The WCB Community coaches are meeting in person for first time in 18 months. In the interim, they’ve coached together in small groups at Chance to Shine Street sessions and other community settings, and have met as a larger team on Zoom, but have not all seen each other face to face since the start of the pandemic. As well as being a long awaited opportunity to meet up, one purpose of the evening is for the coaching team to discuss this upcoming publicity for “Meet the Community Coaching Team”. With the men’s T20 World Cup coming up, the idea is to present the coaching team as our very own T20 World Cup Community Coaching XI. The team have to agree amongst themselves a batting order, wicket keeper, opening bowlers and captain. What could possibly go wrong?…..
Before they share a meal, Mina Zahoor, WCB Communities Officer, takes photos of each individual coach, followed by a team photo. Each coach takes their turn in front of the camera, proudly wearing their Chance to Shine coaching shirt (whilst in some cases their colleagues provide some background banter about their supposed choice of an XS shirt that shows physique to best effect!).
One doesn’t have to spend very much time with this group to see their passion for their job, their liveliness and enthusiasm around each other, and how they blend together as a team in spite of not having seen each other for so long. Most of the community coaches have other jobs during the day; many are teachers and therefore used to working with young people. There is a sense, however, that their community cricket coaching roles allow them to combine their two primary passions of cricket and improving the lives and opportunities of the young people they work with.
Once inside the restaurant, the debate rages and trips to the buffet are made in between some lively arguments about the batting order for our Community Coaching World Cup XI. Let’s take a fly on the wall view of the discussions as the team make their journey to agreeing the team……
Early discussions focus on the opening batters and wicket keeper. These positions are agreed quickly and unanimously, giving the completely false impression that selection of this team is going to be an easy task. Everything which comes after is contentious. The middle order is the problem area – everyone wants to be the one who comes in at 6, tonks a few big ones into the stands and brings the team home in a blaze of glory! No one feels they should be batting below 7. Time passes, the debate feels never ending, people go to the buffet and are relegated down the batting order in their absence. People then return from the buffet and engage in a spirited campaign of resistance to their relegation in the batting order. Somehow, miraculously, when everyone has had their say, a compromise is reached, and a batting order is agreed.
The job isn’t done yet, though. With just a pause for the collection of desserts to share around the table, the debate starts again, this time about opening bowlers and a captain. There are a few strong candidates to open the bowling, but in the end the group agree on those with a strong track record and proven experience. Choice of captain stimulates more lively debate, with a couple of longstanding coaches throwing their hats in the ring. Interestingly, this tight knit group is reluctant to disturb the team dynamic by choosing one of them over another. A third candidate is proposed, a person who the group describe as “calm and everyone will listen to them”. Suddenly, as the last desserts are scooped from their bowls, we have agreement and the mission is accomplished…..
….It’s time to meet the WCB T20 World Cup Community Coaches XI
#1 Imran Majid
Imran is the unanimous choice of the team to open the batting. A left handed batter, with a highest score of 108*, his favourite player is Brian Lara, which bodes well. Imran is incredibly tall and any suggestion that he is quite tall for an opener is met with a grin and a majestic sweep of the hand. “I am an opening batter,” he declares, and the matter is immediately settled.
#2 Aasim Aziz (Captain)
Sat across the table from Irman is Aasim, the two already facing each other in that opening partnership. There is an air of serenity between these two at the centre of the table, quietly getting on with their business whilst banter and the occasional insult are traded over their heads. Aasim is the team member elected captain, being described by his colleagues as calm and someone everyone will listen to. This is the patience and approach we would expect from a maths teacher and mental health first aider. As with Imran, Aasim is an automatic choice at the top of the order. There is little discussion about his batting prowess (such knowledge is assumed) but Aasim’s choice of AB de Villiers as his favourite player is a good sign.
#3 Raja Shahzeb
Although one of the youngest in the coaching team, there is general agreement that Sports Science student Shaz is the man for the number 3 slot. He has played Warwickshire age group cricket as a youngster and also in the Birmingham Premier League, with a high score of 104*. Shaz names Kevin Pietersen as his favourite player so we might see some fireworks when he comes in to bat. We’ll also see how that cheeky grin plays out with the umpires.
#4 Shozair Ali
Shozair is a full time WCB coach, working in schools and community cricket. He is hardworking and talented both as a cricket coach and a player. The other coaches remind us all that Shozair represented England in an U19 World Cup and has the perfect big stage mentality to deliver at number 4. Talented with both bat and the ball, Shozair is also a strong contender for opening bowler, but may have been pipped at the post by others and remains a very strong option at first change.
#5 Simi Panesar
Simi originally suggested her ideal batting position was 6, but she’s been promoted up the batting order on account of her incredible ability to deliver on a number of fronts, whatever the circumstances. A teacher, cricket and fitness coach, business woman and cricketer, Simi is the ideal player to come in and get the job done at 5, no matter what situation the team finds itself in. She’s hard working and unlikely to panic - just what the team needs at 5.
#6 Siraj Ali (wicketkeeper)
Siraj is an undisputed safe pair of hands and a unanimous choice for wicketkeeper, trusted by all with the gloves. Trust is a word that comes up frequently in discussions around the table. Parents, communities and players have great trust in the community coaching team, many of whom have worked with the same young people for years and been positive influences in their lives. Siraj himself is one such person who has benefitted from the guidance he has received over the years as a participant and then coach, from coaches and then colleagues such as Khalid. Siraj is a teacher at Saltley Academy and his mantra is, “For every setback, there is a comeback.” We are hoping he doesn’t have many setbacks with the gloves.
#7 LeRon “Ronnie” Barker (joint vice-captain)
Ronnie exudes exactly the calm confidence we would expect from an accomplished cricketer who grew up watching Sir Garfield Sobers, is a Level 3 coach with Chance to Shine and the ACE Programme in Birmingham, and a scout for Warwickshire. He declares himself a logical choice for opening bowler and also for captain, having “been captain of every team I ever played for.” Ronnie will have to settle for the vice-captaincy in this team, but definitely is in with a shout of opening the bowling. The trade-off is he’s now batting slightly lower than he would like.
#8 Mohammed Arif
Arif is the ultimate team player, happy to play anywhere he is asked to and to support the team. He is the one who brings everyone together, looks for positive outcomes, a thinker. Arif will happily bat at 8 and give everything in the field. You just know he’s going to be there in the inner ring encouraging everyone during a match. It’s Arif who proudly points out over dinner that WCB is the first cricket board to have all its community coaches trained as mental health first aiders.
#9 Waqas Khan
Waqas isn’t one of the loudest members of the group, but he has the quietly confident air of a canny leg spinner who’s going to frustrate the opposition in those middle overs. Undoubtedly a team player, he is also very considerate, ensuring other members of the group have what they need and are able access to the buffet. Waqas’s role as a pastoral manager in a secondary school seems the perfect complement to his passion for working with young people as a cricket coach.
#10 Khalid Sadiq (joint vice-captain)
Khalid is universally acclaimed as the team’s Darren Stephens. As well as experience, he brings energy to the team. If anyone’s going to fire up this team, it’s going to be Khalid. Khalid’s passion for coaching and developing young people is undiminished after nearly two decades. Sadly though, Khalid’s untimely visit to the buffet has cost him dearly and in his absence he is relegated down the batting order to 10. When he returns, Khalid mounts a fierce campaign to minimise this damage by opening the bowling. His claims to be a demon “can land it on a five pence” bowler are backed up by evidence on his phone of a 7 wicket haul against Perry Barr, conceding just two runs. The online match report would suggest that this performance did indeed take place since the invention of the Internet (colleagues are less sure this is the case for his 200* with the bat). As a result, vice captain Khalid opens with the ball but stays at 10.
#11 Farid Mohammed
Unable to attend the gathering, Farid has inevitably found himself batting at 11 or as one colleague put it, “just before the roller.” Let’s hope Farid is prepared to pitch in with the ball and in the field, as with such a strong line up above him, he’s unlikely to see much action with the bat.
Coach - Mina Zahoor
Mina’s day to day role sees her deploying a range of coaching tactics to get the very best from the community coaching team. She knows them all incredibly well and is able to bring all their skills and experience together into a successful team. An experienced cricketer herself, Mina doesn’t hesitate to get involved when required and the team admire her for that. Organising tonight’s event has certainly boosted her contribution to the team’s nutrition programme (if we ignore the number of desserts consumed towards the end).
Manager - Eaton Gordon
Eaton works tirelessly at the strategic level, liaising with other parts of WCB and beyond, to create the best environment for the team to flourish. He always has an eye for the balance of the team and the potential to recruit new members to the team. Like Nina, Eaton is also happy to roll his sleeves up and get stuck in. Participants and coaches alike have a great respect for Eaton.
Just before they leave for the evening, the team considers the question, “What makes this team special?” Captain Aasim answers immediately with the word, “Camaraderie.” Others add comments about the team being a perfect mix of ages, experience, skills and personalities. Everyone brings something to the team, and everyone is prepared to go what is described as “the extra mile” for each other. Khalid summarises all this, announcing, “We are the dream team.” Whether the team can realise dreams of T20 World Cup glory remains to be seen, but they’ll have a good go.
