Olympic rower named chair of cricket club where son plays

A THREE-TIME Olympic medal-winning rower is the new chairman of Henley Cricket Club.

Greg Searle, 53, who won gold in the coxed pair in Barcelona in 1992 and bronze in the coxless four in Atlanta in 1996 and in the eight in London in 2012, was elected at the club’s annual meeting.

Mr Searle, who lives in Marlow, has been affiliated with the club for a number of years because of his son, Adam, who plays in the first team.

He hopes to bring his 20 years’ experience of coaching commercial businesses in the public sector to the club.

Mr Searle said: “I hope the work I have done to help companies create a culture where they want to come to work will translate to cricket.

“We want to create a place that people want to be in, where players get praised and celebrated but they’re also good role models.

“The best way for everyone to be involved in a thriving club is to have lots of enthusiastic people who want to play cricket, lead teams and train and perform at a higher level.

“By creating this environment, we will get a better game of cricket that people enjoy playing in, and Henley can feel proud of.”

Mr Searle hopes to build individuals within the team by analysing what did and didn’t work well in matches.

He said: “Cricket is the most individual team sport in the world because if you’re a batter, it’s just you against 11 other people. The better you do, the more you perform.

“Whether you’ve gone to the Olympic Games and got a bronze medal or come fourth, or you’re a fielder in a cricket team, you have to reframe to be able to go out and do it again, taking responsibility by analysing your performance for what went well and what needs to be improved.”

Mr Searle will replace Bjorn Mordt, 47, from Binfield, who captained both Henley and Berkshire in his playing days.

Mr Mordt, who has been chairman for the last two years and is now the head coach for Berkshire, said they want to develop young talent by implementing a new academy programme.

About 26 children aged 12 to 17 will be coached by the club’s senior players at Shiplake College’s indoor centre from February.

Mr Mordt said: “The level of cricket from our first and second teams is the highest you’ll find for the whole of the Thames Valley area.

“We’ve got an incredible bunch of very talented youngsters coming through, and we want to improve them as much as possible by having a clear pathway, so they are mentally and physically ready and confident enough to make them better from our bottom junior section to the top, who play at a county level.”

The club has improved its facilities in recent years to encourage players but struggles with its limited one-field space.

Mr Mordt said: “We spent money by adding two extra wicket squares on the edge to improve our practice facilities so we can train on Tuesday and Thursday but primarily to get more junior cricketers down at the ground, as they play away at Harpsden.

“We want as many kids to play as many games as they can and feel part of any group, but we only have one ground. We do have a relationship with the Nettlebed Sports Association for our third and fourth teams but it’s about taking the club forward and making a real difference in the next five years.”

Mr Mordt added: “The best piece of advice I was given as a young player is to believe in your own ability.”