In Conversation: Fynn Hudson-Prentice - Part One

Fynn Hudson-Prentice burst onto the scene at Derbyshire in 2019 when he scored 99 and took a wicket with his first ball on debut against Middlesex at Derby.

During the course of 2019 he played 14 Twenty20 matches as he helped Derbyshire to a first appearance at Finals Day, and then in 2020 scored a magnificent, unbeaten 91 on the final day of Derbyshire’s opening Bob Willis Trophy game at Trent Bridge to take his side to their first victory over Nottinghamshire in red ball cricket for almost two decades.

Our Heritage Officer, David Griffin, spoke to Fynn about his cricketing career and hopes for the future in this first of our player interviews in 2021. Here’s part one of their chat.

Fynn, you were born in Sussex, played age group cricket there, and also first team cricket, but how did you get into the game initially?

I was actually a football nut when I was younger, and mum pushed me towards playing a summer sport when I was about 8. After school I’d always played football – dad encouraged me – but in the summer it was cricket. I was a bit hesitant with cricket at first, dad had played at school but there was no family history of cricket really. I joined a club in Cuckfield in Sussex but then moved to St Andrews Cricket Club, Burgess Hill because they had a good junior section.

Who were the main influences on your early cricket?

Peter Goodwin who was a massive cricket lover and unbelievably keen and committed – he ran the age group set up at St Andrews. He did all the training and coaching and he first sent me for Sussex trials when I was nine or ten years old as he thought I was good enough for county age group cricket and encouraged me to go. We had a strong age group side at St Andrews at that time largely due to Peter’s efforts.

I enjoyed playing and was coached by a family friend, Tim van Noort, who was my first proper coach and I saw him every couple of weeks, working on my batting and bowling and he suggested I might have enough talent to make some progress in the game although at that time I was just trying to enjoy it.

So, when did the game become more serious for you?

At 14 I scored four centuries in eight games for the Sussex under-14s and at the end of that year I signed to the Academy – Keith Greenfield ran the academy, and he was a great influence; and Raj Chaudhuri was another who also influenced me greatly. It was still fun but by this time I was enjoying playing well.

You must have gained a great deal of experience at Sussex, starting so young and playing through those ag group sides.

Yes, but I think I put myself under a bit too much pressure once I got onto the academy because I thought I really had a chance to play first class cricket. I captained a side at the Bunbury Festival, but I didn’t get selected by England which disappointed me and at 15 I was already thinking it was the end of the world!

I had a couple of bad seasons after that, but things did get better – I played Sussex Second XI cricket at 15 and by the time I was 17 I was a mainstay in the side. I scored three or four centuries and took a few five-fors and in 2014 I made my List A debut against Glamorgan after scoring back to back hundreds in a second eleven game. It didn’t go that well as I didn’t get to bat and went at 8 an over when I bowled.

But Sussex offered me a contract, so I decided not to go to university and looked to continue my cricket career.

Having decided against university, and with a contract from Sussex in your hands, what were the next steps for you?

I went to Australia at 18 and played club cricket in Brisbane for 6 months and returned to Sussex at the start 2015 for what was really a summer contract; and I had a good year. I batted at number four in the seconds and scored a few hundreds, and then made my first class debut against Hampshire in division one. I got 15 and 0 and went at 6 an over, so again, nothing spectacular!

Hampshire’s side included some good bowlers like Fidel Edwards, Danny Briggs, and Jackson Bird plus batsmen like Carberry and Vince. We had Joyce and Nash, so it was quite surreal going from an academy-based second eleven side to playing with these sort of cricketers. However, that was my only first team game of 2015.

Then in 2016 there was an injury crisis at Sussex – loads of players were injured and I broke my hand and was out for three months so I missed a lot of cricket, but when I returned, I got 80 against Essex in the seconds and was then selected for the first eleven and asked to open. It was great to get a run of four games at the end of that season – plus another List A game – and then on the last day of my contract they released me on the basis that I hadn’t done enough to earn a new contract. It was heart-breaking at the time as I had hoped for another contract having played the last few matches of the season. I cleared out my locker, got in the car, cried, and went home.

How did you overcome that disappointment?

I had already planned to go to Australia again, so I went straight there and played for Prospect in Adelaide – they had a great set-up for a club side, and I enjoyed a relaxed winter working as a landscape gardener and playing club cricket. Without any pressure, I did well, averaging 50 with the bat and was one of the top five players of the year in the competition. I also won clubman of the year and came back home with a different approach to the game.

I took up coaching and played some more club cricket – at East Grinstead in Sussex. We won the league and got to the national club final. I averaged 50-odd in the league and 70 in the cup, and I was really enjoying the game once again.

Then out of the blue, Steve Kirby rang me. He was the MCC Young Cricketers Head Coach and asked me if I wanted to join up with the squad for the last few games of the season. I was delighted to be asked and played a couple of games at the end of that 2017 season – one of them against Sussex – and he asked if I’d like to join the programme for the following year.

Initially I said no, but then decided to join in January 2018 and that’s where I got back on track towards being a professional cricketer.

My confidence had taken a big hit after my experiences at Sussex and although I wanted to play pro cricket, I knew that it would require an enormous amount of hard work.

So how did the move to Derbyshire arise?

I had a pretty average season in 2018 but Steve Kirby had built up my confidence and offered me a further contract for 2019 with MCC Young Cricketers. He then left and joined Derbyshire as bowling coach, so I went to New Zealand during the 2018/19 winter and worked really hard at my game. I went to Canterbury and worked with the academy and Canterbury A sides and by the time I came home I had a different mindset altogether. I was 23 and knew this was probably my final attempt at becoming a pro cricketer. I had university offers as well so I had to make some important decisions.

I played a pre-season game against Derbyshire’s seconds and scored 60-odd and Mal Loye spoke to me after the game and said he wanted to have a look at me for a trial period at Derbyshire.

How did your trial period go?

I had about six or seven weeks of really good Second XI cricket; I scored two centuries and four half-centuries in seven innings averaging 80 or 90, and then I scored a hundred off 70 balls in a one day game. Mal and Houghts (Dave Houghton) then offered me a contract which I accepted straight away. I was delighted and it was great to know that the club had such confidence in me.

On your first-class debut – having heard that you were a player who had real potential – spectators saw you fulfil that promise immediately, but you batted at number 3 when you scored 99 against Middlesex; were you expecting to bat that high up the order when the game began?

Wayne (Madsen) was struggling with an injury and I, having expected to bat at eight, found myself at three when he failed his fitness test. Houghts offered me the chance to bat at three and I was happier to bat there than at eight.

Missing out on a hundred must have been awful for you – but then again, 99 is hardly a failure!

I was over the moon and mortified at the same time. It was a day when adrenaline and emotion took over, so I don’t remember much about it to be honest. But I was playing confidently, and while it was heart-breaking to miss out on a hundred, I realised that I could play at that level. That was a defining day.

And what about the first ball wicket?

I remember that clearly – I had been asking Billy (Godleman) to let me bowl – I don’t think he’d seen me bowl and I’d been asking him for a bowl for about twenty overs. My celebration might have been a bit over the top though!

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