New Coaching Duo at Bath CC
30 July 2024
Bath Cricket Club has appointed two new community cricket coaches to expand the club’s community coaching and mentoring programme, which already delivers curriculum group cricket, one-to-one mentoring, and disability pro- grammes to 13 schools engaging with more than 1,200 children in Bath & North East Somerset (BANES).
Josh Norgrove and Matt Tomes-Smith joined the coaching team recently and have already enabled the club to put plans into place to expand their youth cricket sessions on a Saturday during the winter, which will be open to all young players across BANES. Norgrove is a former Wiltshire County youth cricketer who now represents Bath’s 2nd XI, and Tomes-Smith has experience of running community cricket initiatives, such as Chance to Shine and Dynamos for Surrey CCC and Middlesex CCC.
Bath CC’s community coaching and mentoring programme also benefits from the club’s three-lane cricket centre, which is the most advanced in BANES, with the same Core Max playing surface as used at Lords and the ECB Academy at Loughborough University, and the latest iPad operated bowling machines.
Mark Watts, junior & community manager at Bath CC said: “The appointments of both Josh and Matt as community cricket coaches will allow us to develop more initiatives with the Somerset Cricket Foundation to deliver more programmes and projects across BANES. This extra resource is already allowing us to put plans in place to launch Street Cricket for 10-15-year-olds, and Walking Cricket for those people that still want to play the game but may have not have the mobility to play for their local club in senior cricket matches at weekends. We’re also looking to expand our winter cricket programme this year in order to offer Saturday morning cricket in our state of the art cricket centre. These sessions will be open to all children across the region and will be tailored to softball sessions for All Stars (5-8 year olds) and Dynamos (8-11 year olds) including an introduction to hard ball cricket, and age group specific hard ball cricket sessions for under 11 too under 15 age groups.”
Tomes-Smith added: “As I took my first cricketing steps as a young player at Bath CC, this role is giving me a great opportunity to carry on my coaching career at a club that is close to my heart. I’m very keen to help create a club environment where everyone is welcome whether it’s a child with aspirations to play professional cricket or those coming for a social with friends. Through effective funding we can take cricket to places and areas of Bath where cricket has never been to allow the game to grow further.”
Norgrove said: “I’m delighted to start this role as I wanted a career in something I had a genuine interest in, having travelled to New Zealand for six months I found that coaching was something that’s immensely rewarding to me. I have a passion for helping others very much like those that have helped and supported me through my own cricketing journey. Within the community the aim of giving the opportunity of playing cricket to each and every individual possible really excites me, as I can play a key role in helping them to experience the game and potentially join a club in or around Bath."
