First of all thanks for agreeing to this, I know there are a lot of people out there who are very interested in what you have to say.
No worries pal, although I don’t think alot of people like hearing what I have to say.
Hamish, there were some well qualified candidates for the position you currently hold, some would say it was a shock that you were given the job, talk us through the reasons you think you were given the job over the likes of Mark Nicholas.
Qualified and Mark Nicholas shouldn’t go in the same sentence.. I believe I was given the job, because this organisation needed a no nonsense attitude, and Goffy knew that I would give him that
When club owner Brendon Goff bought out the old Warwickshire club and rebranded it there was a lot of talk it would be taken overseas, do you think England needs three WCC teams or can even sustain that many?
Look at this point in time I think England needs 3 teams, however the sustainability really comes down to performances on and off the field, Our goal is to be the #1 English team in the next 2 seasons and to be the #1 team in WCC within 4 seasons. With Goffy, the most successful manager in WCC history, at the helm and my non bull**** attitude we believe we can achieve this.
On the field it hasn't been a great start for your boys, three close losses. Some people are already calling your team the Cronulla Sharks of WCC and you have even been compared to Ricky Stuart, what are your thoughts on that and how do you plan on turning those close losses into close wins?
People can call us all they like, the fact of the matter is after what this club endured in the 1st 2 seasons its lucky they are being called anything except extinct. As for being called the Cronulla Sharks or me being called Ricky Stuart, im not even going to give that a reply.
Despite being in your position for a limited time you have already had a few personality clashes with the other managers, your slanging match with Titans manager Matt Luff is most publicised, what do you have to say about those comments in retrospect?
I stand by my comments, people like Fluff are puppets, they want to love everyone and be loved. Im not here to make friends, my job is to get my team to the top and im going to tell it how it is. If these people don’t like it thats their problem, but they better get used to it cause its only the beginning.
The club itself is looking in good shape now, do you think it's reputation could be damaged by some of the comments you have made?
As I said before I don’t really care what other people think. Everyone here at the Lightning is on the same page and are in full support of the way we are going about our business.
At least two unnamed managers have supported you in saying that WCC has "gone soft" so its obvious you aren't alone in some of your opinions, do you think that more should be done to allow these managers to voice their concerns?
I’ve said all along that this competition is SOFT and that most managers are here to get praise even when their team is ****house. Unfortunatley these other managers haven’t come out and said what they feel which is probably because they are scared of punishment, something I don’t care about.
Some people have said that despite you being the manager of the side owner Brendon Goff is still guiding the ship from behind the scenes, how true is that and how much of an input does Brendon really have?
We are a team here at West Midlands and everyone works together to achieve the goals we have. Goffy does have an input, and I’d be stupid to knock him back as I said before he is the most successful manager in WCC history, He also respects me and the job he employed me to do.
The team that West Midlands have put together this season certainly looks stronger than anything Warwickshire had in the opening two years of competition, what is being done to stop complacency creeping in and ensuring the team achieves what it is capable of?
In all fairness it wouldn’t be hard to put together a better team then what was here in the last couple of seasons. As for complacency, its not an issue, maybe if we had actually won something here before but until we do that complacency is something we don’t have to worry about.
How likely is promotion in either form of the game this season and what are your goals from the Twenty20 cup?
I see promotion as a realistic goal in First Class Cricket. We have a very good side and if injuries are nice to us then there is no reason why we can’t win division 2. In OD cricket we don’t have as strong a side however we showed in our opening game against the favourites that we can on our day put up a fight and we will push as hard as we can to get a promotion spot. The T20 is a lottery, we have a tough group but like Cobras last season showed anything can happen.
We have seen you have nominated young swing bowler G Lance to join academy competition this season, we can reveal today that he will be playing for the Bahamas outfit, how concerned are you of the likelyhood of him being distracted from cricket playing in such a location? Also what are you hoping he achieves there?
Im not concerned at all, In fact im glad he will get the chance to enjoy a good location. My thoughts have always been that if you are enjoying yourself in the location that you will be much more relaxed on the field.. In all seriousness, Lancey will crap all over some of the trash that will be playing in that Academy.
I'm sure you would no doubt agree with us that you are somewhat outspoken, however your squad seems reasonably settled and there are very few reports of discontent players at the club, what do you put this down to?
As I said before we are all on the same page, we are all here to achieve our goals and we will take no prisoners on our path to that, Simple fact you get in our way and we will take you down.
Batsman James Troughton was Warwickshire's star batsman in the first two years of WCC, he was disappointed when he found out he was no longer required by the club, do you have anything to say to him now?
Um, that useless piece of crap. Where’s he playing now?? I rest my case..
Do yourself and Brendon Goff have any big plans for the club coming up?
We have massive plans for this club. But the main plan is to have this club as the Number 1 club side in World Cricket, and as I said before we will take anyone down who plans to get in our way.
We have good mail to suggest there has been a massive betting pluge on West Midlands to win the First Class division two title this season, is there anything happening behind the scenes that is maybe being kept a bit quiet?
Hahaha Well why wouldn’t their be, I mean seriously we are by far and away the most rounded side in that pitiful second division competition. I know I got my top flucs from my local bookie..
We are running out of time, any last words for your fellow managers or club owners?
My simple message is we have our way of doing things and we don’t care what you think about it. If you all want to play friendly, hold hands and kiss asses with everyone don’t expect us to join in. Remember we will take anyone down who gets in our way.
