Wyclif Cricket Club is excited to announce the selection of Jason Smith as playing coach for the upcoming season. Jason is a former member of the West Indies U/19′s side and has extensive experience playing in the West Indies and the UK, including at Surrey & Sussex Cricket Clubs. Jason is a 31 year old right arm off-spinner and middle order batsman, and is an extremely accomplished fielder.
Importantly, Jason is a Level 3 accredited coach, and has extensive coaching experience at the Ken Barrington Cricket Centre in the UK and the Barbados National Sports Centre as well as at numerous cricket clubs in the West Indies and the UK. He also has a degree in Sports Science and Personal Training.
With a young, talented core group of players coming through the Club, we felt it was the appropriate time to engage someone of Jason’s calibre to implement on-field and off-field structures and standards that will have long lasting benefits to the Club. Jason will work closely with First Eleven captain Alex Maunder to achieve this.
Jason will also have a heavy involvement coaching our junior teams at training and games, which is a great fillip for the junior club.
With Jason coming over from Barbados, we’re really keen for the Club to embrace him and make him feel welcome at Wyclif and in Melbourne. Jason’s already pumped to illustrate his culinary expertise at Table of Champions and with the West Indies touring Australia this summer we might have some special guests around the trestle table!!
Jason played in the U/19′s with Jerome Taylor, Dinesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy and Dwayne Bravo amongst others. His mentor and referee is Pakistani great Saqlain Mustaq. During his county career, he has played with international players such as Luke Wright, Matt Prior and Alex Tudor, and has played against players such as Moeen Ali, Chris Harris and Mark Waugh.
At Grappenhall C.C in the UK in 2012, Jason took 55 wickets at 10.42 and made 556 runs at 37 with 5 x 50′s and 1 x 100. Jason replaced former South African captain Graeme Smith at Cambrey C.C as their overseas professional after Smith broke his hand and was unable to play a few years earlier and had great success.
Jason’s best bowling figures are 9/68 and he has a top score of 160. He was also the winner of the prestigious Lord Garvin Award for most outstanding youth cricketer in the West Indies, which has an alumni of household names as winners.
Jason said on his appointment “I am very excited about my appointment as player/coach at Wyclif CC. Having chatted to a few clubs no doubt I felt this was the club I can take to another level and also take my coaching to another level. Obviously the social aspect will be a bonus which I’ll bring to the table with my tasty cooking. Looking forward to the 2015/2016 season.”
Once again, please do all you can to make Jason (or “Spinal” as is his nickname) feel welcome at the Wyclif Cricket Club, and we look forward to a very exciting and successful season. Welcome