A cricket adventure from Notts to New Zealand and beyond

Phil Cooper


Organisation:
Phil Cooper HistoricTravelTalks
Regions:
East Midlands, South Yorkshire, North East, Staffordshire, Warwickshire
Notice Period:
Short (maybe less than one month's notice)
Type:
U3A, Probus, Womens Institutes, Ladies Groups
Fee:
Expensed
Category:
Sports
Updated:
23rd October 2025
Tagged:
Cricket

I am prepared to speak regarding my cricket experiences, mainly coaching in Scotland, New Zealand, Holland and South Africa, as a professional. I also include my experiences as league player asa cricket supporter and include some interesting historical aspects. My presentation is fully illustrated using my own projector. I was a player in the Bassetlaw League and for some seasons was a journeyman until I broke the league batting record at the age of 31. I had been involved heavily in coaching, obtaining my Advanced NCA award Playing in the Bassetlaw League latterly with Creswell had its moments against the likes of Mike Hendrick, Geoff Miller and in the colliery back yard and some amusing ones. My first appointment was to Amsterdam CC. Next door was Hylton Ackerman, the South African who had played for the Rest of the World. He previously had hit 112 in the first match of the series. On the eve of the Boxing Day test in Melbourne, as usual Hylton had hit the town, getting back at between 4 and 6 am in the morning. At 9 am they got him up, took him to the MCG and he ran around the ground a couple of times to try to sober himself up. He then went out to bat against Dennis Lillee. I was player coach at Glasgow Academy/ Accies, playing against the likes of Brendon Bracewell and other test players. Lots of stories around him and brother John. It is true to say that Scottish cricket has many challenges, but I scored some hundreds, a couple against test players, Nehemiah Perry and Asif Mujtaba. My main coaching stint was in New Zealand and I can give a first hand account of the cricket situation there and how they produce players of a high standard. Wanganui produced 5 first class players and one test player from my stint and I coached Central Districts junior sides, with the likes of Derek Stirling in them. I served one season at Wynberg Boys High School, where I coached a young Jaques Kallis, a great lad with a demanding father. I continued to coach when I returned to teaching with success in winning the Lancashire schools trophy under 14. I also undertook some coaching tasks, which will sound a bit odd. One involved appearing on Nantes Cable TV (France) coaching a non cricketer and helping to lay a cricket pitch there, in the middle of a racecourse at Vertou. They selected a hang glider pilot for me to coach and I show the video. I also include some experiences watching cricket at home, watching first class and in places like India, were I visited the oldest cricket club outside UK. I find early cricket feats of interest and I open the talk with some images and incidents, which may not have been heard of by some cricket supporters.

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About Phil Cooper

I have delivered numerous presentations and feature many photos from my experiences. I always committed to 100% when doing this and have had many positive feedbacks,

I have used donations to support charities at home and in parts of the world which have experienced natural disasters. I would stress that for me it isn't a money making venture. Any donation from the Costa Rica talk will go to the reforestation project "Rainforest of the Austrians". Please google this to see details of their tremendous project. There is a PayPal reference if a group wants to support this. More details are on the website.

The accent is on the visual, with enough verbal to explain the story of where I have visited. I have accumulated what I feel are good photographs to illustrate my talks which relate to my travel experience. I had 19 speaking engagements in 2019, to various organisation. These presentations relate to places, often with a historical background and often not readily visited. These include Syria and Jordan, the Silk Road in Central Asia and Western China,, India and Cuba. Cuba and Panama. “Great presentation – I spoke to people tonight they were the cleanest photos seen at a Travel Club Presentation. Very good 9 out of 10. It must have been good, hardly anyone dropped off to sleep!” (Taradale Travel Club New Zealand).

My blog site is http://historictraveltalks.blogspot.co.uk (Copy and paste)

One trip I wish to really promote is the trip to Costa Rica. Anyone who is interested in wildlife will enjoy this. There are some excellent photos provided by a colleague on the trip and lots of video. One particular scene involving sloths was something the guide had never seen in his 18 years experience. It also features a superb reforestation project "The Rainforest of the Austrians", re establishing habitats and adding to the carbon trapping capacity. I have liaised with the inspirational Michael Schnitzler and ALL funds generated are sent to Costa Rica to continue this.

I look back at my trip in the Middle East - from Cairo to Istanbul and reflect on what I saw then and what I see currently in places like Aleppo. However the highlight for me was the crusader fortress of Krak des Chevaliers, which is shown on the photo I have included. This was described by TE Lawrence as "perhaps the best preserved and most wholly admirable castle in the world". Indeed he associated with many places along this journey.

I research the topics thoroughly and I provide a narrative and background to illustrated talks. I operate on a voluntary basis and am prepared to travel within reasonable distances from my home in North Nottinghamshire.

 Along the Silk Road in Central Asia Talk Feedback

This part of Central Asia included in particular Kunya Urgench, Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand. The buildings are simply stunning and the area is historically very interesting. It is the arena where the Great Game was played out, the political and diplomatic confrontation between Britain and Russia in the 19th century, which was described by one of the audience as fascinating.

"Very interesting talk. I could hear every word. I knew nothing about this area and learnt a lot. Pleased I came!!"

“Your talk was extremely interesting and I do believe, if you had spoken for much longer   everyone should enjoy it, and no-one would be bored. I did like the aspect that you kept referring to the map when relating to the history this indeed helps when discussing reasons and timings when situations occurred in the distant past. I also feel that your talk appeals to almost all  age groups, and both male and female.”

I am a former graduate Biology teacher and also coached cricket for 24 seasons. mainly in New Zealand,Scotland and Amsterdam. as a professional.


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