After two and a half years of studying, bowling coach Chris Liddle has successfully completed his UKCC Level 4 training.

Liddle has now achieved one of the highest coaching certificates in the game and he believes that it is one of the highlights of his coaching career to date.

“It’s a very proud moment in my coaching career and I feel like I’ve developed my understanding of a lot of different aspects of the game such as the psychology of the players and the mechanics of bowling.”

As part of the ECB’s Elite Coach Development Programme, the UKCC Level 4, or the Master Coach Award, involves a ‘post graduate diploma in personal and professional development’ along with ‘a range of continuous personal and professional development programmes and targeted individual support.’

Having studied for a considerable amount of time, Liddle thinks that the qualification can only bring positives towards his coaching within the squad.

“It’s been a good 2 ½ years of learning and it has given me some great experiences which I can certainly build on and begin to use within the squad.”

Liddle was joined on the course by a variety of other coaches, and he feels like the experiences made with different people has benefitted his learning.

“It’s been nice to share the journey with a lot of other coaches, see how they do things compared to what I do but I’m delighted that I’ve successfully finished it all.”

The 39-year-old joined the club in 2020 alongside Head Coach John Sadler and has overseen a strong bowling performance so far this season, and Liddle is keen to keep the momentum up.

“We’ve started well, we’ve had a couple on injuries, but the lads have really put in hard work behind the scenes and hopefully they can continue to build on that.”