Leaders Series #6 - Jeremy bray

“Good communication is absolute king when it comes to getting the best out of the players and people you work with.”

We are excited to continue with our Leaders Series and we are incredibly thankful to Jeremy Bray for agreeing to answer our questions.

Jeremy is currently the Head Coach of the Danish National Cricket Association - and will shortly be taking over the same role for the Vanuatu Cricket Association.

He has represented New South Wales and Australia U19’s at both ODI and test Level. Jermey later played for and Captained The Irish National Cricket Team, also playing in the 2007 World Cup in the west Indies.

Coaching wise, Jerey has coached a variety of teams, including the Ireland Women’s Team, and now Denmark.

We were able to chat to Jeremy Below…

What do you do?/ What roles or jobs do you currently have? 

I am currently the National head coach and Head of High performance for the Danish National cricket Association. I will soon be leaving that role to take over the same roles for Vanuatu cricket Association. Both roles cover all aspects of coach and player development.

Can you tell us a little bit about your background and path or journey to where you are now?

I was Born in Australia where I represented Australia U19’s and NSW at all levels. I Moved to Ireland at 23 and went on to represent Ireland National side and played in the 2007 world cup in the West Indies.

 I Moved into coaching around 2011 staring with Ireland 19 men’s side which qualified for the 2012 u19 world cup in Australia then in 2012 moved into the Head coach of the National Ireland women’s team for 2 years which saw them qualify for the 2014 women’s world cup in Bangladesh.

 Between 2014 to 2021 I was National Head coach of the Danish men’s and underage cricket teams.

Tell me about your typical day/ week?

 There is no typical week as a national coach as work is very sporadic due to the players being Amateurs. Winter would contain a lot of indoor practice, video analysis and winter program preparation.

 Summer would entail less practice with the national players as they are with their clubs more often than in the winter. Summer their is a lot of time watching matches and going on tours.

What have been your biggest challenges? / What have been your highlights? 

Biggest challenges are the lack of time I get to work with the players as they are all amateurs and in fulltime work and studies. Also player availability for big tournaments where quite often we don’t have our best players fully available.

 Biggest highlights are any success stories of the players I have worked with. The joy on a players face when they have put so much time and effort into making improvements in their game and go onto see that work paying off is priceless as a coach in my opinion.

What advice would you give to our students?/ What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given? 

Best advice I was given and would give to anyone would be to always look to improve yourself everyday and to gain as much knowledge in the field you are drawn to. Also good communication is absolute king when it comes to getting the best out of the players and people you work with.

Regardless of how much knowledge or success an individual may have achieved, if that person can’t communicate properly to his charges then the allure of the coaches/persons individual success stories will be very quickly lost on the players or people he or she is working with or trying to improve. Also the player needs to know and believe you care about them as a person not just what they can or can’t do on the field.

What/ who inspires you? Maybe a person, phrase, or picture? 

Anyone I can learn from inspires me regardless of the field of specialty and how successful or not they have been. I am very much of the opinion everyone can learn from everyone.

One name in particular who had a huge impact on my coaching style is Ashley Ross who headed up the coach development at the Icc cricket Academy in Dubai and also coach Development at the South Australia institute of sport. A brilliant communicator and extremely  knowledgeable individual who was just amazing to talk to and be in his company.