Michael Yardy returns to Sussex as academy director

Yardy has been Kent’s batting coach for the last two seasons, having previously held the same role with New South Wales and Sydney Thunder

Michaerl Yardy is returning to Sussex as the county’s academy director, replacing Richard Halsall, who has left the club after three years.

Yardy, a former club captain, has been Kent’s batting coach for the last two seasons, having previously held the same role with New South Wales and Sydney Thunder.

The 40-year-old, who has also spent time in a coaching capacity with England Young Lions, began his coaching career at the county for which he scored more than 10,000 first-class runs, working with the second team and as a batting coach between 2017 and 2019.

During the most successful period in Sussex’s history, Yardy was a key part; his playing career spanned 15 years, with three of those spent as club captain. He also won the 2010 World T20 as England’s left-arm spinner.

“It’s great to be coming back to Sussex, particularly in a role that is so crucial to the future of the club,” he said.

He returns to Hove at an important time, with the county losing several senior pros in a short space of time, with plenty of burden being placed on a raft of talented youngsters. Danial Ibrahim, Archie Lenham and James Coles have all represented England Under-19s, while Jack Carson was the third-most prolific spinner in this season’s County Championship.

Henry Crocombe has come in for praise from several who have faced him, while 10 of the Sussex team that lost to Middlesex in mid-September were products of private schools in the region, five of whom have also played club cricket for Eastbourne. There have also been opportunities for Ali Orr, 20, Oli Carter, 19, Tom Clark, 20, Tom Hinley, 18, Jamie Atkins, 19, Harrison Ward, 21, Joe Sarro, 19, and Sean Hunt, 19.

The line-up that faced Worcestershire at the end of August was the youngest ever fielded in a County Championship game.

^{Michael Yardy spent 15 years at Sussex, with three of those as club captain}

Yardy added: “Top of my list of priorities is making sure our emerging young players are ready for professional cricket and can perform in the first team as quickly as possible after reaching that level. As well as the technical and tactical requirements, making sure they’ve got the mental approach and resilience they’ll need will be a big focus of mine and something we’ll be looking at throughout the pathway.

“There are some very good coaches throughout the pathway and they’ll play a big part in shaping our approach. Rich Halsall has done some excellent work over the last few years and we’ll be looking to build on that as we strive to make the Sussex pathway the best in cricket.  

“If we can do that, then we’ll be producing cricketers that can not only win games and trophies for Sussex but also do the same for England.”

Yardy, who has an undergraduate degree in sports psychology and has been working towards his masters, spoke to The Cricketer last year about his coaching philosophy and how his interest in the psychological side of the game had informed his approach.

“You go in there as a young coach with a lot of ideas and a lot of things you think are right or wrong,” he said. “But what I’ve found is that it’s better to take the time to get to know people and understand how they work and what their motivations are and what makes them tick and what they’ve gone through.

“Technique is very black and white, isn’t it? If you put your head in the right position or you lead with your front arm with your bowling and keep your head skill, it’s very clear. It’s like: ‘Well, you didn’t do this and you didn’t do that. Your head fell over, your front arm fell away.’ It’s so easy to go down that route.

“But actually, why did it happen? Was he not clear in his plans? Was he thinking about what had happened previously? Was he worried about losing the game? Was he worried about what people were thinking? Was he worried about not getting it right and what the outcome would be? There are so many questions to it that I think will ultimately impact on how someone gets it right or wrong.

“I think there’s so much to it, there’s so much scope to make people better.”

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