'Mull' and Bryce at NCLS

 

Two captains reflected on the role of leader in modern cricket and although they have had very different career paths to the top of their game, they were agreed that being captain is both rewarding and challenging.

Steven Mullaney and Kathryn Bryce were speaking to the latest meeting of the Nottingham Cricket Lovers Society (NCLS) – and they had each come with a symbol of their recent successes.

Kathryn had the Charlotte Edwards Cup that was won in 2024 by the Trent Bridge-based The Blaze and in which she was the leading run scorer.

‘Mull’ had brought the impressively sized Second Eleven shield that Nottinghamshire won in his first season as player-coach of the Seconds.

Kathryn moved to the East Midlands from her native Edinburgh in 2017, to pursue a degree in Sport and Exercise Science at Loughborough University and openly admitted that it was the cricket facilities as much as the academic credentials that attracted her.  By the time she arrived at Loughborough, she was already a seasoned international, having been first capped by Scotland at the age of thirteen!

"Scotland were playing in Stirling nearby and one of the girls broke her thumb in the game before and they had a double header. So, I just got the call, asking if I could come along and play.

“Even though there was quite a small pool of women cricketers in Scotland at the time, it was still a surprise and a thrill”.

Steven also left his home town to come to Nottingham. Born in Warrington, he began his cricket with Lancashire but played only four First-Class matches for them – which seems odd in hindsight, given that he scored 165no in one of the five innings that he played.

“I didn’t think I was getting many opportunities at Old Trafford so when Peter Moores approached me about a move to Notts at the end of the 2009 season, I jumped at the chance”, he told NCLS.

As soon as he arrived at Trent Bridge, Mullaney established himself as a key all-rounder.  He made a century on his First-Class debut for Notts (100no v Hampshire) and in his first season played for his new county in all three formats.

When Chris Read retired in 2018, ‘Mull’ was the obvious choice as the next Notts club captain – obvious, that is, to everyone but himself. “I was not expecting the captain’s job”, he recalled.

He took to the role straight away and in the six seasons he led the club, there were plenty of successes to enjoy.  He was part of the team that won the 2020 T20 Blast and led the First XI to promotion and the Second Division Championship in 2022.

Perhaps his toughest task as captain was the strange Covid-hit year of 2020. “We couldn’t train together, it was weird and really tough to keep up with all the players.

“I had small children so we were home schooling whilst I was trying to manage a bunch of cricketers who were not used to Zoom calls and isolation.”
The one thing that wasn’t different, he insisted, was the buzz of the T20 Final.  “It could have been a real let down”, he said, “Not having the crowd behind us but once we were together, the intensity and determination was there as if the ground was full”.

Kathryn Bryce came to captaincy early in her cricketing career, she was skipper of the Scotland Under-17s for four years and took over the role for the senior Scotland Women’s team in 2018.

“I enjoy being captain”, she said, “You’re always in the game and have lots of chances to influence what happens.

“I was fortunate that when I took on the captaincy of Scotland, I had lots of people – including the previous skipper – around to give support and advice and, gradually learned how to be the sort of captain that I wanted to be.

“Leading the squad into the World Cup was amazing.  Even though we didn’t win any games, we learnt a lot about ourselves as players and as a team”.

Skippering the side has not meant missing out on personal success for Kathryn. In December 2020, Bryce was named the ICC Associate Cricketer of the Decade and was named the ICC Women's Player of the Month for May 2021 for her performance in the series against Ireland. She was the first Associate woman to be nominated and the first Associate player to win the award.

In June 2021, she became the first cricketer for Scotland, male or female, to make it into the top ten of the ICC Player Rankings, when she reached 10th position among batters.

After the success of The Blaze in 2024, she was voted the Professional Cricketers' Association 2024 Women's Player of the Year.

She is looking forward to another summer at Trent Bridge as The Blaze becomes the Nottinghamshire Women’s team (though keeping the brand that has been so well established).
“We have been made so welcome”, she said, “There’s a chance for real cross over between the coaching and training of the men’s and women’s sides and we have felt part of Trent Bridge and it’s history right from the start.”

Steven Mullaney is also looking forward to 2025 as he moves from being player-coach to head coach of the Second Eleven.  “I have no doubt that I’ll be out on the pitch at some point”, he commented, “but I am ready to take that step back from playing.

“When I sat down for the pre-season chat for last year, I noticed that I’d been given a longer timeslot that anyone else.

“This was so the Club could put the idea of taking on the Second Eleven role and passing the club captaincy on.  To be honest, once the idea was out there, it didn’t take my wife and I long to say ‘yes’ and I am delighted at how it has worked out”.

Having led the Seconds to their title, Steven Mullaney can reflect on a job well done and he and Kathryn Bryce will each be looking to add to their tales of success in 2025.

Membership of NCLS is £15pa, or entry on the night for £5 per session.  

At the next meeting on 27 February, 7pm start, speakers will be Richard Preskey, Nottinghamshire CCC Disability Cricket Officer, and Harry Gurney, former fast bowler for Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and England.


Full details of the 2024/25 programme from .https://nottinghamcricketlovers.co.uk

February 2025