For many professional cricketers, moving into coaching is a natural next step once their playing career ends. For interim Central Districts mens and womens coach Greg Hay, it was the last thing on his mind.
A Nelson Griffins and Waimea Toi Toi United legend, Greg was a mainstay of the Central Districts Stags for more than 15 years, including the last six as captain. He finished his first class career with 18 centuries and more than 7000 runs, cementing his place as one of the Stags’ all time greats. But after announcing his retirement at the end of the 2024 season, returning as a coach was nowhere on his radar.
“It’s funny how things work out. I’d always said I never really wanted to coach; I pretty much thought when my playing days were over I’d move on to something else. I happened to be in Australia during the winter and I got a phone call from CD asking if I’d be interested in helping the CD women’s programme. I guess they caught me at exactly the right time because I said yes, and it’s snowballed from there.”
As CD Hinds assistant coach, Greg finds supporting female cricketers particularly rewarding.
“The players are so receptive to coaching. The opportunity to help increase their skills and improve their performance by large percentages is really satisfying.”
Following his first season with the Hinds, another unexpected phone call landed him the role of interim Stags coach.
“I called head office to chat about the upcoming season for the women, and they asked me to step into the Stags head coach role. The incumbent coach had resigned and there were only 11 days until the start of the season, so it was a rapid turn around to say the least.”
Despite the abrupt appointment, the Stags sit second in the domestic 50-over competition, and are part of a congested leaderboard in the four-day Plunket Shield. Greg’s experience as a player and long-time captain has helped ease the shift to coaching.
“A lot of the guys within the group played with me for years and know how I ran things as captain, so the quick change over wasn’t as big an issue as it might have been.”
Having close friends still in the squad brings its own challenges.
“The worst thing about the role is the difficult conversations you need to have with players. Some of those senior guys are my mates outside of cricket, so it certainly adds a different dynamic.”
It is not one he would change, though.
“The best thing about getting back in the CD set-up is being part of the team environment again; being back on tour and that feeling you get on match days. I love it. I’m not sure what the future holds, but for now I’m really enjoying coaching.”
