CHENNAI: Alex Hartley needs no introduction in the cricketing fraternity. The former England spinner, who retired from all forms of cricket in August 2023, is a World Cup winner, commentator, co-host of No Balls Podcast with Kate Cross, and an ice cream enthusiast. Recently, Hartley was appointed as the assistant spin bowling coach to Multan Sultans, the Pakistan Super League franchise.
In India with the BBC as a commentator for the ongoing ODI World Cup, Hartley spoke to this daily about the new role, what it means, working with spin bowling coach Saqlain Mushtaq, her time as a commentator and more. Excerpts.
On being named as assistant spin coach of Multan Sultans
Oh, it's amazing, isn't it? It is honestly amazing. Surreal. An opportunity that obviously I can't turn down. I think it is credit to Ali (Ali Tareen, the franchise owner) in Multan Sultans to really change the way women are perceived in the sport, especially in Pakistan. I mean, a huge opportunity and I'm so excited to work alongside the coaches there and I think it's going to be brilliant.
On her role and working alongside Saqlain
It's getting those building blocks in place. The bowlers I know have got all the tricks of the trade. It's just can they repeat it time and time again? So for me it's doing that but also to learn from Mushtaq. It's to be there and to see how he operates and how he coaches, you know, he was a world class player, world class coach. I think it's just a huge opportunity. I'm like a kid again. You know, going into a new environment, I can be a sponge and learn so, so much about how to coach.
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— Alexandra Hartley (@AlexHartley93) October 21, 2023On the significance of it and women taking up coaching roles with men's teams
Yeah, I think it can happen a lot more. I think there's no reason why women can't coach in a men's environment. Men have been coaching women's cricket for such a long time and now women are professional from a younger age, we're learning the skill earlier. I think for me, my job going over to Pakistan and Multan is to get the basics into the spinners there.
We know that the spinners in the subcontinent are very, very talented. They have lots of variations but they might not necessarily have the building blocks to get to the top. I guess for me now it's setting up techniques that they have a strong base. So they bring their arm in and do they have those techniques and the rhythm and things like that and the processes for the outcome.
How has been your time in India, commentating in the ODI World Cup?
It's been amazing. Yeah, I love India. I've been to Mumbai a few times. I never really, they traveled in Europe that much. So for me, it's been amazing to go out and about and see more places in India and come up here. This is a bucket list place for me, Dharamsala. The beautiful sight of it, I love it every single second here.
How has been the experience of being a full-time commentator post retirement?
Yeah, it's so different because I can relax in the evening if I want a beer after a day, I can have a beer. I can eat what I want. I can do what I want. I've eaten so much paneer since I got here, I'm going to be walking home like a cheese block but no it's a lot easier for me and it's a different balance. You've got to get your balance in other ways because it is hectic but, you know, I'm loving it. There's no pressure, you don't play games, you have to go to the gym. I have to run. You can just see what you want to do.
Seems like you met quite a few fans of the No Balls Podcast in Chennai...
It blows my mind to be completely honest. I do the podcast with Kate Cross and almost forget that people listen. So the fact that in Chennai people were there to say hello there, they were showing us that they listen to the podcast. It was amazing. And I loved every second of it and I guess it just shows the reach that we have as cricketers.
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— No Balls: The Cricket Podcast (@NoBallsTCP) October 18, 2023It's been a hectic schedule for the commentators as well, how many cities have you been to?
You know what, I've written them all down because I didn't want to miss anything. So I've been to Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Dharamsala and we were staying in Palampur as well. So we've been to lots of places and then I'm off to Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore. So I'm ticking them all off. Oh, it's really hectic, you know, the first week we did five games in six days, but it slowed down a little bit now.
For me, once you're on the road and you get going, you sort of get used to it and it is your job. It's a dream, you know, to do a game like this today. It's massive, isn't it? I always get tired after a tournament. I need a holiday after the tournament.
