Olympic medallist Kelly Sotherton is adding her expertise to a programme designed to make Warwickshire's players more athletic and cricket-resilient for the 2020 season and beyond.

Olympic medallist Kelly Sotherton is adding her expertise to a programme designed to make Warwickshire’s players more athletic and cricket-resilient for the 2020 season and beyond.

Sotherton, who also works in rugby union with the players of Wasps RFC, is overseeing sessions with the Bears players on a weekly basis at the Alexander Stadium.

We want to enhance the athleticism of our players and make them as resilient as possible.

Jack Murfin

Since her career as an athlete, Sotherton has forged a successful second career as a specialist running and movement coach and the Bears Head of Strength and Conditioning Jack Murfin is delighted to have her on board.

“Kelly really knows her stuff and the lads have responded really well to her,” he said. “She has so much knowledge, expertise and experience and is really helping the guys with their running and movement skills.

“We also hope to utilise Kelly’s skills during the season to support the maintenance of the players physical performance alongside their cricket.

“Her involvement is part of a strategy to make the players, in particular the bowlers, more robust. We want to enhance the athleticism of our players and make them as resilient as possible to increase the level they can perform at, whilst minimising the risk of injuries from areas we can control – and Kelly’s input is really valuable here.

“This winter we have also modified the training regime and challenged players with targeted weeks where we overload them with the aim being to replicate the demands put on players during the season, in particular the four-day games. The demands on players during a season are increasing all the time with fixtures coming thick and fast so we want the younger players, especially, to develop their physical skills and knowledge to help them manage their bodies throughout the season.”