Ex-Surrey coach blows out one big date for another

Sutton's players will miss the influence of their new captain when they begin their pursuit of the richest prize in club cricket this weekend, writes Alex Clyde.

Keith Medlycott, who knows a bit about winning trophies after six golden years at The Oval as Surrey's coach, has reluctantly ruled himself out of Sutton's first-round tie against Lordswood on Sunday in the £13,100 Evening Standard Challenge Trophy.

The Surrey club's newly appointed captain-coach said: "The Evening Standard Trophy is a big competition with the prize money and prestige and we're giving it our best shot. But I'm afraid I can't be there on Sunday because I'm joining the 20-20 club."

Medlycott turns 40 today and his wife Mary-Jane has organised a big family party on Sunday at their home in Hersham village.

"It's designed to make me feel 25 again," said Medlycott. "I'm loving playing cricket again. Competing out there is a buzz. I had 10 years of coaching with Northern Transvaal and Surrey and I didn't realise how much I missed playing.

"Sutton have been my club since I was 18 and I'm delighted to be back. It's an honour to be made captain and it's lovely that my six-year-old son Barrie comes along and watches his dad play on a Saturday."

Medlycott, who left Surrey at the end of the 2003 season, scored nearly 1,000 runs for Sutton last summer, averaging more than 60 with the bat. Apart from his captaincy of Sutton he has two other part-time jobs in cricket.

He is player-coach at Buckinghamshire, for whom he competed against Lancashire in the C&G Trophy last week, and he was appointed last winter as the ICC's high-performance manager for their eight elite umpires, which involved six weeks' training overseas.

"That's a fantastic job and I'm loving it" said Medlycott. "Things couldn't be going better and they say life begins at 40. If I do eventually go back into coaching full time, I know I've got a good CV."

Sutton will be led on Sunday by 22-year-old Gareth Lambe. Another young player Medlycott is expecting great things of is 17-year-old Arun Harinath. "He's going to be very good, in the Graham Thorpe mould," said Medlycott.

This is the 14th year of the Challenge Trophy, with 112 teams chasing £13,100 prize money in the 50-over tournament. Holders Finchley are among 16 clubs with byes into round two, when they will visit Bessborough or Harrow Town. This year's champions will collect the £6,100 top prize, the richest in club cricket, at The Oval on 18 September. (For further details go to: www.esct.co.uk).