After completing ten days in his new job, as Glamorgan Cricket Chief Executive and Director of Cricket, Hugh Morris talks about the new year, new season and new challenges in front of him and Glamorgan CCC.
Return to Wales
I am delighted to be back in Cardiff and I am really excited to be back at Glamorgan County Cricket Club. It's a very different place from when last worked here. It is a great Stadium and a terrific place to work, and I am looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into the job.
The challenge in front of me is one of the biggest of my professional career, but it is also one of the attractions of the role. Glamorgan has been part of my life since I was a young boy, coming through the ranks and then playing for the Club for 17 years.
I 've been away a long time, there's a lot to learn and one of my key jobs initially is to look and listen and talk to the people involved here to get a clear picture of how things operate. I am looking forward to meeting with, and listening to, people who have been close to the Club in recent times, and hearing their views on the future of the Club.
I am Chief Executive but also Director of Cricket, so I hope to bring my experience of over 30 years as a player and administrator and particularly what I learned over the last 16 years at the England and Wales Cricket Board back to Glamorgan.
I know what a sports mad country Wales is. I've been part and parcel of it for a number of years I'm excited to be back here and making sure we have success here on and off the field.
Make Wales proud
We need to make Wales proud of what we do on and off the cricket field. Glamorgan has a fantastic facility and working environment here, so I want to reach out to the community and draw them in to show off the SWALEC Stadium and the Club. We've got some talented young players and I'm determined our development programme will help drive a core of welsh players into the Glamorgan team.
A high priority for me is identifying and developing young Welsh talent. I was fortunate to play in a Glamorgan side, twenty years ago, where 80% of the side came from Wales and through the system and I would like to see us return to that.
There's nine young welsh men that have been signed onto our development programme, but of course it is going to take a little while for them to bed in and get the right levels of experience.
Goals
As a professional sports person you want to be playing at the highest level you can so a target of ours has to be returning to the First Division of the County Championship.
We haven't done so for a number of years. Also challenging for one-day titles is important, it was fantastic to see the team at a Lord's final last season and that has to be an ambition for the Club.
Talented squad
I think we have a good blend of youth and experience. It reminds me of when I first started at Glamorgan way back in the early 80s we had not achieved anything on the field for a long time but we built a winning team.
There are some outstanding senior players here and their records prove that over a period of time and they will form pillars of experience around which we can introduce some of our youngsters.
I am encouraged by what I have seen and heard about some of our younger players. We've got a staff of 19 now, which is smaller than we have had for some time but that potentially gives opportunities for players.
Coaching Team
Toby Radford started before Christmas as our Head Coach and has been working hard with the players and our playing staff are now in full time although some are overseas.
Toby has a strong work ethic, he worked with some of the England junior squads some time ago, he was director of cricket at Middlesex and more recently worked with the West Indies side. He has had the players in earlier than they have been before and he has been working them hard, so I'm sure we will see some of the fruits of that when summer comes round.
I spoke to Matthew Maynard before Christmas and so did Toby Radford. Matthew has been such an important figure within this Club over many years. He has great pedigree and gravitas around the Club, so we agreed to sit down and discuss a role for him, very much on a part-time basis, perhaps 25-30 day a year role, but he has vast experience as a player and coach and is synonymous with this Club.
It will be very much part time, Matthew has got a lot of other exciting things that he is doing at the moment and it's really important any role we find for Matthew allows him to dovetail with what else he has got on and adds value to the Club.
Captaincy
The captaincy decision is one we will be making in the near future. It's important to have our leadership in place so they can get their thoughts and ideas together and we can discuss it with them so that's very high on the agenda and is likely to be one of the first decisions we will make.
Fixture Schedule
T20 cricket has taken on a whole new meaning in recent times and it's an important part of our calendar. The structure of our season to have six Friday night home games is a real opportunity for us. The volume of cricket we play makes it very difficult to schedule blocks of cricket and I think the ECB have done a good job in making sure we have a reasonable balance throughout the summer.
Given the resources we have within the current playing staff, they need to be given a chance in all competitions. The T20 Blast competition gives us a fantastic opportunity, we've got 7 home games next season, six on a Friday night and that's excellent for the players but also for supporters and followers of Glamorgan CCC to have a really good Friday night out.
We're lucky we've got a great facility, pretty much in Cardiff city centre and I want to reach out to the community and make sure Friday nights are as well supported as possible. We've got a lot of good players here and it promises to be a great Friday night out for Glamorgan supporters and the people in Cardiff.
An Evening with Hugh Morris
Glamorgan will be hosting an evening with Hugh Morris, at the Museum of Welsh Cricket on Wednesday, March 12th starting at7.30pm. The Museum will be open from 6.45pm, tickets in advance - Members £3; Non-members £4 or tickets on the night - £5.
For more details click here or contact museum@glamorgancricket.co.uk