Mark Alleyne named as Gloucestershire’s new head coach

Alleyne won nine trophies during his time as Gloucestershire’s captain and also oversaw the club’s promotion to the top flight of the County Championship. He will take over as head coach in March, on a three-year deal.

Since retiring in 2004, Alleyne’s career has encompassed spells as head coach of the MCC Academy, and more recently as head of the cricket department at Marlborough College in Wiltshire.

He had a previous stint as Gloucestershire’s head coach between 2005 and 2007, and in 2022 he coached England’s Men’s T20I squad during their tour of the Caribbean. He has also been part of the set-up at Welsh Fire in the Men’s Hundred, having stood in as Glamorgan’s white-ball head coach last season.

“I’m feeling truly blessed to be given the opportunity to lead Gloucestershire, a county I have many happy memories of from during my playing days,” Alleyne said.

“I’m now at a time in my career where I’ve been exposed to coaching right at the top level for a number of years and have gained lots of experience, and I’m hoping the skills I’ve picked up along the way will allow me to have a positive impact on the team.

“There is a really exciting blend of youth and experience at Gloucestershire and that’s why when the opportunity came up, I didn’t give it a second thought. I can’t wait to get started and am excited to see what the future holds.”

In addition to his achievements as captain, Alleyne is also the club’s highest run-scorer and wicket-taker in List A cricket, with 15,327 runs and 393 wickets in 413 matches. He also made 14,214 runs and took 407 wickets in 314 first-class matches for the club.

Will Brown, Gloucestershire’s chief executive, said: “It is absolutely fantastic to welcome Mark back to the club as our new Head Coach; he has a long and glittering history of winning trophies here at Gloucestershire and is just as hungry for success now as a coach as he was during his playing days.

“We saw some incredible people during the interview process but it was clear that Mark’s combination of skills and experience made him the stand-out candidate for the role and alongside assistant coaches like Will Porterfield and Tom Smith we know we now have an exciting and progressive coaching team.

Graeme van Buuren, Gloucestershire’s captain, added: “Mark’s knowledge of the game is amazing and he’s achieved great things here as a player, so all of us players are really excited to begin working with him in the coming weeks.

“One thing Mark knows how to do is win and I’m sure the lessons he has learned over the years will be invaluable to us. It’s an exciting time to be at Gloucestershire and we’re all looking forward to the start of the season.”

David ‘Syd’ Lawrence, Gloucestershire’s president and a former team-mate of Alleyne’s, added: “Mark has gained a lot of coaching experience in recent years and I believe the players will really benefit from drawing on Mark’s knowledge and experience to make improvements as a team. Mark has great character and is really passionate about Gloucestershire and helping Gloucestershire succeed.”