After 15 years of playing first-class cricket Warriors batsman Ryan Bailey joined Maties Cricket as assistant coach in September.

After representing South Africa at the U/19 Cricket World Cup in 2002, his professional career included nine years at the Free State franchise the Knights (formerly known as the Eagles) and three years at the Warriors.

In the past 15 years he has won trophies, played alongside international players, travelled to India to play in the Champions League and made life-long friends, and he is looking forward to this new chapter in his career.

"I love the game and I still have a lot to offer. That's why I've gone into coaching. I'm passionate about cricket and I want to pass on my knowledge to younger players.

"We (Maties Cricket) have a young squad, so there's no better time for me to come in and mould the players."

As assistant coach Bailey will be responsible for coaching the Vics team and prepare these players for possible inclusion in the Maties first XI.

He realised very quickly that coaching a university team is a balancing act – not only does the club have to consider the students' academic obligations, but it also loses four to five players to Boland on a regular basis. For Bailey, this means that the club has to work on its depth.

"As a coach you have to be flexible and accommodating. You can't only focus on the first two teams. Anyone should be ready to play at any time."

A few senior Maties Cricket players moved on after the last season, and the current Maties Cricket squad is quite young.

"These youngsters now have to stand up and take the lead to make sure that they don't let the Maties brand down. Yes, we have a young squad but that's no excuse for us not performing."

The upcoming league and USSA tournament in December will be a good gauge of where Maties Cricket stand.

Bailey is looking forward to this new challenge and to using his skills and knowledge to help young players make the transition from school boy cricket to professional cricket.

"We pride ourselves that we run Maties Cricket as a franchise – we run it as professionally as we can and as the students' schedules allow. We want to produce players for Boland and then it is Boland's job to prepare them for the Cobras and the Cobras' job to prepare them for the Proteas."

Faizel Simon, Sport manager: Cricket at Maties Sport, said he is very pleased that Bailey has decided to join the Maties Cricket coaching team.

"I believe our players will benefit immensely from his vast experience as a first-class cricketer."