Comments Off on Captain Coetzer: SCA Personality of the Year 2019
On Friday 7th February Cricket Scotland held their second annual awards dinner in Edinburgh, celebrating cricket achievements across Scotland in 2019. On that evening the Scottish Cricketers Association “Personality of the Year” award was awarded to men’s captain Kyle Coetzer.
This award was created, in 2017, to recognise not only someone’s contribution to cricket in Scotland on and off the field, but also to mark their contribution to their life, personal development and career outside of the game.
In 2019 Kyle had another outstanding year for Scotland with the bat. He was the leading run scorer in ODIs with 491 runs at an average of 44.64. In addition he added another 351 runs T20I at a strike rate of 125.36.
This lead to him being the leading runs scorer for Scotland in 2019 with 842 and this propelled him to winning the ICC Associate Player of the Year.
Off the field Kyle put in endless hours of work, working hard to develop himself as a coach. In November last year he graduated from his ECB level 4 coaching award. This is the highest level of coaching qualifications that can be achieved. It has required 3 years of hard work and dedication to his own development while continuing to perform and excel on the field for his country.
His contribution to cricket in Scotland is unparalleled over a prolonged period of time. The time he has put in to moving the game forward and pioneering the success of the game in Scotland has been recognised across the country. At the end of last year it was announced that he would be receiving an MBE for services to cricket, and had the pleasure of receiving his medal from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace.
In an exciting development for women’s cricket in Scotland, the Scottish Cricketers Association are pleased to announce that the women’s national squad have signed up to the SCA. This took place towards the end of last summer and we have been working with the women over the last few months on the direction the game is going and how we can best support them. Over the next few months we will immediately see the impact of this, as the SCA looks to enter into negotiations with Cricket Scotland with regards to the women’s Player Agreements (and men’s Player Contracts) for 2020.
Priyanaz Chatterji, current Scotland player, has been elected to sit on the board as the women’s representative. With the recent addition of the women’s side to the SCA, Priyanaz says ‘this is a really positive step, ensuring we have more of a voice, and enabling us to take more of an active role in our future and the future of all representative cricketers in Scotland. Globally, the women’s game is making rapid strides. Anything that adds to the professionalism of the game in Scotland is to be welcomed, and the addition of Scotland’s female players to the SCA is another step in the right direction.’
SCA president Alasdair Evans added, ‘it is a really exciting time for cricket in Scotland and big development to have our international females on board with the SCA. They are on a journey towards the women’s game becoming professional, being able to support them and provide a voice for them is a big step towards that.’
Comments Off on An evening celebrating Scottish Cricketers
A gathering of Scottish cricket’s finest took place on Friday 8th November when the SCA hosted a drinks reception in Edinburgh hotspot, the Refinery. The reception was a celebration for Scottish cricketers past and present, and the event was the first of its kind since the formation of the Scottish cricketer’s association in 2017. It was no coincidence that the venue used was arranged through an ex Scotland international, Sean Weeraratna. This in itself is one of many of the reasons why connecting old colleagues and team mates can be so valuable. All who attended had pulled on a national shirt at some stage in their cricketing career, with most having since moved on into different walks of life. Despite having spent so much time together wearing the thistle over the years, most attending had not seen each other for years, or even since the last day they crossed the boundary rope leaving an international cricket field. Despite this, the stories and and tales reminiscing about the past flowed as if everyone had just played a game together at the weekend. The power of sport was evidently on show; It was clear to see that the passion for Scottish cricket had not diminished with there being a real buzz in the room with the current national team having recently qualified for the 2020 T20 world cup in Australia.
One obvious challenge any athlete will eventually face is bridging the gap between performance sport and a working life. However a lesser known challenge is retired players being able to stay connected with a game that they are passionate about once they have transitioned into working life. Opening up these links between the current and ex-players will hopefully open many doors of support for both parties and most importantly bring the Scotland international cricket family back in touch with each other. The evening was certainly a success and one which the SCA will be looking to build on in the coming months and years.
Since being formed, the SCA felt it was important to find a way to reconnect with ex-players who have been on the same journey the current players are now travelling. Without even trying conversations started naturally between people from different eras with a common interest in the game as they seamlessly started to engage in sharing learnings from on and off the field. This was an encouraging sight and one which will hopefully forester more regular events.
If you are an ex player or know of an ex Scotland player and would like to get to know more about or help and support the Scottish Cricketers Association, please have a look at our the website www.scottishca.co.uk or get in touch with the SCA president Alasdair Evans by email on a.evans@scottishca.co.uk.
It was announced late yesterday (7th June 2019) that Scotland Captain and current SCA board member Kyle Coetzer will be receiving an MBE on the Queen’s birthday honours list.
Kyle has been an integral member of the Scotland side since 2003. In that time his has seen the side win the 2005 ICC Trophy. As well as attend 3 World Cups across both the 50 over game and T20, winning a number of qualifying tournaments on the way. He is also Scotland’s leading run scorer in both ODIs (2082) and T20Is (1113).
Under his leadership the national team has progressed to the highest level of success the side had seen, overseeing wins against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and memorable England in June 2018.
Away from the field Kyle has also had an incredible impact on the game in the country. He was instrumental in the formation of the SCA in 2017 as well as an ECB qualified level 4 coach. He also sits on the ICC players committee representing not only Scotland but all ICC associate nations.
Photo – Donald MacLeod
His love and passion for the game in Scotland is clear to see for anyone who has spent time with him. His constant drive to push cricket forward and bring the best out of people, both on and off the field, at all levels is hugely inspiring to witness.
‘Not a more deserving man out there!!! His commitment and drive to make everyone around him better players and people is second to none. Congratulations @MeerGoose11. Truly well deserved!’ Alasdair Evans (@alievans647)
‘Massive congratulations to @MeerGoose11 very well deserved recognition for one of the best blokes around ??’ Calum MacLeod (@calummacleod640)
‘Well done @MeerGoose11 ? Great news’ Preston Mommsen’ (@prestonmommsen)
On a glorious May morning 11 teams assembled to enjoy and support the Scottish Cricketers Associations first annual golf day at Dalmahoy Golf and Country Club, in support of the Brain Tumour Charity. The teams were descended from all over the country, with people and businesses not only wanting to show their support for professional and international cricketers in Scotland, but also having to have an opportunity to play with them and hear their stories.
With the course in great condition scoring on a The Dalmahoy East course was good and two teams managed to amass an impressive total of 92 stableford points. This lead to a recount for the score on the back nice leading to the victory for Jamie Kerr’s team from Ben Property.
The other on course prize winners were: Nearest hole 4th – David Flint (Balfour & Manson) Nearest hole 16th – Bryn Lockie (Ben Property) Longest Drive 15th – Michael Leask (SCA) an astonishing drive roughly 370 yards!
Our thanks go to Kyle Coetzer (Cricket Scotland Captain) and Mark Bennett (Scotland rugby Internationalist) who held an amusing and interesting question and answer chat, with topics ranging from career highlights to favourite dressing room pranks.
We were honoured to have Iain McLean along to tell his story and raise awareness of the great work the Brain Tumour Charity does. The support and generosity shown in various fund-raising activities and charity auction to help raise funds for the Brain Tumour Charity was terrific and we thank everyone who donated.
We would also like to thank all the teams joining us and contributing to making it such a successful and enjoyable day, as well as for their continued support. We looking forward to making this an annual event and to making it bigger and better event next year.
Comments Off on Kyle Coetzer’s view of the SCA AGM
Friday the 8th of March saw the Scottish Cricketers Association(SCA) gather at Clydesdale cricket club for its 2019 Annual General Meeting(AGM). This date was deliberately timed to coincided with the Cricket Scotland 2018 Awards Dinner in Glasgow that evening. The premise behind this was to hopefully allow as many of the players from all over the UK to attend both events and enable the SCA to engage with as many of its members as possible.
The purpose of the AGM was twofold, firstly to provide an update to the members on the latest developments from the association and the global player movement, the second was to provide the players with several important workshops for personal development.
The event started with the re-election of the SCA Executive Board. The board sits for two-year terms and all four members of the board were re-elected with no opposition. This then led onto an informative speech from the president of the SCA, Alasdair Evans, on the positive developing nature and the direction being taken from the players association.
The first guest to speak was Tom Moffat, Chief Operating Officer of FICA (Federation of international cricketers association). Tom played a big part in helping form the SCA in 2017 and currently advises and keeps us up to date with the current state of play within the international game. Tom spoke to the group giving valuable information regarding the direction the global game and where our players and Cricket Scotland currently sits. This type of information is important to the players, as it provides them with a realistic angle on where they stand and the positive impact on the global game that ICC associate cricket is having. It also indicated the importance of all players being aligned with how collectively they can fight the cause to develop associate cricket.
Tom was followed by Susie Elms, who is the Head of Performance Lifestyle at the Scottish Institute of Sport, and she provided advice and information to all of our members across a range of topics; from methods to cope with life changing events to how to continually develop their careers outside the game. One of the big goals of the SCA is to help players find a way to continually develop both in life and with their transferable skills to help with career transition after cricket. With help from Susie and other sources of support this is something that we hope will come easier for players. The support is also there for players who have any personal struggles. Having Susie joining us for the AGM it helps the members become more familiar with her and helps create a valuable relationship where players can feel comfortable in sharing sensitive information. In my opinion life style managers are invaluable in the current climate of sport with greater awareness of mental health struggles becoming more apparent.
Last but not least Jamie Sole from Virtuo Wealth kindly came in to discuss various insurance advice and potential covers for the players. Previously players would be left on their own to arrange these and often be unsure of the best policies. Jamie will offer valuable support for the players and over time he will help players to have a more rounded and wholesome support network.
Days like the AGM are a real positive step for the SCA. With momentum building and the support network growing in and around the association, the players in Scotland can now start to see how cricket can potentially be a career path and now understand that they have people around them to help. Even though the SCA is still in its relative infancy the strides gained have been nothing short of extraordinary since its inception. I look forward to helping the SCA and its players continue this journey and over the next year or so we will be looking to engage as much as possible with previous Scotland players and continue to build our network on and off the field.
Comments Off on Michael Leask – My Level 3 experience
In 2018 the first ever ECB level 3 coaching course was held in Scotland. The course was spaced across the country with the half the modules being delivered in Edinburgh throughout the winter before finishing in Dundee for the second half of the course. It was an excellent course and very well run. This was evident by the fact there were 4 players with international experience on the course; Kevin O’Brien (Ireland), Craig Wallace, Scott Cameron and myself (Scotland). There were also some international coaches there with the Dutch national women’s head coach and assistant coach attending. This was alongside with a host of other passionate local coaches. It was brilliant to be able to talk cricket from a coaching point of view with so many different people who all had so many different views on coaching.
The first part of the course was all about skill development, focusing on fielding, batting, bowling (both spin and seam), along with a book club and strength and condition. During this section some brilliant coaches from all over England came to give detailed insight on their specialist areas. Former England test batter, Mark Ramprakash did the batting, with Charlie Freeston, who is Hampshire County Cricket Club’s bowling coach, overseeing the bowling. It was really exciting to be able to pick both their brains about certain things and get into real details about the game.
I really found the seam bowling with Charlie very informative and a real eye opener about different drills that are available to help. Even just basics of seam presentation work was superb.
The book club was also quite an entertaining section of this week as thankfully were all trying to be coaches not actors. Within the book club each group was given a different book, including books like, “Bounce” and “Inner game of tennis”. Groups would then take it in turn to portray the message from the books back to the rest of the team. It was a really different and interesting way to go about learning, and one of the highlights of the course.
From there we were sent back to our clubs to do the coaching side of things with our team/individual player. For this we had to write coaching programmes for both team and individual players. This bit really made me think about how to try and get the best out of the player and gave me a different way of thinking about cricket rather than my own game. Over the course of the season I saw great improvements within the player, not only with his ability to bowl spin, but also his tactical ability. During this period we had to be assessed on our coaching by a mentor, which thankfully went quite successfully.
The second section of the course was more about coaching styles, touching on areas like – how to extract information from players and observing/evaluating other coaches to discuss the differences. I found this section very useful as it made me realise that there are so many different styles of coaching and saw them being put into action. Some were very hands on and direct in asking questions straight of the bat (no pun intended), some take their time and watch the skill before engaging with the player, some would just be very quick to point out certain things with players and some would wait till the players has made that mistake a few times then question them as to why it has happened so they can self-learn. It was a great insight into all the ways to approach a situation. I also found out quickly that you will not always get the answer from players that you expect. It can be totally different than the one you are expecting to hear, and you need to be on your toes.
I am hoping to use the knowledge I have gained within this level 3 course to not only expand my own coaching style and abilities, but also to help my own game. Being able to reflect better and think differently about the game has been a real addition to my all-round cricket.
I would highly recommend any aspiring coaches to work towards getting on this course.
