A Sunshine Coast cricket club is enjoying a cameo from a renowned coach who has made a return to the grassroots level.
Caloundra Cricket Club has welcomed the input of David Saker before he takes up the head coaching role at the Melbourne Renegades for the summer.
Saker, 55, has held coaching roles with Australia, England, Sri Lanka and the United States and, in his younger days, played first-class cricket for the Victorian Bushrangers and the Tasmanian Tigers.
He has been helping Caloundra players, from teenagers through to veterans in their 50s, on Wednesday nights and is set to offer advice to local coaches at a special ‘Coach the Coaches’ session on October 15. For information email upskillcricket@gmail.com
“He really wants to give back to grassroots cricket, which is fantastic for us as a club,” Caloundra president Alex Cottrell said.
“He’s bought into what Caloundra is doing and wants to make sure there are some elite cricketers coming through in the years to come.
“He has made a massive difference already. We’ve won four out of our first six games this season (Division 1 T20 competition) and we didn’t win one in this format last season.
“He’s brought confidence to the club. When somebody of his stature speaks, everyone listens.
“And he’s simplified the game, including what to do on game day and how to prepare.”
Saker, who was approached by Cottrell to help at Caloundra, is relishing his role there.
“I’ve enjoyed being a part of it. There are lots of good, young kids, and it’s been good fun,” he said.
“It takes me back to my early days in cricket, when I played for a similar club in Melbourne and that’s when I enjoyed my cricket the most.
“It’s grassroots cricket and it’s real coaching.
“Coaching at the highest level is quite easy because the players are talented.
“But at this level they’ve got a lot to learn and it’s really about going back to the basics and coaching a bit better than you usually would.”
Saker was focused on helping some players get to the next level, while improving others and ensuring they enjoyed the sport.
“You’re sort of catering for everyone,” he said.
“You have to be a bit more flexible with the way you coach.”
His stint with the Lighthouses is a precursor to another campaign with the Renegades in the Big Bash League. He also coached them in 2015-2016.
The franchise is trying to finalise its roster for the upcoming season.
“It will be a good challenge (this summer),” he said.
“Renegades have been near the bottom of the ladder for the past two seasons so hopefully we can get some wins and get back into finals contention.
“We think we’ve got a good enough list to do that.”
Key to their campaign are top-order batsmen Shaun Marsh and Aaron Finch.
“They performed quite poorly last year, and they’d be the first to admit that,” Saker said.
“But those two are classy Australian players so it will be good if they perform well.”
The team has also recruited Nic Maddinson from the Melbourne Stars.
“He is another very good player who probably hasn’t performed as well as he could and with the talent he’s got, at the Big Bash level.
“But our top four or five batters will be as good as any in the competition and we’re trying to recruit some overseas players.”
He’s also keen to watch the upcoming Ashes series.
“It’s going to be interesting to see what happens,” he said
“There’s been a bit of pushback with some of the restrictions they (England squad) are going to have to go through and they have already had to be in quarantine and player bubbles (this year). I think they’re starting to get a bit sick of it all.
“So, it will be interesting to see what sort of group England bring.
“Regardless, you’d think Australia will still be too good. Their top four fast bowlers (James Pattinson, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc) are the best four fast bowlers going around as a group.
“Then you put (spinner) Nathan Lyon in there and look at the batting with Dave Warner, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne. You’d think they’d get enough runs to win.
“You never know, the Ashes can sometimes bring some (new) heroes through, but I think Australia are a few steps ahead and will be pretty hard to beat in their backyard.”
Saker moved from Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast about five years ago and is loving life in the region.
“It’s a great place to live,” he said. “Especially if you like fishing and beaches.”
“There is pretty much everything here and my wife and kids love it. It’s a pretty easy place to live.”
