Introducing Oliver Hunt

Western Storm are pleased to be able to announce the appointment of Oliver Hunt as the new Strength & Conditioning Coach.

Following the appointment, Head Coach Trevor Griffin expressed his delight at securing Oliver’s services.

“To be able to get someone of Ollie’s calibre for the duration of the tournament is really tough to do,” he said. “We’re absolutely delighted to have him on board and we’re extremely grateful to Gloucestershire County Cricket Club for releasing him to us for that period.

“Although the tournament is only for six weeks, Ollie will be monitoring the players across the whole summer to ensure that they are in the best possible shape when the KSL begins.

“He comes with a wealth of experience and we are looking forward to working with him.

“I’d also like to thank the University of Exeter and PJ Dundass who was our S&C last year. Every year this aspect has got better and PJ took it to another level last year. I have no doubt that Ollie will do the same again this year.”

Oliver studied an undergraduate degree in strength and conditioning from 2012 to 2015. During that time he undertook a winter internship at Gloucestershire CCC where he led their academy in strength and conditioning.

He then did his masters degree in sports therapy during which he worked with Bob Smith, who is now the Lead Strength & Conditioning Coach at Gloucestershire. He is now in the second year of assisting with the playing staff and academy at the Bristol County Ground.

After his new position with Western Storm was announced, Oliver explained how it all came about.

“I know Lisa Pagett (Western Storm General Manager) from working at Gloucestershire and I met Trevor through her,” he said. “We had a meeting a couple of months ago and it’s absolutely fantastic to have been given this opportunity.

“Western Storm have been so successful over the last few years and hopefully we can replicate that success again this year.

“Strength and conditioning is absolutely vital because the game is getting faster and is played at a high intensity. We will be covering a range of areas including movement competencies and assessing how they move and how they can transfer that in to running, batting and bowling. We’ll also be looking at the strength side of things to make sure that the players are strong enough and robust enough to cope with the physical demands of the game. We also need to make sure that they are able to resist fatigue and avoid injury.

“Each player will have a specific programme that is tailored exactly to their individual needs. It’s about getting the best out of each player because that is how a team will be successful.”