7th April 2024
| Matt Thompson
Wales National County North are pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Stead as their first Head Coach since its forming in 2022.
Set up to provide a greater window of opportunity for players in the region to combat the geographical challenges in Wales, Wales NC North operates a senior team and an U19s team (underneath the senior Wales National County side) with Stead assuming coaching duties for both sides with immediate effect. He will work closely with the team’s founder and manager Russell Penrhyn Jones and Cricket Wales Head of Talent Pathway Matt Dando-Thompson.
Stead, who currently serves as Head Coach of Denbigh’s senior men’s team, has a wealth of playing and coaching experience having represented Middlesex at junior representative level before establishing himself as a prolific batter for Hertfordshire Premier League side Cockfosters, scoring over 7000 runs either side of a stint for Home Counties side North Mymms. Four seasons at minor counties level for Hertfordshire and captaining Cockfosters to two premier league titles means his name will be synonymous with success across Hertfordshire. His coaching involvement in cricket spans two decades across the junior and senior game in both male and female environments. Chris also has an extensive coaching background in football at semi professional level with goalkeeping and academy roles at Welyn Garden City and Barnet respectively amongst others.
CAPTION: Chris Stead becomes the first appointed Head Coach for Wales NC North since its formation in 2022.
Upon being appointed Stead commented:
“I am delighted with being appointed in this role and at the prospect of helping to develop some of the great players currently within the setup. I’m also really looking forward to working with those up and coming players, to assist them in making steps further in the game and helping them reach their goals and beyond.”
Cricket Wales Head of Talent Pathway, Matt Dando-Thompson said:
“We’re really pleased to secure someone of Chris’ calibre into the role. We had one or two really impressive people put their hand up for the role during the application process which is a great compliment to the region in that there’s clearly an appetite to develop cricket in North Wales. We felt, given where we’re at in our journey, that Chris represented the best fit for us and will add significant value to the players and environment moving forwards. We look forward to Chris working closely with Wales NC Head Coach Brad Wadlan to further strengthen the relationship across Wales from a national counties standpoint."
We recently held an open forum online for people in the region or further afield to hear and discuss the current setup and how it works. The recording of the session can be found here: https://youtu.be/yzbEpVEgTjs
Interested in getting involved in:
- Sponsorship or commercial support
- Scoring opportunities
We’d love to hear from you via: [email protected]
Follow @WalesNCNorth on X for updates and content throughout the season!