Alleyne appointed new MCC Head Coach

Date released: 17 February 2009

New appointment: Mark Alleyne Mark Alleyne, the former Gloucestershire and England all-rounder and Gloucestershire Head Coach, has been appointed as MCC Head Coach.

Responsible for overseeing the MCC Young Cricketers at Lord’s and for developing coaching structures throughout MCC, Alleyne, 40, will assume the post in early April.

He will succeed Clive Radley, the former Middlesex and England batsman and MCC Head Coach since 1991, who will retire after a 48 year association with Lord’s.

Alleyne made his first-class debut for Gloucestershire in 1986 and remained at the county for his entire playing career.

Alleyne won the C&G Trophy with Gloucestershire at Lord's in 2003 His seven years as captain brought much success, numerous visits to Lord’s for the major one day finals and, in 2000, the much sought-after accolade of Wisden Cricketer of the Year.

National honours came in the form of ten One Day Internationals and captaincy of the England ‘A’ team on two tours. He was awarded an MBE for Services to Cricket in 2001.

Making a swift transition from playing to coaching, Mark served as Head Coach of Gloucestershire from 2004 to 2007.

Currently, he is a specialist coach at the National Performance Centre in Loughborough, the England Under 15 Coach and Chairman of the Professional Cricket Coaches Association.

'Ideal blend'

Stephenson: Alleyne 'will be a tremendous asset' John Stephenson, MCC Assistant Secretary (Cricket & Estates), was responsible for the appointment. He said:

"We are delighted that Mark has accepted our offer to become the next MCC Head Coach.

"He has the ideal blend of cricketing experience and reputation allied to a very appropriate coaching style for the Club and our MCC Young Cricketers in particular.

"In addition, Mark has proven motivational skills and a very good understanding of the business of cricket.

"Chosen from a very strong field, he will be a tremendous asset for MCC and I look forward to working with him.

"Succeeding ‘Rad’ won’t be easy but I’m very confident that Mark will excel in the role."

Exciting opportunity

Mark Alleyne said: "I am very pleased to be joining MCC as Head Coach. Much like Clive and his predecessors, I look forward to a long relationship with MCC and I hope I can bring similar success to the Club and to the development of the MCC Young Cricketers.

"MCC is at the heart of world cricket and Lord’s is the best stage to operate from.

"It is my aim to ensure that successful coaching programmes are put in place, links to MCC Universities are built on and the MCC Young Cricketers attracts the top aspiring cricketers around the country.

"This is an exciting opportunity and I can’t wait to get started."

Mark Alleyne’s remit as MCC Head Coach will be wide-ranging.

He will seek to produce professional cricketers from the ranks of the MCC Young Cricketers, who compete in the 2nd XI Championship.

In addition, he will forge closer links with the six MCC University Centres of Cricketing Excellence and will be involved in the implementation of coaching structures in the MCC Indoor Cricket School.

Clive Radley will be staying on at MCC for the 2009 season. After an initial handover period to Mark Alleyne, ‘Rad’ will coach and manage the combined MCC Universities team, who will also compete in the Second XI Championship.