“Naïve to not take opportunities” – Chappell

Nottinghamshire paceman Zak Chappell has spoken to the PCA about his plans for a future second career, following a period during which his first team appearances at Trent Bridge have been limited by injury.

Chappell, 23, left Leicestershire for Notts at the end of the 2018 season, having underlined his potential earlier in the same year with a career-best 6-44 against Northamptonshire. Since then, however, the England Lions man has struggled with numerous injuries, appearing intermittently for Nottinghamshire and loan club Gloucestershire throughout 2019.

As a result, Chappell has been forced to take on a new perspective when it comes to his career options off the field, as he explained to the Association himself:

“The first two or three years of my career I was just trying to get to grips with the cricket side of things,” Chappell said.

“When cricket’s going well, you tend to overlook a lot of things in life, but I’ve had a really tough year with injury.

“I think that every cricketer should do something like this at some point in their career and I felt like the time was right for me to get this first starting block out of the way.”

At the age of just 23, Chappell is fortunate to have a clear idea of career routes that he could potentially go down.

“I’m interested in property and I’d like to get into that in the future. But I’ve also got a keen interest in health and fitness so I’ve recently done a nutrition diploma. It’s nothing major but just a little something to kick-start the process.”

In order to develop his professional skills further, Chappell recently attended the PCA’s annual Futures Conference alongside 19 other current and former pros. The two-day event sees PCA members attend a number of workshops and seminars to help them smooth their transition out of the professional game.

“Cricket has not quite gone how I wanted it to recently and (PCA Personal Development Manager) Lynsey Williams has really helped in recommending stuff like the Futures Conference. I think it would be naïve to not take opportunities like this when they come around.

“I’ve taken a lot out of just being around – and networking with – the people that have been at the conference. If you take four or five things from an experience like that then you’re just adding strings to your bow.

“I think it’s valuable for any cricketer, especially if it’s towards the end of their career or whenever they’re looking to start adding different things to their lives.”

Find out more about the PCA’s Personal Development and Welfare Programme.