LV= INSURANCE PRIDE OF CRICKET AWARDS 2023 - LV= MEDIA HERO WINNER: Tom Jones took his cricket coaching programme online during the pandemic, and it soon blossomed into a podcast on women's and girls' cricket which is now more than 100 episodes old
From maintaining a new fitness regime, perfecting the perfect batch of banana bread or actually learning the names of the seven dwarfs - many of us failed to keep lockdown promises.
Tom Jones puts us all to shame. A business coach with a deep interest in improving individuals by day, he has taken that into his sporting endeavours.
Operating as part of his Cricket Coach 365 venture but unable to be hands-on during the pandemic, he took his sessions online in the form of online webinars, videos and quizzes to keep youngsters engaged as the wait to resume playing went on.
Such was the interest, it was suggested that he develop a podcast, choosing to focus on women's and girls' cricket.
Across more than 100 episodes, subjects have included former England men's head coach Peter Moores (currently at Nottinghamshire), Chance to Shine chief executive Laura Cordingley, umpire Sue Redfern and high-profile players including Nida Dar, Danielle Gibson and Fran Wilson, as well as individuals from across the grassroots circuit.
Tom Jones is the LV= Media Hero for 2023 [supplied]
"The progression of the women's game in this country in such a short period of time has been off the charts," Jones told The Cricketer. "Hearing stories from pretty much every guest that I invited, where a local derby would be anything but travelling 15 minutes down the road. It would be like a two to three-hour journey to get to a game.
"It was just amazing to hear those stories from people who in the early years had been pioneers. One of the other huge learnings was the modesty and humility that surrounded everybody that I had the privilege to meet in that capacity in hosting the podcast.
"I also made a decision that it wasn't going to be guests who were at the very top of the game and that very much was in my value system in that it isn't just about one little category of elite players, but from all parts of the game. We had coaches, players, umpires, referees, scorers, people who did marketing, from the amateur and professional game, from the junior game, people from the UK, people from abroad.
"Fun is the most important thing, but it sometimes gets overlooked. Not for wrong reasons but there are so many other things to think about. It has to be fun. You have to remind yourself it is a game, and a game is where you have fun"
"It was a really wide-ranging mix of guests but every single one I was just blown away but the humility of what they'd accomplished and the challenges they'd overcome in pursuing what was their passion to be involved in the game that we all love."
Jones has built upon the success of the podcast and in March 2023 began a series focusing on the junior sector - Tom Talks Junior Cricket Coaching - his main passion.
His venture into the digital world, coupled with the hundreds of hours he devoted to coaching, mentoring, and guiding youngsters has seen him named the LV= Media Hero for 2023, ahead of Ian Livingstone of Winshill CC and The Cricket Draft co-founder Dante O'Reilly.
"My real passion in terms of coaching cricket is around supporting and creating opportunities for youngsters to get involved in the game for the first time, to stay in the game for as long as possible, to enjoy that experience in the best way they can, make friends and have fun," he explained.
Tom's women's and girls' cricket podcast caught the eye of the judges [supplied]
"The main reasons for trying to focus on that next generation was because every one of them, from whatever background they are, if they have that interest initially, I really feel as though that is my calling.
"Fun is the most important thing, but it sometimes gets overlooked. Not for wrong reasons but there are so many other things to think about. It has to be fun. You have to remind yourself it is a game, and a game is where you have fun."
No place benefits more from Jones' dedication and enthusiasm than Warrington Sports Club where he is chief co-ordinator of junior cricket. Sharon Short, who nominated Tom and whose son plays at the club, believes the junior section would be very different without his commitment.
"I think the junior side of the club would disappear," she admitted. "I just think it would be very difficult to move on if he wasn't there. There is so much that he has put into it and there is a massive group of kids that would be missing out.
"It is very difficult to think about what our club would look like without him there. Without Tom in this community, there would be no Warrington junior cricket team, it is as simple as that."
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