Ramprakash up skills in IT

England batting coach Mark Ramprakash leaves for Sri Lanka this week fresh from spending some time away from the game developing his IT skills with support from the Professional Cricketers’ Association.

The 49-year-old contacted the PCA earlier this summer to enquire about up skilling himself in IT to further his coaching career and attended a Microsoft Office Essentials workshop last month.

The one-day course was delivered by Prolog Training and was designed for users who want an all-round introduction to Microsoft Office with Word, Excel and PowerPoint being the topics, all of which are important tools to understand being a modern day cricket coach.

The course was facilitated through the PCA Personal Development and Welfare Programme which is accessible to all current and former professional cricketers.

The Programme aims to better prepare cricketers, and in this case, former players, for their second career. The PCA supports players entering professional cricket through the annual Rookie Camp as well as players leaving the game through the Transition Conference which is due to take place in November.

Once players become PCA members, they are members for life so educational funding and support is always available, with the PCA England Masters batsman taking advantage.

“At the ripe old age of 49 I am trying to learn a few new IT skills that are relevant to my everyday job as a cricket coach,” said Ramprakash.

“This has given me a lot of confidence and I feel happy I am making inroads to trying to become a better all-round coach so I want to say a big thank you to the PCA for helping.

“The PCA are always accessible and open-minded. I have wanted to do this for a long time and due to the PCA’s help I am starting the process.”

The PCA has a six-strong team of Personal Development Managers who work with current and past players to provide opportunities to up skill them on areas to help them prepare for a life after playing cricket. Nick Denning is one of the PDMs and he explains the role of personal development.

“Its important everyone keeps developing themselves regardless of what stage they are at in their careers. Ramps has recognised an area he needs to up skill himself in and that’s why he got in touch with the PCA. Putting himself out there and acknowledging an area of weakness and to challenge himself is a good thing.

“The most important thing is for players to understand what they want to do and to explore areas of their interest. Through the Personal Development and Welfare Programme we can support members and give them a helping hand to put them on track to educate themselves in whatever areas they wish.”

Education and training options are becoming increasingly flexible to suit the needs of any individual that is looking to continue with their education and professional development alongside or after their cricket career.

From short one-day professional courses to six-year part-time higher education degree courses, the options are wide and varied. PCA members are encouraged to log-in to find out more or speak to your Personal Development Manager.

For more information on the Personal Development and Welfare Programme click here.