2020 vision- life after professional cricket

Former Sussex and Nottinghamshire cricketer, Chris Nash has recently stepped back from the professional game to start a new career with the WPA Healthcare Practice PLC – a wholly owned division of WPA, who specialise in providing private medical insurance and health cash plans to individuals, families and businesses of all size.

Chris will join the local franchise working with the well-established businesses of Daniel Wade and Derrick Smith who have recently agreed a joint venture partnership to run the two franchise businesses as one.

Chris, you have been a professional cricketer for nearly 20 years. What’s your best memory from this time?

Luckily I have a lot to choose from, winning the championship in my first 2 years in the first team in 2006 and 2007 was an amazing experience. The 2009 T20 win was special as it was the first time Sussex had won that competition. Individually, scoring a 100 for Sussex at Horsham in 2010 was a dream come true. From the age of 7, all I wanted to do was to play for Sussex and win trophies and I was incredibly fortunate to be able to do that for 17 years and win so many trophies with my home county.

Chris, how long have you been thinking about hanging up the boots and how did you get involved with WPA?

Dan approached me 4 years ago, and I spent a day with him in meetings and spoke a lot about the industry and how I could transfer both my skills and experiences from my cricket career into the Private Healthcare sector. As a cricketer you have to prepare yourself for your second career, and as time ticked on, Dan and I spent more time working together to make the transition as smooth as possible. Having first-hand experience of the benefits of private healthcare, and the speed it got me back to work, it is something I am passionate about and I can see the benefits to both individuals and businesses.

Chris, are you excited to be moving back to Sussex?

Sussex has always been my home. Brighton is unique place and has such a strong sense of community. Although I have been playing for Nottinghamshire for the past 3 years, I kept my base down here and my partner has been living and working here whilst I have been up and down the country, so I never truly left. I ‘think’ she is happy (for now) to have me around a bit more.

Dan, what skillset do you think Chris can bring to your business and what will his role be?

I have known Chris for several years since I got involved with Sussex CCC as a sponsor. Chris has always been good with the sponsors as he is a great ‘people’s person’. That is the main thing in our role – you need to be good with people.

All of us within the business have been involved with sport at good levels. I have played rugby for Lewes since the age of 5, Derrick has played and coached football for Eastbourne Borough and Eastbourne Town and Jon Pitts also plays rugby for Lewes as well as being a good cricketer playing for Seaford.

Being part of a team sport really helps. Communication, teamwork, discipline, self-motivation and hard work are all vital in sports and this is the same for business.

Chris will join us as an Account Manager and his role with have two main functions. Firstly, he will be taking over some of our renewals for our existing customers. Maintaining relationships with our clients is key for us. Secondly, he will be responsible for generating new sales so he will be getting involved with the local business community to build his network.

Chris, how do you feel about starting ‘life after cricket’?

It is quite daunting. I have wanted to be a cricketer since the age of 7, and have been fortunate enough to do it for a living over the last 20 years. It is quite well documented how hard professional sportspeople find it to transition into life after cricket. It is something I have always thought about, and this has really helped. Whilst we feel invincible when we are playing, for every player, the time will come and it is vital to prepare. I have been extremely fortunate to meet a lot of great people through cricket and the business community in Sussex has always been great supporters of sport in the county. The help and encouragement I have been offered by Dan and WPA, alongside a number of local businesspeople has certainly made me feel really excited by the new opportunities. Having completed all the training, now its time to get to work and get myself involved in the local business community.

Dan, you have recently agreed a joint venture agreement with Derrick Smith. What does this mean and what plans do you have in the long term?

Until recently, both Derrick and I ran two separate franchise businesses under WPA. Derrick covered Brighton & Hove with Dan and Jon covering Gatwick/Crawley/East Grinsted.

Derrick and I have been discussing for a few years about working together to use each other’s skillset. Derrick has built a business up over 25 years and previously managed this on his own. I have run my franchise for 11 years and bought Jon in 4 years ago to help with this.

Being a franchise restricted by geographical territories meant we were both restricted on the activities we could do as these had to be done in our own locations. By joining forces, the two territories will be run as one business and the four of us will manage all aspects of the business between us to share the workloads.