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- Croft Sets Glamorgan On England Path
By Graham Thomas
Robert Croft has set Glamorgan a twin target after taking over as the county’s new head coach – and he will use England’s blueprint to reach them.
The former England spinner – who was in South Africa with the national one-day squad until Sunday night – gave a clear indication of his ambitions after settling behind his desk on the first day of his new job.
Promotion to Division One of the County Championship and progress to the knockout stages of the T20 tournament are Croft’s goals.
The 45-year-old insists the transition from player to bowling coach at the county three years ago – under deposed former head coach Toby Radford – was straightforward enough and so, too, will be the move to coaching the players who used to be teammates.
“I actually felt I had left the dressing room when I was still a player because there was such an age gap,” says the only man in Glamorgan’s history to take over 1,00 first class wickets and score more than 10,000 first class runs.
“As a 42-year-old playing with guys in their early 20s, what you do off the field is very different. I don’t think we liked each other’s musical tastes.”
Croft was in South Africa last week, in his role as an England specialist spin bowling coach, when the call came through from Glamorgan chief executive Hugh Morris to offer him the job.
He spent the weekend packing and saying his goodbyes before heading back to Wales, where he becomes the latest man charged with delivering the kind of success Glamorgan last enjoyed in any measure when he was young player 20 years ago.
Some of the coaches who have followed since have brought fleeting moments of promise. Others have delivered little more than hot air and the latest coaching jargon.
If nothing else, the Croft era will be reflect the man – recognisable, understandable and genuine.
“It comes down to ambition. Where is the end of your rainbow? That is something the players will be challenged to achieve. Whatever time we are here representing this club, we want to leave a positive mark and look back on our time with smiles on our faces.
“We want to believe we did everything we could to get things going. What I am saying won’t be unique, but it’s a point I will be pressing home.
“Everyone will judge me in their own way. I want to see a team that is proud to represent this club and is fully aware of what it takes and what an honour it is on and off the field.
“I want to see a fiercely competitive team on the field and good people off it. Most coaches are judged by wins and losses. We will be challenging ourselves to be competitive in every competition and not going there to make up the numbers.
“When we talk about the County Championship, we got close last year and I would like to try and build on the success of that after we fell away a bit at the end. We have some fresh legs coming into the squad.
“In the T20, we have box office players and we would like to get through into the knockout stages. If we can get close to that and promotion to Division One, then that would be great.”
England are bubbling at present and Croft intends to bottle some of what he has discovered in a young and vibrant Test squad – and then uncork it at the Swalec Stadium.
“From what I saw in South Africa, the beauty with England was the simplicity. They had full trust in their players who were under no illusions what the ambition was but they were allowed to play.
“England are excellent. They have a very good balance at the top and Eoin Morgan comes across as a very good leader and knows what he wants. The style of play is no fear and what was impressive was the different styles of play in their first two victories.
“We have short, medium and long-term goals. I don’t want to use throwaway lines like that but it’s true.
“I played in a team where lots of young Welsh players played and they weren’t ready. Potentially, we lost a generation.
“What we are mindful of is if you are a Welsh player then great, but you have to be a very good Welsh player. When you do break into the side there are quality players who can help them.
“We don’t want any quick fixes, we want quality. The mission statement is to make Wales proud and we are looking to do that.”
