Yorkshire Disability title winner Kyle Clayton is hoping a brief spell coaching with Sri Lanka’s Physical Disability team can help boost the county’s progress.
Clayton is currently in Colombo having been appointed as a high performance coach ahead of a four-team T20 PD Champions Trophy which also involves England, starting next weekend.
Clayton, himself a Physical Disability batter, helped Yorkshire’s D40 Quest team win the national county title in 2023, but he also has significant coaching experience behind him.
Clayton hails from the other side of the Pennines and used to own a coaching business with ex-Lancashire all-rounder and current Northamptonshire batter Luke Procter. England women’s fast bowler Kate Cross – a Northern Supercharger – was also involved in their business before she became centrally contracted with the England and Wales Cricket Board.
In recent years, Clayton has played mainstream league cricket for Higham CC but has just moved to Stayley in Cheshire as their head of cricket.
“This is going to be an amazing experience which will help me in a lot of different ways,” he said. “It will help me with Stayley but also with Yorkshire too.
Picture courtesy of Kyle Clayton. Kyle is pictured with Sri Lanka PD’s captain Sunny Udugama (left) and vice captain Dulan Priyashantha.
“To be coaching in an international set-up, I’ll be learning a lot.
“Money can’t buy that experience.”
So how did Clayton, also a two-time Disability Premier League champion, get involved with Sri Lanka?
“I actually met the chairman of the Sri Lankan Disability board, Lakshan Fernando, when we worked together during Covid. We were working in selling PPE, basically,” he explained.
“We’ve always kept in contact, but I never really knew what he did outside of cricket until I told him that I played Disability Cricket.
“Last month, he got in touch and asked whether I was coming over with England, which I wasn’t because I’m not in their set-up. So he asked whether I would be interested in coming over as a coach for Sri Lanka.”
Picture courtesy of Kyle Clayton. Kyle pictured with the Sri Lanka Physical Disability squad ahead of their quad T20 series.
Given Clayton’s prior experience – “I’ve been coaching since I was in the Army in 2011, the Duke of Lancaster Regiment,” he said – he has been given a lot of responsibility with the Sri Lankans, including helping to devise training plans.
The tournament runs from January 12 to 21, with Sri Lanka and England joined by India and Pakistan. All teams play each other twice, leading to a final.
Yorkshire Physical Disability wicketkeeper-batter Liam Thomas will be key to England’s hopes of success, a player Clayton featured alongside for Yorkshire in September’s showcase Disability fixture against an England Select XI at Headingley.
“We actually play England first game, which will be interesting,” added Clayton.
“Having played in the DPL (Disability Premier League), I’ve played with or against pretty much everyone in that England squad and am good mates with quite a few of the lads. I was a bit nervous about it at first because I didn’t want that to change in any way with me taking this role, and I also spoke to Jane Powell about it with her ECB hat on.
“I’ve wished all the boys well. I want the best for them because they’re all top blokes. But, at the same time, I’m taking this experience with both hands. When it’s game day, it will be all go.”
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Liam Thomas bats for Yorkshire against an England Select XI in last summer’s Disability Showcase fixture at Headingley. He will represent the England PD side in Sri Lanka from next weekend.
