Paul Prichard (born 7 January 1965) is an English cricket coach and retired

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. A former

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coach, he has joined the

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coaching staff for the 2022 season. He will also lead the

Southern Vipers The Southern Vipers are a women's cricket team that represent the South of England. The Vipers wear an orange and black kit and play their home matches at the Ageas Bowl and the County Cricket Ground, Hove. They are currently coached by former ...

. He played for

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

as a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler for seventeen years. He was club captain from 1995 to 1998 before spending the last three years of his playing career at

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. Prichard first played for Essex Schools at the age of nine, and was nurtured at the Hutton club by his father, a prominent Hutton player, and Doug Pont. He graduated from the Essex Schools sides to England Schools, and moved to the more prominent Orsett and Thurrock club. He played in five Youth Test Matches and 4 Youth One-Day Internationals between 1981 and 1983. His first Test for England Young Cricketers against

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alongside team-mates such as Steve O'Shaughnessy and

Tim Boon Timothy James Boon (born 1 November 1961 in Balby, Doncaster, Yorkshire) is a former English cricketer who used to be the coach of Leicestershire. Boon had a successful playing career predominantly with Leicestershire. However he started his y ...

. As a schoolboy he was a decent wicket-keeper, but it was as a batsman that he excelled, although his fielding also won him much praise. On the Essex staff from the age of 16, his first team debut came in 1982, when he played in a 40-over League match, however, he neither batted or bowled during this match, batting lower down the order than was required, and not being called in to bowl at any time. He competed in the Benson and Hedges Cup for the next twelve years, and later in his career in the C&G trophy.

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suggests that he was predicted for full England honours, but an England call never came. His maiden first-class century came in his debut year, 1984, at Old Trafford against Lancashire. This was a momentous occasion since Essex's victory in the match, combined with

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

's very narrow defeat in the simultaneous fixture against

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, clinched the first of four

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

triumphs (the others coming in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

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and

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) for Essex in which Prichard was involved. He also shared a number of one-day triumphs with Essex, including in the

1998 Benson & Hedges Cup The 1998 Benson & Hedges Cup was the twenty-seventh edition of cricket's Benson & Hedges Cup. It was an English limited overs county cricket tournament which was held between 28 April and 12 July 1998. It had been agreed at various meetings of t ...

when he was

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

and victorious

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in the final. He was also

when Essex won the final of the

1989 Refuge Assurance Cup The 1989 Refuge Assurance Cup was the second competing of the Refuge Assurance Cup, for the most successful teams in the Sunday League. It was an English limited overs county cricket tournament which was held between 6 and 17 September 1989. T ...

. He won his Essex cap in 1986, was the club captain 1995–98, and was awarded a benefit year in 1996. For some years he played grade cricket in Australia and coached at the Chelmsford Indoor School. He played in the Minor Counties Championship Western Division extensively between 2002 and 2006, for

References

Sources

* David Lemmon, ''The Book of Essex Cricketers'' (1994, Breedon Books)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prichard, Paul English cricketers Essex cricketers Essex cricket captains 1965 births Living people Berkshire cricketers English cricket coaches