Derbyshire teen's England Lions call a by-product of Repton's inclusive philosophy

Former Durham and Sussex cricketer Martin Speight aims to help pupils at all levels achieve their potential

For more than a decade, Martin Speight has been waking up at 5.45am, giving himself an hour to get to the sports hall and set up for another day's coaching.

Speight, who played professionally for Durham and Sussex, has become renowned since then as a coach. Among others, Harry Brook was under his tutelage at Sedbergh, where Speight spent 14 years.

And, while he is working now with Harry Moore, the 17-year-old Derbyshire seamer named in England Lions' winter training squad, at Repton, he insists that his greatest job satisfaction comes from the variety of ages and abilities sent his way.

"That is what I enjoy the most, watching young players develop through to whatever level they get to," he said, "and then gradually over time see them self-motivate into wanting to do more and more. If you get it right as a coach, they'll buy into you and the sport, and once you have that, they'll want to spend more and more time.

"My job isn't about producing top players – they come along. My job is to inspire as many young people to want to play the game, so that when they leave school and head to university or their club, wherever they go in the world they can join a cricket club and they have a social life. If they have a social life, those cultural boundaries will dissolve because cricket is a common passion. That is my job."

Before speaking to The Cricketer, for example, Speight had coached five students in Year Six at 6.30am, with Moore coming in later that morning to get his bowling loads up ahead of three weeks in South Africa under Andrew Flintoff's Lions group.

"As much as that is just talking and mentoring, it's great because it's not the same," said Speight. "That diversity is what makes it fun for me, rather than being secluded in a very elite environment, where you're trying to find the next little minimum gain.

"When I first saw Harry Brook, I knew he was very good on his legs and on the back foot, which for a young player are two of the key things for a batter. Everyone has been taught to hit a nice cover drive and a nice pull shot, but he was so good off his hips. Within a month of coaching him, I could see someone so committed to getting up early in the morning, putting the hours in, picking up things and translating them into improvement.

"Those little factors that you can't define when you watch someone play is how coachable they are, how quickly they'll pick up bits, what their ceiling is. Again, that is part of the fun of it – plenty of kids are 6ft 6in but can't bowl like Harry Moore, but every now and then you get one that pops up."