With the recent news of Dylan Driscoll and Zach Lion-Cachet both being awarded a place on the Sussex Cricket Academy, we recently spoke to Zach.
Zach (17) had a successful summer which saw him score a hundred for Oxfordshire U18s against Sussex at Blackstone. He then went on to play for Sussex’s U18s, Sussex 2s, Oxfordshire’s County Men and 2nd XI. This included a century against Wiltshire 2nd XI and hit an impressive 73 on his County Men debut. The pathway journey for Zach started at the age of 8 when he was in the U10s. He scored 115 not out v Wiltshire at the Bryanston U11 Festival. In 2019 he was selected for South & West U15s who went on to win the 50 over and t20 competitions at the Bunbury Festival alongside James Coles.
Q – What were your immediate thoughts on being offered a place? What does it mean to you to be in the Sussex academy?
A- I was delighted to be invited to join the Sussex Academy and it wasn’t a hard decision to accept the place. It is an amazing opportunity to be a part of such a special Club and have the chance to progress my cricket in an environment where they are promoting young cricketers.
Q – You recently did your academy induction, what was that like, what did it entail?
A – The Academy induction was excellent as I had a look around the facilities at Hove, completed a gym session and had a net session in the indoor school. I also had the chance to meet some of the different coaches and S&C staff.
Q – With yourself still being at school, how will it work with being in the academy?
A – I will be training twice a week with Alan Duncan and other coaches who will come to school to do sessions with me. During the holidays, I will be spending time down in Sussex to complete sessions at Hove.
Q – What are you looking forward to about being in the academy?
A – I am looking forward to being a part of training sessions with the pros and having different opportunities in the summer to play alongside different people. I am really looking forward to going down to Sussex in mid-December where I have training sessions with the pros. I am looking forward to meeting other players on the Academy and am excited to work with all the specialist coaches.