In 1983, I moved to the Isle of Wight.

Ventnor Cricket Club quickly became my second home. At the time they were playing only friendly fixtures.

It was a million miles away from the 21^st century England team which I would go on to become Assistant Coach.

Yet looking back, many of the mindsets that I now have in my coaching were developed at Steephill Cricket Ground.

I would spend my summer days running the scorebook, bowling at a stump in nets and hoping that one player would forget to turn up so I could field in his place.

Long chats in the pavilion would occur between players, supporters, scorers, Presidents and vice-presidents; everyone’s focus was on getting better, on excellence. We would talk for hours about each of our players and suggests ways that each of us could improve by 5% and as a consequence, the team would improve too.

As a result the club grew up as I made my way through the teams to the first XI. It’s now one of the leading teams in the top-level Southern Premier League, has developed many first-class cricketers and has its own Indoor Cricket Centre at the ground. 

Seeing the success of the club first hand formed the basis of my own philosophy: “relentless pursuit of excellence”.

Relentless Pursuit of Excellence

My life as within professional cricket as a player and coach has given me opportunity to build on that foundation.

As I moved from playing for Hampshire through Academy Coach, County 2nd XI Coach, County 1st XI Coach, England Assistant Coach all the way to Performance Analyst and Performance Director with Ireland I picked up experiences, tools, insights, facts and evidence that let me support players personal pursuit of excellence.

And because all my professional knowledge was developed from the seed of club cricket, the same learning from the elite game is easily transferred back into club and school level.

In 2009, I played and coached Chard CC in Somerset for a summer.

I said to the players that I would use the same coaching techniques with them as I did with Somerset adn England and the players took it all on board, absorbed themselves in the notion of the pursuit of excellence, bought into feedback and review.

 As a result they won their first trophy in 20 years.

They have since gone on to win the next league as well.

Coaching to Win

So in a nutshell, my coaching is based on the idea that anyone can improve; everyone has development areas that if acted upon can significantly enhance their experience and results from the game. 

I will provide you with the options and tips through the Pitchvision Academy to help you coach players through that journey with articles, podcasts and online courses.

I’ll also introduce you to a few of my friends and colleagues from international cricket that will let you know their secrets and informed insights and to help you become a better coach.

You will be easily able to spot my advice as we have created a new section on the site called Coaching to Win. You can keep up to date with it by getting the free weekly PitchVision newsletter.

With my help, you can gain the knowledge to turn your own club or school team into a side that is successful as Ventnor CC has become over the last 30 years.