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Former Surrey seamer returns home to open coffee business.
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Former professional cricketer Tim Linley has opened up his own speciality coffee venue just 16-months after winning a Professional Cricketers’ Association Personal Development Scholarship Award.
The former Surrey bowler retired at the end of the 2015 season due to injury but plans were already afoot for his transition into a second career with support from the PCA.
The 36-year-old had an eye on his future career whilst he was still in the first-team at the Kia Oval where he spent seven years, headlining with a spectacular 2011 season which saw him take 73 first-class wickets to help Surrey gain promotion in the County Championship.
A troublesome knee curtailed Linley’s career which led to a difficult time in his life despite having a clear idea of a future career.
After winning a Scholarship Award in February 2017, the Yorkshireman said: “you’ve already made a hobby a career, there’s absolutely no reason you can’t do it again,” and with Linley opening the doors to his new venture just three weeks ago, he has proved that theory correct.
“I opened three weeks ago with a lot of the help through the PCA and I’ve finally got to a product where I can actually serve coffee. I’m really proud of it,” said Linley.
“It’s called Coffee on the Crescent in Hyde Park which is about half a mile from Headingley Stadium. Hopefully I’ll be able to build a community around it, which is one of the main aspects I wanted to get out of building a coffee shop.”
PCA VIDEO
Linley opens up Coffee on the Crescent
Tim Linley describes his journey from cricketer to coffee shop owner since retiring from the game in 2015...
The seam bowler ended his career with 200 first-class dismissals before returning to live in his native Leeds and with Linley’s new business two years in the making, he admitted it was not an easy transition out of the game.
“It has given me something to focus on away from cricket which has helped, but it also has taken away the anxiety of what am I going to do when I finish?
“When you retire it is hard and you do have a bit of an identity crisis, I certainly did. No one ever believes that this is going to happen to them until you get to this stage.”
Receiving support through the PCA’s Personal Development and Welfare Programme is open to every member with the goal to prepare players for a second career whilst improving performances of cricketers through minimising potential distractions during playing careers.
“The PCA have been absolutely fundamental in this project and I can safely say without them this wouldn’t have been possible."
TIM LINLEY
The PCA has been running taster courses for over ten years to provide members with an insight into a career beyond playing professionally. Individual courses are also 50% funded by the PCA up to a maximum of £1,500 per year, something Linley took full advantage of.
“I made the decision while I was still playing of what I wanted to do after finishing my cricket. I started training through the PCA with some barista courses and some financial accounting courses.
“The PCA have given me all sorts of help throughout my career, on the cricketing side I was always tapping into what was on offer. Specifically, with this project there was a Scholarship Award and as the winner I was given £2,500 which has gone into helping build this project and all my courses have been part funded by the PCA.
“I used to be able to bowl a ball in a small area and that was my skill which was great, but actually I’ve got a lot more skills to offer.”
