A WHITCHURCH disablity cricket coach says he is ‘so proud’ at the role he played in the huge early success of the Disability Premier League (DPL) in cricket.

James Wojda is 36 and is currently head coach at Shrewsbury Cricket Club, overseeing players from first team level down to the junior section.

During 2023, he has been head coach at the Hawks in the DPL and is a fully-qualified performance cricket coach.

He oversaw the Hawks winning the inaugural DPL in a doubleheader with England Women’s one-day international against Sri Lanka in Derby earlier this month.

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Having been part of the pilot season in 2022, James said he was exceptionally proud to be involved in not only the Hawks’ win, but the competition overall.

“Words cannot even describe how proud I am,” he said.

“Not only of the players, but of how well the whole competition was organised and the work that went into it.”

He said: “There were three group stages earlier in the year – one in Neston in Cheshire, one down south and the last one was at the ECB centre at Loughborough University.

“We finished top of the group and got through to the final at Debry which was a double header live on Sky with the England Women’s ODI.

“It was such a great experience for us and it was great to win the competition.

“The players bought into what I asked them to do, which was to enjoy it and play to their full ability.”

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James, whose coaching career started out at Whitchurch, has been part of the whole inaugural season experience, from ‘drafting’ players into his 16-player squad and working with them over the winter.

He said: “When I first qualified I was contacted by the ECB’s Neil Bradshaw to get my thoughts on the DPL.

“I took part in the pilot season where I was head coach for one team and then floated about helping others.

“There are four franchises and we worked to put together a draft, like the Hundred.”

James is now looking forward to a winter of huge experiences to come, starting with his work on the Worcestershire County Cricket Club pathway and mapping out his role there.

And then in November, he will be headed to Pretoria as assistant coach of the England Learning Disability Team for a trilateral series against hosts South Africa and Australia.