Overseas Winter Roles
Feel free to get in touch...
Quick plug of my services here for my next Substack piece. If anyone reading this is interested in what I can offer working in overseas short-format leagues over the winter, please feel free to get in touch via sportsanalyticsadvantage@gmail.com.
Please find below my detailed CV including descriptions of roles at various teams:-
Dan Weston
Durham, United Kingdom
sportsanalyticsadvantage@gmail.com
Bio and Achievements
A recruitment and strategy analyst with five years of experience working with various cricket teams.
I currently work for Birmingham Phoenix (The Hundred) and Leicestershire County Cricket Club in England, and recently worked on the 2022 IPL mega-auction for Punjab Kings.
As a specialist in data-driven player recruitment, my skills enabled Leicestershire to find the leading run-scorer (Josh Inglis) and leading wicket-taker (Naveen-ul-Haq) in the T20 Blast in 2021, and also recruited a top three overseas County Championship batter (Marcus Harris) via usage of specific data-driven techniques not found in the public domain.
This culminated with Leicestershire, in 2021, recording their highest all-format win percentage in a full season since 2010, despite significant budget constraints. In 2022, Leicestershire won eight of their 14 T20 Blast group matches and used my data to retain Naveen, and sign his Afghanistan team-mate Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who was the batter of the tournament in the recent T10 League, with the deal done in advance of this, before the World Cup. Spotting low-profile talent at a young stage of the player’s career is something which I have developed a specialism in.
In The Hundred, I am a founder member of the management group at Birmingham Phoenix from 2019 onwards, attending numerous drafts. We used detailed data-driven techniques to recruit the 2021 MVP in The Hundred (Liam Livingstone) back in the first draft in 2019, as well as using age curve data analysis techniques to recruit the first batter to hit a century in The Hundred in 2022 (Will Smeed).
In this role, I have continually provided general data-driven recruitment plus both short-term and long-term strategy to Phoenix, who came top of the group stages in the 2021 tournament. The work for Phoenix, as well as for my other teams, also includes pre-match preparation with detailed analysis provided on the venue and opposition, plus data-driven match-up analysis and detail on how to negate opposition strengths and exploit their weaknesses.
Moving towards the winter of 2021, I worked as a consultant for Bangla Tigers in the T10 league, providing data-driven recruitment solutions and draft strategy. This data enabled the franchise to recruit the highest run-scorer in the tournament from B category in the draft (Hazratullah Zazai), and the Tigers also qualified for the knockout stages, continuing my 100% qualification record in draft-based short-format white ball tournaments with teams that I have worked for and been present working with the team during the tournament, with a current win percentage of 60%.
For the Punjab Kings, I used an array of various data-driven techniques, including building a specific IPL run production model not found in the public domain to help recruit a squad at the mega-auction which was created in line with my identity and brand - a high intent, boundary-hitting, attacking style.
Key Skills
Data-driven player recruitment specialist
Experience of building a sustainable long-term strategy at Leicestershire
Pre-match advance strategy including selection for matches based on venue and opposition
Data-driven match-up planning
Using data to improve players in the current playing group & creating batting and bowling plans to assist them in matches
Cricket Employment History
Freelance Consultant to UK County Cricket Teams
Including Kent & Northamptonshire
(2017-2020)
Responsibilities included:
Model-driven recruitment strategy, including specific bespoke solutions
Identification of value talent ahead of recruitment windows for out of contract players
Season reviews and long-term strategy recommendations
Pre-match planning for T20 matches including data packs
Data Insights Manager, Birmingham Phoenix (The Hundred)
(2019-Present)
Responsibilities:
Providing data and analysis to assist with head coach recruitment
Creating and implementing a data-driven draft strategy for the various drafts in the tournament to date
Assistance with retention processes following the 2020 postponed season and the 2021 completed season
Pre-match preparation including leading strategy meetings presenting to coaches, match-up planning and provision of data packs
Working with players to devise strategies to exploit opposition weaknesses and negate their strengths
Season reviews and long-term strategy recommendations
Player Recruitment and Strategy Analyst, Leicestershire County Cricket Club
(July 2020-September 2022)
Responsibilities:
Talent identification for both the domestic and overseas markets
Creating an accountable data-driven recruitment and retention strategy including detailed player reporting
Helping to create a blueprint towards long-term sustainability for one of the most financially challenged English counties
Working with coaching staff to provide data-driven overviews of Leicestershire’s squad strengths and weaknesses to create bespoke winter training programmes
Establishing pre-season targets for players and the team as a whole for each of the three formats
Pre-match preparation including provision of data packs and match-up planning to coaching staff
Season reviews, long-term strategy recommendations and squad/player reporting
Consultant, Bangla Tigers (T10 League)
(2021 Season)
Responsibilities:
Creating a data-driven draft strategy including building a T10 specific expected performance model
Pre-tournament opposition reporting including strategy planning
Pre-match preparation including provision of data and match-up planning
Auction Consultant, Punjab Kings
(2022 Mega Auction)
Responsibilities:
Creating a data-driven auction strategy including building an IPL expected run production and run prevention model
Creating an auction valuation model to predict expected sale prices of every player in the auction list
Working on various scenario planning including projected team lineups and decision trees
Organising numerous mock auctions for pre-auction planning
Post-auction reporting and assessment of squads
Education
The Skinners Grammar School for Boys
(1990-1997)
9 GCSEs graded A-B plus 3 A-Levels - Maths with Statistics, Economics, Geography
University of Kent at Canterbury
(1997-2000)
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Accounting and Finance
References
I would be happy to provide references if required, including from CEOs and General Managers at current teams, or from high-profile former international players and coaches with IPL experience which I have worked with.
Contact: sportsanalyticsadvantage@gmail.com