By CONRAD SUTCLIFFE
ENGLAND cricketers Craig Overton and Chris Read have led tributes to Devon youth coach and team manager Alan Swift, who has died aged 81.
Swift, a retired school teacher, was Devon Cricket’s man of many, many parts. After playing for Plymouth CC, he went into youth coaching and team management, became a coach educator, the co-founder the Devon Youth Cricket Foundation charity and was the driving force behind a highly successful youth tour to South Africa, which has been running for 25 years.
Numerous future professionals broadened their cricket experience on the tour, including Dom Bess (Somerset, Yorkshire and England) Lewis Gregory (Somerset and England U19s), Ben Green (Somerset and England U19), James Burke (Somerset, Leicestershire, Surrey and England U18s), Sonny Baker (England ODI, Manchester Originals, Hampshire) and Tom Lammonby (Somerset and England U19).
When the bats and balls were packed-up for the winter, Swift was a coach and manager on the non-league football circuit in Devon and Cornwall! And when time allowed, he could be found on the golf course. His really was a Sporting Life.
The Overton twins – Craig and Jamie – both graduated from Devon age-group cricket to play for Somerset then England. They were South Africa tourists in 2009.
Craig Overton, who has 15 Test and One-Day International caps for England to his name, said Swift made a lasting impression on the hundreds of young players who benefited from his coaching.
“Alan Swift wasn’t just an inspiration — he was a doorway to possibility for countless young people,” said Overton. “His influence stretched across generations, and you could feel it in the small moments as much as the big ones.
“A former player would walk into a packed room, noise everywhere, people shoulder to shoulder… and the first person they’d make a beeline for was ‘Swifty’. Always ‘Swifty’.
“He was the manager with the steady instincts and the common-sense touch. The one who put players first, long before it became a slogan. They trusted him. They loved him. And they never forgot him.”
Jamie Overton, Craig’s twin brother, paid his own personal tribute to Swift by wearing a black armband while playing for England against the West Indies in the recent ICC Twenty20 World Cup tie in Mumbai.
Read who worked with Swift as coach on Devon Development Squad tours to South Africa, praised his passion for the game.
“I found Alan deeply passionate, incredibly generous, intelligent and witty,” said Read who went through the Devon youth system and played more than 50 times for England in all three formats of the game.
Matt Theedom, the chief executive of the Devon Cricket Foundation, knew Swift as a coach and later as a colleague on South Africa tours. His abiding memory is of someone determined to give young players the best possible chance.
“Alan was fun, driven, and fiercely passionate,” said Theedom. “He wasn’t afraid to tell you exactly what he thought, and at times he could be cantankerous or mischievous in equal measure.
“But beneath that exterior was someone who cared deeply, especially about young cricketers.”
Alan Swift was born in Shropshire and immersed himself in sport, particularly cricket and football from an early age. He was also a member of a church choir.
Although talent spotters from Aston Villa FC invited the passionate Wolverhampton Wanderers supporter for trials, it was in non-league football that he mostly played.
Swift’s first career after graduating was as an engineer, working for AIGC in Rugby, Warwickshire. He was part of the team that installed a ventilation system in the Mersey Tunnel, which opened in 1971.
When Swift – a gregarious person – realised engineering was not the companionable career for him, he signed-up for teacher training at the West Sussex Institute of Higher Education. It was a decision that changed the direction of his life in more ways than one.
“The West Sussex Institute was where we met as we were both training to be teachers,” said wife-to-be Hilary.
“When we left Alan suggested going to Plymouth as he had toured there with the AIGC cricket team (in 1969) and liked the area.”
After a brief period teaching maths at St Peter’s School in central Plymouth, Swift switched to Plymstock Comprehensive, where added cricket and football were added to his timetable.
Swift quickly joined Plymouth CC during the era when the late Chris U’ren was the first-team captain. A batter who bowled leg-breaks – his highlight was a five-wicket return against Kent tourists Old Olavians – Swift found his natural role skippering the city side’s 2nd XI.
“Alan batted lower than he should to give the youngsters experience and was captain when the 2nd XI won the midweek Major Cup KO competition,” said Phil Barrow, the Plymouth CC archivist, who played under Swift's captaincy.
Swift captained Plymouth 2nd XI in two stints from between 1981-1983, and again in 1987 and 1988.
Youth cricket was on the Swift radar by the late 1970s. He was secretary of the Plymouth Schools' Cricket Association and organised a schools’ tournament on the club’s former Peverell Park ground in 1979.
Swift ran into trouble with the Plymouth CC committee when he unilaterally arranged to lay an artificial pitch on the Peverell Park ground to promote more cricket opportunities for young people.
“Alan, Mike Kershaw and Jed Duce dug a large hole to lay the artificial pitch in,” said Hilary. “Everyone agreed it was needed, but the committee were not happy.”
Inevitably, Swift became involved in youth coaching at Plymouth. Future Devon players Duncan Boase and Dave Tall were among his graduates.
After a brief stint playing for Plymstock in 1984, he went back to Peverell Park and worked on the resurrection of age-group cricket in the late 1980s. Coaching qualifications were added, culminating in ECB staff-coach status.
Devon invited Swift to take over running of the county under-15 age-group side, which he did in 2000.
Swift’s legacy to Devon Cricket is the annual South African tour, which commenced in February 2002 as a development exercise for that summer’s under-15 squad. Swift was organiser, team or tour manager from its inception until ill-health forced him to step aside in 2016.
Mark Ansell, who succeeded Swift as tour manager, said the fortnight long, two-centre, mixed-match format drawn-up by his predecessor was so good he saw no reason change it.
“The tour is very much the same as Alan devised all those years ago and has not been altered that much because it works well for us and the sides we play,” said Ansell, whose own tenure lasted until 2020.
“The tour is a fantastic opportunity for the players to test their skills in a tough environment, one most if not all of them have never played in before.”
The list of alumni – Bess, both Overtons, Baker and Gregory – testify to the success of the tour.
Alan Swift was equally as passionate about football. He toured the semi-professional circuit for several seasons with roles at Crediton, Liskeard Athletic, Barnstaple Town, Saltash United and Falmouth Town. He also had a spell coaching the Devon under-19 side.
Steve Moore, then a Braunton cricketer, played under Swift at Barnstaple. He said of him: “Alan was a good coach and always ran good training sessions.”
Swift was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease 20 years ago. He had a strain that developed slowly and avoided some of its worst symptoms for a long time. Despite having a double hip replacement, he remained relatively mobile until the latter stages of his illness.
The Swifts were married at St Stephen’s-by-Saltash church. They were together for 51 years.
Alan Swift’s funeral will take place at St Werburgh’s Church, Wembury (11am) on March 12. The wake follows at Staddon Heights Golf Club.
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