back. I learned from being
coached and helped by Geoff Boycott, Mike Atherton and Michael
Vaughan and if I can do something similar with youngsters and get
them started in the game, I feel I am doing my bit.
Do you have any remaining sporting
ambitions?
I do. You know, even after what
happened at the end of my time there, I remain a Derbyshire fan and I
look for their scores before Yorkshire's. I'd have loved to skipper
that side, but one day I would love an opportunity to be involved in
some other way, perhaps on the board, if I was ever asked to be
involved.
I'd like to think that my business
experience might be of use at some point, and Kevin Dean, a good
friend of mine, is already there.
Who knows?
I can't finish the interview without
asking you about the men who will be taking Derbyshire forward in the
coming years on the coaching side.
Pop is brilliant! He's a top bloke who
helped me at Derbyshire and I know how highly he is regarded as a
coach. I have no doubt that he will do an outstanding job, because
people work for him and understand what he wants to do. He was a one
hundred per cent player and you will get exactly that from him as
Director of Cricket.
He's recruited really well though.
Steve Stubbings is one of the nicest guys I have ever met and I think
he will take to his role really well – having done very well with
the second team last summer, of course. I know John Sadler very well
and he really knows his cricket. He is an excellent coach and
understands batting, with the ability to explain to people what they
should be doing differently when things are going wrong. Ant Botha
has done well too, while Simon Guy is a fantastic coach who will
really get people working at their game.
Put it this way, if I was playing under
those guys, I would excel, because as well as being very good
coaches, they are excellent man managers.
The club has a very bright future and
they are now going about it in exactly the right manner. In my spell
at the club, apart from me there was really only Wayne White, Jake
Needham and a very young Paul Borrington who were relatively young
and in the first-team picture.
It's all changed now and very good to
see.
I wish them every success in the coming
season and those ahead.
Hi Peakfan
ReplyDeletefantasy cricket time again & I need your help. Some forums are saying that Durston & Moore won't be cast iron fixtures this season. Please tell me they are wrong!
p.s. you're normally spot on but you owe me for Durston after last season!
Matthew E
Hi Matthew, thanks for getting in touch. I would be very surprised if Moore wasn't a regular as I don't think he'd have prolonged his career to play in the twos. By the same token, Welch has made it clear that people who perform will play, so the onus is on him to do that.
ReplyDeleteThe same goes for Durston, who I would expect to start in the side but will need to perform better than last year, especially in four day cricket. He will know that himself, and both Elstone and Hughes will fancy that role themselves.
In short - both should play regularly, but Moore would perhaps be a more automatic choice at this stage.
Hope that helps mate!
Thanks Peakfan - will you be running a league yourself this year?
ReplyDeleteHi peakfan,
ReplyDeleteStumbled across your site during the winter and what essential reading it has become. Although having no connection with the county whatsoever I've always kept my eye on how the team fares (I think this stems from reading the county cricketers Who's Who a few years ago and discovering many stated their least favourite venue was the county ground, perversely this obviously fired up my interest). Keep up the good work, I may even have a tenner on the team to win division two!
Dave Mortimer
Wirral
Thanks for your kind comments Dave! And yes, Anon, I will be running a league - watch this space!
ReplyDeleteI might even try and remember to change my team after June this year...