Sheffield Cricket Lovers' Society Year Book 2020

at the crease SPEAKERS 2018-19 BY ROGER ALLUM 19 www.sheffieldcricketlovers.org.uk June 10th, 2018 was a proud day for John Blain. Capped over a hundred times by Scotland and one of its youngest ever players, he had watched on as his countrymen beat the much vaunted England in a high-scoring One-Day International at The Grange Club in Edinburgh, where he is director of cricket. Undaunted after leaving his notes on the train coming down from Edinburgh, John revealed that he always wanted to be a professional cricketer, but it wasn’t a straightforward decision as he had been offered contracts by both Hibernian and Falkirk football clubs as a teenager. However, Northants recognised his ability as a bowling all-rounder and he spent seven seasons with them before moving to Yorkshire in 2004, following a phone call from Steve Oldham. There was no hiding John’s admiration for Steve, a proper coach as he called him, someone who instils confidence in bowlers and teaches them the tricks of the trade. Steve’s special gift of picking holes in a bowler’s action and then putting it right worked for John; Steve helped him establish a position in the crease that prevented his back foot from skidding round, enabling him to bowl more accurately. When his first-class playing career ended he moved into Yorkshire’s coaching set-up as Assistant Fast-Bowling Coach and Academy Coach, later taking on the role of Second XI Coach as well. His enthusiasm for sharing his cricketing knowledge with other players had not gone unnoticed at the top level and in his three years as a coach he benefitted greatly from working alongside Steve Oldham. But the appointment of Jason Gillespie as head coach at the end of 2011 led to him leaving, along with Steve, Kevin Sharp and Craig White. Back in Scotland, coaching at the West of Scotland Cricket Club in Glasgow, John was tapped up by a Grange board member to move to Edinburgh. That ultimately led to his appointment as director of cricket at The Grange. He found there was a self-indulgent environment; Scotland’s best wicket attracting the top players but with little competition for places. That all changed with the establishment of The Grange Academy, its ethos based on a combination of top-level cricket coaching and tailored personal development to produce well-rounded players, something John had experienced at Yorkshire’s Academy. With three of his Academy graduates going on to join Durham and Hampshire, and Grange winning the league, cup and T20 competitions in the same season for the first time in its history, John’s revolution is clearly working. It was a surprise to learn that there are more cricketers than rugby players in Scotland – 17,500 at 140 clubs. An even bigger surprise was the size of the pay cheque that Scotland’s players received for beating England: £67.52 (after tax). Making waves north of the border 10 December 2018 John Blain Director of Cricket, The Grange John Blain (right) with member, Mike Snook