PCA PRESS RELEASE
Working as a member of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s expanded team of Cricket Liaison Officers has helped former Glamorgan slow left-armer Dean Cosker to make a smooth transition from playing.
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Cosker, 39, announced his retirement 12 months ago after a 20-year career in county cricket which included helping Glamorgan win the County Championship in 1997.
He was keen to stay involved in the county game in some capacity and, having shadowed international match referees and ECB CLOs while he was still playing, joined the CLO panel this season.
Cosker was one of five PCA members – Tim Boon, Richard Ellison, Wayne Noon and Lloyd Tennant – who were added to the existing CLO team of Graham Cowdrey, Tony Pigott, Phil Whitticase, Steve Davis and Stuart Cummings with Andy Smith, the former Surrey all-rounder, appointed as Cricket Operations Manager.
“Whilst I was coming towards the end of my career I was thinking about how I could stay involved in the game. I’ve done a bit of coaching in the winters but I was keen to stay in the game somehow,” Cosker said.
“About a year-and-a-half ago I started shadowing some of the international match referees and some of the CLOs who were already in the role. I knew that they would hopefully expand the number of CLOs.
“I had a lot of winter contact with Chris Kelly and a few other guys at the ECB. I did a bit of background work and it’s something that quite appealed to me.”
Every county match now has a CLO in attendance and they have a range of responsibilities including assessing umpires, marking the pitch and dealing with any disciplinary issues that arise.
“There’s a different dynamic you see it from a completely different viewpoint. You are there to support and observe the umpires’ performance. You have to try to stay relatively independent.
“At the end of the day you do report back to the ECB on umpires’ performances.
“The role has gained more kudos. We give the final pitch marking and we deal with any disciplinary meetings that should arise.
“You are still involved in the game and the lifestyle hasn’t changed hugely because you are still on the road quite a bit. You are working in the same time frames of getting up in the morning, getting to the ground two hours before and speaking to the relevant people.
“You leave at the same time as the players so it’s not a huge lifestyle change. I don’t necessarily miss the playing aspect because I am still involved and my body was singing to me every time I got up in the morning.”
The CLOs are currently on seven month contracts which have given Cosker the opportunity to develop his coaching.
“The role is evolving. Hopefully it will keep evolving into a different situation,” he said.
“We are on seven month contracts from March to the end of the season. There are meetings and workshops throughout the winter along the umpire training which we are obliged to attend.
“The off-season was digesting retirement from the game. I retired in August last year and it took me a couple of months to dig deep into what I wanted to do and these roles became available in February.
“I did some coaching with Glamorgan Academy spinners and also at Rougemont School near Newport and at Newport CC.
“I was busy last winter and hopefully this winter and I can try to expand those coaching-wise. But my main focus is trying to get better and more professional in this role.”
