Wes Durston joins Lightning coaching team

Durston originates from Taunton, Somerset where he spent eight years as a professional cricketer for the county side. Clocking up 1726 runs with a high score of 146*, Durston was part of the Somerset glory days winning the Twenty20 Cup final in 2005.



Leaving Taunton, Durston went on to represent Derbyshire for six years before retiring from the professional game in 2016. Durston impressed with both ball and bat scoring over 5000 runs and taking 119 wickets over 109 first-class matches. This wealth of experience has allowed for a natural transition from player to coach, most recently having worked at Oakham school in Rutland.



Off the pitch, Durston has also written a book in collaboration with Patrick Latham discussing cricket captaincy under the title ‘A Leading Edge’.



Durston’s appointment will be a welcomed addition to the staff team as Head Coach Rob Taylor commented: "Wes has been a brilliant addition to our coaching staff for this years KSL. He has had a really positive impact on the MCCU squad since he started with us. His experience in T20 cricket and having been captain at Derbyshire will help us deliver the key messages to the girls in our squad during the high pressured nature of the KSL. He will head up our fielding and spin bowling specifically. With him and Matthew Hoggard, I believe we have a really strong coaching team that can help guide the players through the competition."



Durston added: "I am very excited to be the assistant coach for the Loughborough Lightning team going into the KSL. Having followed the fortunes of the team in the past few seasons I’m looking forward to the group being together next month. With the players at our disposal and the quality of the off-field team we will be working hard to go one better this year. It’s going to be a big summer of cricket, one that I hope we can all enjoy and look back at fondly in the years to come."



(Inputs from Hannah Thompson)