Endless meetings. It is the only part that Alex Hartley, spin bowling coach of PSL franchise Multan Sultans, dislikes.
There are separate meetings for batting, bowling and fielding, which I am still finding tough to deal with,’ Hartley tells The Indian Express. She and former Ireland player Catherine Dalton, a fast bowling coach, have been the first female coaches in the league’s history.
Hartley, who has played 28 ODIs and four T20Is for England between 2016 and 2019, and also broke millions hearts in the 2017 World Cup final when she took Harmanpreet Kaur’s wicket, says the experience has been incredible. ‘Everyone is welcoming and understanding. Ali (Tareen, the franchise owner) has broken boundaries. When he rang me and told me I need you at Multan Sultans, I just couldn’t turn it down. It’s a lot more than cricket,’ says Hartley.
Hartley with the spin bowlers of Multan Sultans
She worried if everyone would respect her, or understand the culture she was from. ‘As soon as I arrived, we had a team meeting. Ali sat down everyone and said this is your bowling coach, this is your fielding coach blah blah. I instantly felt at home,’ she says.
The players too have been welcoming. ‘Mostly everything I have advised to them has been taken on board. There are times in the meeting when they will ask ‘so Alex what’s the plan?’ They are also backing me,’ she says. Killing doubts about the safety of women in these parts, the 30-year-old says: ‘I genuinely couldn’t be safer,’ says Hartley. She regrets that she has still not picked up Hindi or Urdu words, though communication has not been an issue. ‘I need to learn at least a few words of Hindi and Urdu,’ she says, laughing. She has an interpreter to ensure her ‘communication is spot on’.
She, though, doesn’t find a massive difference between the dressing room of men and women cricketers. ‘It’s the same,’ she says. ‘I sit in the dugout, because during the tactical time-out you have to talk to the players. But in my experience, the dressing room remains the same.
You always have someone like Dahani (Shahnawaz), who is loud and has a happy personality. I think every dressing room needs a Dahani. Then there are the quiet ones in one corner, then there is Dahani who runs around and tries to rile up David Willey,’ he elaborates.