Bashley Rydal CC are pleased to announce the appointment of David Ridley, the former Southern Premier Cricket League Chairman, as the Senior Club Cricket Manager. He will become the focal point of all cricket matters and will be responsible for player recruitment, discipline, selection, communication with all players and liaising with the junior section. This appointment, along with that of Steve Wilson as Club Coach, is designed to allow the captains to concentrate on leading the players on the field, to make selection as independent, consistent and balanced as possible and to spread the overall workload. The Management Committee are delighted that we have been able to secure the services of such an experienced and successful individual for this post.
David’s experience of playing in club cricket as well as his involvement in local club cricket at all levels from youth teams to minor county and his recent experience of League Management with the SEPCL and the ECB, will be invaluable in progressing the club forward. It is the club’s intention that all members, both senior and junior, will have access to the Cricket Manager which will improve the openness and decision making of the cricket section.
David’s comment after accepting the post was “I look forward to the challenge at Bashley CC and to helping all of the club sides and players progress. Bashley have fantastic facilities and I hope I can help with organisation so that the club can achieve on-field success at all levels in the future.”
David was born in Birmingham, but moved to Bristol at an early age. His initial cricket was played as an opening batsman/wicket keeper in the Bristol & District League for Flax Bourton CC before being asked to join Downend CC who played in Western Premier League. The team won the league back in 1977 helped by having Alan Border as the overseas player! During this time David was asked to attend trials with Worcestershire and played for 2nd XI – in championship matches, but mainly in the Birmingham League Having qualified as a Chartered Accountant a new job meant a move to Dorset and to Sherborne CC followed by a move to Bournemouth CC and being selected to play for Dorset. David played 49 matches for Dorset, mainly as a wicket keeper, including games in the Gillette Cup against Essex, Somerset and Kent.
Work and family commitments meant that David stopped playing in 1989 and he moved over to coaching/managing. He became an ECB Senior Coach and coached/managed Dorset County age group sides (U11, U13 and U15) for many years. Coaching and management progressed with Bournemouth CC and David coached/managed U13 to runners up in ECB National Club Championship and 2 years later, the same group of boys became National Champions at U15 level After a short break from coaching David was offered the role of Bournemouth 1st XI manager. A development plan was put in place that resulted in Bournemouth winning the Premier League, T20 competition and finally the ECB National Club T20 – the finals being screened live on SKY. The prize was a 2 week trip to Barbados for the team! Having achieved the targets set at Bournemouth, David was approached to join the management committee of the Southern Premier League serving as Chairman from 2014 to 2017.
