David Burton represented Middlesex, Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire during his playing career and has taken up the newly created role
Middlesex have appointed David Burton as the club's inaugural transition coach.
The role, which is believed to be the first of its kind in English domestic cricket, has been designed following focus groups over the winter with players of ethnic minority backgrounds who have previously represented the county at academy, second-team or senior level.
A common thread to emerge from those conversations was that more targeted support could have been provided to youngsters making the step-up from the junior ranks to prepare them for the senior environment.
"That was a collective common theme," Ankit Shah, co-chair of Middlesex's equality, diversity and inclusion committee told The Cricketer.
"That's not to say he's here to help certain players from certain backgrounds, but it's to help all players transition into that environment.
"Whether you come from the same traditional environment as everyone else, you'll still have your own struggles. So, knowing there's someone there to support you and answer those questions that you might not feel comfortable answering in that environment, having that safe space of someone who's been through it, I think that's so important."
Burton in action for Middlesex during the T20 Blast in 2008 (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
The aim for Burton's role is to provide an additional sounding board for those players, especially with Middlesex's emphasis on promoting from within – 70 per cent of the club's first team is currently homegrown through its youth system.
As well as being able to talk through the mental challenges faced by professional cricketers, Burton is also a qualified coach and has spent much of the last decade playing Premier League cricket in Middlesex for Richmond. So, an added element of his appointment is that the players under his wing will be able to approach him for cricket-specific assistance.
Burton himself is one of few black men to have played in the County Championship in the last decade. His final appearance for Northamptonshire – his third county, after spells with Gloucestershire and Middlesex – came in 2012.
Alan Coleman, the club's head of men's performance cricket, told The Cricketer last year that his hope was to create a team that "represents an area that we're from, inherently London".
At present, the current first-team squad doesn't match up to that: Thilan Walallawita and Ishaan Kaushal are the only players of Asian descent currently on the men's senior staff, though close to 60 per cent of the club's current academy intake are of ethnic minority backgrounds. It is understood that Burton will work with those youngsters to support their progression through the youth ranks and into the professional game.
Coleman said: "It was very clear to us that having conducted the research into this area, that we needed to make a change. David stood out as the obvious candidate for this role, and we are hugely excited to have him on board as an important part of our coaching team.
"He has lived through many of the challenges that our young cricketers are facing as they look to make that transition and he has experienced himself how mentally challenging it can be as a young cricketer making their way in the game."
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