New Warwickshire Performance Director James Thomas says he wants to create a winning culture at Edgbaston – and to help the Bears win trophies.
Thomas was announced as the Club’s Performance Director last week and will move from his role as Manchester City FC’s Director of Performance Services in June.
The 42-year-old has worked in elite performance across a range of sports and played a lead role in building foundations for a high performing environment at British Gymnastics which delivered multiple medals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
He’ll soon add cricket to his high performance CV and Thomas says he’s excited by the challenge.
“The Club presented a vision to me of inspiring through winning teams. That’s what I’m here to do,” said Thomas, in his first interview with the Club.
“I’ll take accountability for all the programmes here, put in place systems and structures so when a player arrives through the Academy or elsewhere they have the best possible coaching support, technology, science and medicine, to allow them to perform to their best.
“I’ve worked in lots of sports environments. All are unique with their technical and tactical requirements, but there are commonalities. Everything from the mindset of an elite performer and approaches to coaching, to behaviours and culture. It’s about creating an environment with a focus on winning.
“The difference between coming second or third to coming first can be down to the small details so we have to get those details right.
“I want to introduce some of the ideas and latest thinking from other sports, such as data and insights, into cricket. We should have an evidence-based culture when it comes to building the squad in way we recruit and plan for games.
“I’ll be working with coaches and staff who have incredible cricket knowledge. I’m looking forward to integrating the Warwickshire men, Bears Women and Birmingham Phoenix to make the county successful across all formats. All of the cricket played at Edgbaston should reflect the Bears spirit and reflect the diversity of the region. I’m confident I can bring something new, and a different perspective.
“The Bears heritage is really important. That’s shone through in my conversations with people. But there is also real excitement of the future. That’s what captivated me: a willingness to evolve and try new things, to win again. That’s what I’m here to do, win some trophies.”
Thomas has been heavily involved in the youth and Academy system during his three years with Manchester City FC.
It’s produced players like Phil Foden, Rico Lewis and Cole Palmer in recent years. Thomas wants to emulate that success at Edgbaston, building on progress in the Bears Academy in recent years, to help even more young talent make it to the top.
He added: “Long term success is core to how you build a high performance programme. We don’t want one or two years of success, we want it sustained over a long period.
“Organisations that lay the foundations right, that have strong successful Academies as I’ve experienced it at Man City, will be successful.
“It’s working well here. But how can we turn the notch up and have even more players progressing through to play for the senior men’s and women’s sides.”
Thomas cited British Gymnastics’ medal-winning performance at the Tokyo Olympics as a career highlight.
“I’ve worked with some incredible athletes and coaches over the years,” he continued, “with lots of moments where we’ve won but also special moments in training as players develop.
“My five years at British Gymnastics was special because we had challenges, including Covid, so to get a team to Tokyo at that time and to win multiple medals was a great achievement.
“We won a women’s team medal for the first time in over 90 years. We used a lot of data analytics in the build-up to help formulate our selection, and we created a tight-knit culture. The women went into the Games confident they could win a medal. And they did it with a score that we thought it would take to win that medal.
“Seeing programmes evolve after you’ve left is also important. I want to leave a legacy. When I see athletes go on to have success and win medals after I’ve left also makes me very proud.”
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