Alleyne named new MCC head coach

Mark Alleyne, the former Gloucestershire and England allrounder, has been appointed as MCC head coach. He succeeds Clive Radley who has been in the post since 1991 and who was due to retire at the end of the summer.

Alleyne played ten ODIs for England, but his biggest impact came at county level where he led Gloucestershire to a raft of one-day titles and was named one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year in 2000. He went straight from playing into coaching, taking charge of Gloucestershire between 2004 and 2007, and he is currently a specialist coach at the National Performance Centre in Loughborough, the England Under-15 coach and chairman of the Professional Cricket Coaches Association.

"He has the ideal blend of cricketing experience and reputation allied to a very appropriate coaching style for the club and our MCC Young Cricketers in particular," said MCC assistant secretary John Stephenson. "In addition, Mark has proven motivational skills and a very good understanding of the business of cricket."

"Much like Clive and his predecessors, I look forward to a long relationship with MCC," Alleyne said. "I hope I can bring similar success to the club and to the development of the MCC Young Cricketers."

Radley, whose links with Lord's go back almost 50 years, will remain as coach and manager of the combined MCC Universities team, who will also compete in the Second XI Championship.