Mark Alleyne set for Glamorgan white-ball head coach role

HUW TURBERVILL - EXCLUSIVE: The decision was made to separate the red and white-ball roles at the end of last season, with Matthew Maynard continuing in the former

Huw Turbervill | 03/03/2023 at 11:10

Glamorgan are poised to confirm Mark Alleyne as their white-ball coach.

The squad are on a pre-season tour of Zimbabwe and are expected to make an announcement upon their return.

The decision was made to separate the red and white-ball roles at the end of last season, with Matthew Maynard continuing in the former.

It's been a long and winding road, but the club appear to have settled on the former Gloucestershire captain and coach.

Alleyne, 54, was a player at Nevil Road between 1986 and 2005, and as captain he led them to nine trophies in seven years. He then became coach between 2004 and 2008. He is now assistant coach of Welsh Fire in The Hundred, and has recently been involved with England's white-balls squads.

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Mark Alleyne pictured during his time coaching Gloucestershire in 2021 [Harry Trump/Getty Images]

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Mark Alleyne with England's white-ball squad in the Netherlands in 2022 [Richard Heathcote/Getty Images]

Maynard was disappointed to lose part of his head coach's brief. Glamorgan's red-ball form since Covid has been decent. They won six matches, drew five and lost only three last year, finishing nine points behind second-placed Middlesex.

Last season they won four out of eight Royal London Cup matches, in defence of the trophy they won in 2021 under David Harrison (with Maynard seconded to Welsh Fire). Glamorgan won five and lost seven in last summer's T20 Blast, prompting the club to act.

Meanwhile Glamorgan have issued some pleasing financial results. They made an operating profit of £52,925 in the last financial year, and have reduced their net debt to £1.7m.

They remain supportive of The Hundred, despite chief executive Hugh Morris acknowledging that "the competition has not endeared itself to the majority of members".

He said: "Over 36,000 tickets were sold for our four home games in 2022, of which 18 per cent were sold to children, 4 percent to diverse communities, 29 per cent to females, and 55 per cent sold to under-45s. Importantly 64 per cent of tickets were sold to buyers who had not visited Sophia Gardens previously."