Toby Bailey – National Cricket Coach

Cricket has a long history in Argentina. The first game was played in 1806 and from then on clubs began to appear across Buenos Aires province. The Argentine national side has had sporadic success over the years. The golden era for the game was from 1900 to the Second World War, when Argentina was considered amongst the top six cricketing sides in the world. Unlike in India, whose game at that time was developing at a similar pace, cricket’s popularity in Argentina waned considerably from the 1950s onwards, leaving football to overtake and develop as the country’s national past time. However, the Argentine Cricket Association (ACA) is committed to ensuring that Argentina gets back up there with the top cricketing nations. Joining the team, as coach to the national side, is British recruit Toby Bailey. Toby is an ex-professional cricket player from the UK, who has a passion for developing the game abroad.

Photo by Pavel Ezrohi

Toby Bailey

So how did you become the coach of the Argentine national cricket team?

Well, I saw it advertised on the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) website and applied. As soon as they offered me the job, I was out here. I didn’t hesitate, I resigned from my job and six weeks later I was over here and I absolutely love it.

Have you always been involved in cricket?

I used to play professional cricket at Northamptonshire. I did that for ten years and then I went to work for a bank in London. I always thought I’d come back to cricket. I played cricket for the ICC and went on tour to Mozambique. While I was there I did a lot of coaching and from that I realised that I wanted to go back into cricket, not in the UK, but for a country where cricket is developing. Because in developing countries you get more out of cricketers, it’s not so easy, more of a challenge.

What did you know about Argentine cricket before you came out here?

I knew the history of Argentine cricket and I thought it might be a little bit more English out here, but it’s better that it’s not. I’m coaching Argentines not ex-pat/English players, which is fantastic.

Why do you think cricket didn’t become the national sport of Argentina?

I think cricket went into decline over here because until the 1970s it was an ex-pat sport. Even though players were second generation Argentine they weren’t developing new talent within the Argentine community. Some of our players have very Anglo names so some people perceive that it’s still a game for ex-pats, that it’s just for embassy staff on a Sunday. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Ninety-five percent of our players are Argentine and we’re very proud of that. It is critical that we get more Argentines involved and interested if the sport is going to progress.

How does your coaching role differ here to in the UK?

In the UK if I was working in an academy, the players would be perfect. They’d all rock up on time and I wouldn’t have to drill them. They would be rough diamonds that just needed shining up a bit. Over here you’ve almost got to cut the diamonds!

Photo by Pavel Ezrohi

The North-South game.

In the UK the structure is in place, people are taught how to bowl from an early age. Over here they don’t have that structure, but they’ll watch, pick up a bat and get it almost straight away. They’re very talented.

What language is spoken out on the field?

You get lots of ‘spanglish’; out on the field. There are some cricket terms that you just can’t translate so most players use a combination of English and Spanish.

Do you find yourself having to explain what cricket is a lot of the time?

Yes! So many people think I mean croquet! I remember I was in a pizza place in Hurlingham chatting away to this lady. When I explained that I was a cricket coach the woman gave me a funny look, up and down, and then started making the actions of playing croquet. I usually say that it’s like baseball to avoid confusion.

Do you get to go to some exotic locations?

Yes, we travel all around South America. The men’s national team played in Darwin in 2007 and are off to the UK and Italy this year. The ACA is keen to go to other South American countries and run coaching clinics and coach coaches. We want to be able to play against Chile, Brazil and Uruguay. We want to develop their standard of cricket too. It’ll take a long time, but we see that as a big responsibility for us.

What is women’s cricket like out here?

Women’s cricket is growing fast here. The national team recently beat Bermuda and the US and narrowly missed getting through to the World Cup qualifiers. In theory women’s cricket is new worldwide, although there was actually a women’s world cup before the men’s.

What’s the cricket social scene like? Is it all cucumber sandwiches and Pimms?

Everyone knows each other out here, it’s a small community, so people stick around for a beer after the game. Mixing Fanta with beer seems to be the thing over here which is new to me and they’ll have masses of empanadas or an asado after the game.

What do you like about living out here?

I love it because it’s so different. Everything is new. I’m getting used to things not quite working in the same way and now I’m more relaxed about it. In fact the best thing is that it’s so relaxed. Also, the food is unbelievable and the wine is out of this world. The people are really friendly: they take their time to say hello and good bye and really mean it here when they ask how you are. Things do go a lot slower, but it means you can appreciate the smaller things in life. I have no plans to leave. If I left after a year I wouldn’t have done the job properly. I’m really excited about the young players coming through but it’ll take time to achieve what I want to do.

Do you find any cultural differences when you’re coaching?

I sometimes have to be careful with the culture. I can’t coach the same way here as I would in the UK. I can’t use the ‘stick’ approach here. It just wouldn’t work. When they train here, they train really, really hard. I just have to use a different way to get people to respond. In the UK if someone isn’t turning up to practise then you drop them and they get the message. I can’t do that here – it wouldn’t work. It’s the biggest cultural difference I’ve found in my work.

I have no complaints about how the guys train though, they’re focused and brilliant. Organising stuff is the hardest thing to do. Getting 15 players to turn up on time can be tricky. When they turn up 15 minutes late I ask them why they aren’t on time and they answer that they are. It’s just different. I can’t bring my culture over. I can’t change that, so I don’t bother.

If you are interested in playing, umpiring or supporting cricket in Argentina you can contact the ACA on [email protected]. More information about the ACA, matches coming up in 2010 and the history of Argentine cricket visit www.cricketargentina.com