Marcus Lilley, Class of 2022

Marcus Lilley (Class of 2022) captained Trinity’s First XI cricket team for three years, leading them to memorable victories including a standout win over Whitgift. Now playing for the University of Leeds First XI, he continues to combine high-level cricket with academic study. With nearly six years of coaching experience, Marcus is passionate about mentoring young players and developing leadership both on and off the field.

As First XI captain for three years, what were the standout moments and biggest challenges of leading the team?

I loved the National cup and the chance to beat ‘bigger’ schools and knock them out of the competition. Being very competitive myself, it was the only part of school cricket where the result had a further consequence with there being no league cricket like club cricket for example. Knocking out Whitgift with a depleted squad was, of course, a special highlight for me. I never really felt there were any major challenges in leading the team as it was such an enjoyable and developing experience, however if there were to be one it would probably be managing a different/ weakened team during the exam period. However this always gave the opportunity for younger players to play which me and Mr Ali Brown were a big advocate of with one of the first things him telling me on my 1st XI debut being “if you’re good enough, you’re old enough” and that was the approach we took during selection.

Which teachers or coaches at Trinity had the biggest influence on you, both on and off the cricket field?

Mr Ali Brown definitely had the biggest impact and influence on my development as a cricketer and individual. Having played to such a high standard I made sure to soak up as much knowledge and expertise from him as possible, learning from his past experiences. We looked at the game in a very similar fashion and agreed on how we wanted to approach our matches which was likely part of the reason why he entrusted me with a leadership role from quite a young age. Mr Elliot Hooper and Mr Marc Edwards were also incredibly valuable to my development, especially helping me balance training and matches with my academic studies.

How has playing for the University of Leeds 1st XI compared to school cricket? What’s been the biggest adjustment?

Overall the standard is higher as obviously you’re coming up against a larger pool of players. However university cricket can be weird in terms of availability with the cricket season being played in the exam period and the varied availability of UCCE players. This means that you could be playing a traditionally strong cricketing university however the team could be quite weak as a result of those factors. In general it’s a very good standard and thoroughly enjoyable playing with the people you spend most of your week with, just like school cricket.

You’ve been coaching junior cricketers for nearly six years—how has that experience shaped your approach to the game?

It’s probably made me more patient and improved my attention to detail. Working with junior cricketers requires time and effort to ensure they understand what and why you are getting them to do something rather than just getting them to do it. Then the patience comes in with them making mistakes because they are learning something new. The attention to detail is key as the information I’m giving to them has to be precise so they can process and understand it. That has helped with my captaincy by ensuring messages are detailed but also clear in what I’m asking of fellow teammates. There is also a massive reward of seeing individuals improve drastically after having coached them as it is amazing to see them take the information you have given them on board and apply it effectively.

What advice would you give to current Trinity students looking to balance high-level sport with their studies?

I found it so important to train and play as much as possible throughout exams and revising periods. Firstly it’s essential to be active and socialising through these times as they can be stressful and sport is a perfect release. For me personally, training and matches gave me something to look forward to and work towards and as a result gave me that extra motivation to work hard for a couple of hours on a Friday, knowing I was able to play cricket for the whole of Saturday. It also greatly improved my time management as I had to be prepped months in advance of my exams knowing that my summer would be filled with cricket and I would always struggle to say no to playing a game. I also think school sport was such an enjoyable experience that you can’t get back when you leave so it should be made the most of, whether in an exam period or not.