Graeme Welch has come a long way.
From the small town of Hetton-le-Hole, in Tyne and Wear, to Birmingham – that’s a fair way: 261 kilometres.
But it’s nothing compared to the distance Welch has covered in cricket. The little boy who tagged along to games with his dad, hoping the team would be a man short so he could field, has travelled far.
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He evolved into a first-class cricketer and then a top-class bowling coach. And the story is far from over. For the last four years, Welch has been Warwickshire’s bowling coach, a role he still relishes. But this season the 41-year-old was invited into England’s set-up for the first time.
His two-day stint working with the Lions bowlers could be just the start of a whole new chapter. But the story as it stands is well worth telling – of a cricket-loving lad who carved out a career in cricket despite, by his own admission, first playing fast and loose with the opportunity.
A talented all-rounder, Welch grew up playing alongside dad Robert for South Hetton and Eppleton. Among his coaches was Doug Ferguson, a legendary figure in north-east club cricket who, at one time, coached Italy’s national team. Ferguson was a friend of Bob Cottam, then Bears coach, to whom he recommended Welch.
The 16-year-old was invited to Edgbaston for a trial. It was his big chance. And it didn’t go well.
“I had the worst trial ever,” Welch recalls. “I was in the indoor school with the professionals and kept getting hit on the pad because the pace was too much.
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“But I went back for another trial the following March and did okay and three weeks later got a call offering me a two-year contract. I was on two-and-a-half grand.
“So I went down to Birmingham and the bright lights took hold of me. I went out a lot and let myself down. I didn’t do a lot on the field.
“But towards the end of my second year England U19s were playing Australia in a Test series and Glenn Chapple got injured. I was called up and did well with bat and ball against the likes of Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist and Michael Kasprowic – and that saved me. Bob Cottam came to me and said if I hadn’t improved in the last six weeks of the season I’d have been sacked.
“That was the kick up the backside I needed. From that moment on I knuckled down.”
Welch made his championship debut in 1994 and contributed plenty towards Warwickshire’s sensational treble. But though he was to stay at Edgbaston for another six years he never felt truly established as he competed with arguably the Bears’ best ever squad.
“1995 was not the best season for me,” he said. “I conceded 100 runs in a B&H Cup match and struggled to come back from that for six months. Basically, I was in and out for the rest of my career. I played 100 games and won quite a few trophies but never really felt I was part of the furniture.
“It was hard to get in that team with Allan Donald, Gladstone Small, Tim Munton, Paul Smith, Neil Smith, Roger Twose and Dougie Brown. Bob Woolmer wasn’t my biggest fan. He preferred Dougie. I was dropped for a final in 2000 when I had played most of the games.
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“I could have stayed at Warwickshire and rotted but felt I needed more responsibility. And a great opportunity came up at Derby.”
Welch moved to Derbyshire for the 2001 season to extend his playing days. By then, though, the seeds of the imminent coaching career had been sown by that supreme nurturer of talent, Neal Abberley.
And while, as a player, Welch possessed some ability, it was soon clear that, when it came to coaching, he had a vocation.
“Neal got me coaching in the old indoor school on Saturday mornings in the winter,” he recalls. “I wanted to make some extra money so I thought ‘why not?’ I didn’t really know what to expect but I really enjoyed working with the lads.
“There was one lad I remember who just loved coming along and being involved. He listened to everything I said, even though at that time I didn’t really know what I was on about. During that winter that lad improved so much it gave me a bit of a buzz.
“It was really rewarding. I saw how players could improve when they listened and worked hard. And I thought I might be quite good at this.”
Rather better than ‘quite good’, it transpired. The string of Warwickshire bowlers whom Welch has lifted into the England set-up in the last three years will testify to that.
But to hear how good he is you will have to ask them. You won’t hear it from him. Welch loves his job and gets great satisfaction from it but there is no trace of arrogance from this most grounded northerner. He is simply quick to hail those who helped him along. First and foremost, his father. Then Ferguson, Abberley, Cottam and, at Derbyshire, coach Dave Houghton and bowling coach and former England seamer Mike Hendrick.
“After I moved to Derbyshire and became captain I really learned a lot,” Welch said. “Mike Hendrick was fantastic – real quality. He knows the business and what’s involved and always empathised with bowlers. He was a huge influence. I loved it and a spell as captain prepared me for what I’m doing now because you can’t just think of yourself. You have to think of strategy and man-manage people.
“Then I became bowling coach at Essex and that stepped it up a notch. It became 12-months-a-year so you had time to work on things in the winter that you noticed during the season but hadn’t got time to address. I look back at all the different coaches I worked with and think I picked up bits and pieces from all of them. Neal Abberley, for example, taught me all about hard work and discipline which is exactly what I needed at that time.”
The product of all that collation of expertise is Graeme Welch, 2013 – a bowling coach rated firmly among the best in the country and who last month, at the request of former Warwickshire colleague Ashley Giles (now England’s limited-overs coach) worked with the Lions at Northampton during their two-day game with Australia.
“It was nice to be given that opportunity,” he said. “I chatted with the bowlers about how I felt we could get a few of the Aussies out and really enjoyed the experience. It was good working with Ash again.”
At some stage, England may well come calling again – on a longer-term basis. And that won’t be out of nepotism. One of Giles’ biggest attributes as a coach is an ability to gather around him people who clearly excel at their own jobs. Welch is one of those.