Former First Class quick Jayde Herrick explains why he signed on as Cranbourne’s coach

Former First Class speedster Jayde Herrick has outlined why he chose to play at Cranbourne next summer and how he plans to improve the Eagles.

Jayde Herrick is looking to match the foot prints his father left on Dandenong District powerhouse Cranbourne.

Herrick – who played 19 First Class matches and 10 List A matches – was announced as the Eagles’ coach for 2023-24 earlier this week.

He joins knowing the club well, having played his first competitive matches there while his dad was in the top job.

“I have been looking to get back into coaching the last couple of years and haven’t quite found the place,” Herrick said.

“Cranbourne was my initial home club, where I first played my cricket, where my father Matt Herrick coached quite a few years – it seemed like a logical one.

“They were in a position where they needed a hand, needed some direction and that was the role I was looking for.

“I wasn’t looking for a front running role with a team that was 100 per cent ready, I like a bit of a challenge and it sounds like they have got a lot of juniors coming through and it sounds like something that I can shape for the next two, three, four years.

“It is pretty cool that I get the opportunity, not so much being the junior and coming back, but it’s going to be pretty cool knowing dad had a prominent role there for some time.

“I suppose I now have the opportunity to do the same thing.”

Jayde Herrick in action for Victoria. Pic Gregg Porteous

Herrick, 38, admits he has felt the wear and tear of being a fast bowler but feels he is still in a position to lead and shape the young group.

“Body is old and broken no doubt, as you’d expect from someone who bowled pretty fast for a long time,” he joked.

“This is more a coaching role than anything else, at this stage they don’t have a real captain and leader of the First XI, so this first year will be about teaching people the nuances of cricket.

“How to play, how to approach things, how to set fields, all that sort of stuff that not a lot of people actually teach – the easiest place to teach that is out on the field.

“I can see there being quite a few leaders this year that will be getting a hand to help set up a good few leaders that can help set up the club.

“I see an opportunity here where over the next two, three, four, five years we can bring some juniors through and set up the top couple of teams full of people who know how to play cricket, know how to win and play together.

“That’s what I’m about, I always want to leave a club in a better position than when I got there.”

The Eagles lost the Sweeney brothers – Peter and Michael – to Casey Cardinia club Tooradin in the wake of the 2022-23 season but have added Herrick and Endeavour Hills batter Chenutha Wickramasinghe.

“He’s (Wickramasinghe) played a couple of first class games, good batter, very good fielder, so he will be a welcome addition,” he said.

“We’re not rushing out to break the bank, we have got a team that has played grand finals and finals for some time now, so hopefully with myself improving the players there and a batter like Chenuth coming into the team, we will be more than competitive.

“Hopefully we’re enough to get there this year and if not, we will be even better set up for next year.”