London Sunrisers appoint Devonian Carr to work with coach Griffin in new tournament

By CONRAD SUTCLIFFE

WESTERN Storm’s Devon contingent will run into two familiar faces when they tackle the Sunrisers on the County Ground at Chelmsford in the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy.

Sunrisers, the regional team representing London and the South East, are coached by Trevor Griffin, a man with a strong connection to Devon.

Griffin quit his day job in a building society 10 years ago to become a cricket coach and since then has worked his way up from club and county age-group sides to professional sides in the men’s and women’s games.

He is best known for his three years as coach of Western Storm in the Kia Super League, which the team won twice under Griffin’s guidance and the captaincy of Heather Knight, the Devon graduate who is also the England womens’ captain.

Sunrisers went into today’s (Saturday’s) Trophy opener against Southern Vipers at Chelmsford captained by Amara Carr, who also has strong Devon ties.

Carr, who started out in club cricket with Plympton, went through the county age-group ranks to the England Development programme and a place in last season’s Kia Super League-winning Western Storm squad. 

Along the way Carr captained Plympton, Devon at under-13, under-17 and the full Devon side as well as the Rubies, a side picked from England possibles.

The Carr family is synonymous with Plympton CC as Jamie and Alex, Amara’s brothers are players who have captained teams and dad Warren is a coach.

Although the KSL is no more the Western Storm name lives on into the more regionalised era of the Heyhoe-Flint Trophy.

Carr, one of three players on full-time contracts with Sunrisers, was the obvious choice to lead the new franchise in their debut season.

For Griffin the post with Sunrisers is another entry on an impressive coaching CV, which includes entries from near and far.

Griffin has spent UK winters in New Zealand (2018), coaching in Canterbury, and also Australia (2019), where he was head coach for Sydney Thunder in the Women’s Big Bash League.

England’s women have also benefited from the Griffin touch during squad sessions at Bristol.

Ten years ago Griffin was the regional manager of the building society, a job he chucked in to open a cricket kit shop and start coaching. Within two years he had achieved the level-two coaching award and was starting to climb the coaching ladder.

“I have loved cricket since I was seven years old and started playing as soon as I could,’ said Griffin, whose family home is in Exeter.

“In my old life my speciality was people development and I felt I could transfer that skill in a cricket context.

“It has been an incredible journey and I feel very lucky to be doing the thing I love.”