The club’s junior cricket section benefits from a large number of volunteer coaches with a range of experience and coaching skills.

Many of our coaches are players – often products of the CACC player development system themselves. Many are parents of current or past junior players. Others are looking develop professional careers as teachers or coaches of the game.

All our coaches have up-to-date DBS checks, with up-to-date first aid and child safeguarding certificates, and are minimum ECB Level 1 qualified cricket coaches.

Sid Corley

Junior chairman

Sid is a ECB Level 2 coach who began coaching in 2006 when we had a boost of players following the legendary Ashes of 2005. Sid has stayed with the U9 section as his main coaching focus and also leads CACC’s ECB All Stars programme.

His role oversees all age groups from All Stars at age 5 to the U19 side. Sid was a junior player with CACC himself in the 80s and 90s and continues to play in our senior sides having now made the most appearances for the club as a wicketkeeper/batsman.

Mick Pickering

Senior cricket coach and club safeguarding officer

Mick is an ECB Level 3 coach with over 30 years’ experience coaching junior teams at Clifton Alliance. He is an ECB Coach Developer and is also heavily involved in the York area junior representative sides and the Yorkshire Boys County Age Group Performance Pathways.

Jake Atkinson

U9 cricket coach

Jake is an ECB Foundation 1 cricket coach mainly working with our Under 9s. He is currently studying a Sports Science degree and hopes to go into teaching/coaching in the future

Matt Bennett

U9 to U13 cricket coach

Matt is an ECB Level 2 cricket coach who has managed various CACC teams from U9 through to U13. He is also an FA Level 2 football coach and is currently working with the ECB Coaches Association Yorkshire to build its cricket coach development programme for 2022/23.

George Brown

U11 cricket coach

George is an ECB Level 2 cricket coach who will bring his extensive cricketing experience into coaching the senior First XI as well as the U11s this year. 

He will also play for and captain the senior 4th XI with a view to introducing some of CACC’s younger players to senior cricket (juniors are eligible to play senior cricket from their U13 season and above).

Thomas Brown

U11 cricket coach

Thomas is an ECB Foundation Level 1 coach currently working towards his Level 2 qualification. Having obtained a BTEC in Sport Performance and Excellence at Yorkshire Cricket College, he is now studying for a degree in Sports Coaching at Leeds Beckett University.

Thomas bowls off-spin in the First XI and has played representative and district cricket at junior levels. More recently he was selected to represent Yorkshire CCC at the U19 age. 

Liam Burnell

Coach and team psych support

Liam is a Level 2 coach who coaches from U9s through to U15s and has coached in Sri Lanka, Rwanda, Cameroon and Botswana. Away from CACC Liam works alongside some of the country’s best sports psychologists, providing psych support to athletes in a variety of different professional sports.

Dave Cockrill

U13 to U15 cricket coach

Dave has been an ECB Level 2 cricket coach since 2015. Before then he accumulated more than 20 years playing experience playing for Grimsby Town and Caistor Town in the Lincolnshire League. Dave has successfully coached and managed league-winning CACC U9 and U11 teams and is now coaching the U13s and U15s.

Sam Grant

U11 cricket coach

Sam is an ECB Level 2 cricket coach and regular all-rounder in the First XI.

Before CACC Sam played First Class cricket for Loughborough University and was on the staff at Sussex CCC. He has also played Second XI cricket for several other counties.

He has been a popular coach in the Under 11s in the last few seasons as well as working at our junior summer camps during school holidays.

Grace Hall

Girls cricket coach

Since playing junior cricket at CACC, Yorkshire Cricket College alumnus Grace has played for Yorkshire Women and the Northern Diamonds (Academy and Senior teams) and will captain the Clifton Park Cobras women’s team during the 2022 season.

She is also lead coach at the York Women’s MCC Hub and is a student at Sheffield Hallam University.

Mollie Hardwick

U9 cricket coach

Mollie is an ECB Foundation 1 cricket coach and has helped coach our younger age groups since 2018. She is also a Level 3 Early Years educator and is currently studying at Leeds Beckett University to become a play therapist. This summer she will travel to New York to coach cricket for the Fresh Air Fund, COVID permitting.

Jack Heartshorne

U15 cricket coach

Jack is an ECB Level 2 cricket coach who also plays for the senior Second XI as a bowler. Having studied BTEC Sport Fitness and Coaching at York College, Jack has previously managed CACC’s Under 11A and B teams and also coaches football at Rawcliffe JFC.

Colin Park

U15 cricket coach

Colin is an ECB Level 2 cricket coach and has been coaching at Clifton Alliance since 2017. Having previously worked with the Under 13s, he has been working mainly with the Under 15 age group since 2020.