About Us

The Coaches’ Association (HKHDCCA) has played a key role in the development of accredited cricket coaches and junior players since its inception in 2010. This has been achieved by fostering cricket talent and expertise from a young age and providing wonderful opportunities for coaches and players to further develop their skills. Our organization offers a range of coaching programs that are beneficial for junior representative players, club players and beginners embarking on their cricket journey.

The Coaches’ Association is committed to developing cricket coaches through a variety of ways, including accredited coaching courses, mentoring from experienced coaches during junior cricket clinics and other programs, and practical feedback and tips on how to improve service delivery and engagement.

HKHDCCA conducted off-season development programs for many years and has planned a range of tailored programs for specific groups in Winter 2026, including pre-season coaching for various HK&HDCA clubs.

The Coaches’ Association works in partnership with the local NSW Premier Cricket Grade club, Northern District CC, and its coaching programs take place at Mark Taylor Oval, Waitara (home of NDCC), including the award-winning Indoor Centre.

Our Team

Connor Hindmarch

Head Coach

Connor has been the Head Coach of the Coaches’ Association (HKHDCCA) since 2024. He graduated from the Australian College of Physical Education with a Sports Coaching and Management degree in 2023. Connor has played for West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook CC since 2010, and representative cricket for HK&HDCA. He attended many HKHDCCA school holiday clinics in his youth and won the prestigious Phillip Hughes Medal in January 2015. Connor completed the Cricket Australia Representative (Level 2) Accredited Coaching Course in 2023. Since 2019-20, he has successfully coached HK&HDCA representative teams, including the U/15 Weblin Shield premiership in 2024-25. From 2023 onwards, Connor has been the Head Coach of the WPHC CC Academy. He won the HKHDCCA President’s Award in 2023-24, and the Coach of the Year award (Bruce Wood Cup) in 2024-25.

Chris Burnett

President

Chris has been involved with HK&HDCA for over 30 years, beginning his journey as a rep. player in 1994–95 (U/10 Foster Shield). He progressed through the HK&HDCA and Northern District CC pathways, playing U/16 AW Green Shield and competing in over a decade of NSW Premier Cricket (NDCC First Grade cap # 368). In 2011, Chris became a Cricket Australia Representative (Level 2) accredited coach. The following year, he was appointed Head Coach of the HK&HDCA U/15 Weblin Shield team, and has since remained a committed presence at Coaches’ Association clinics (50+ days). His coaching résumé includes leading roles as Head Coach of the Cranbrook School 1st XI (2014–2017) and Barker College 1st XI (2018–2021). Chris is looking forward to leading the Coaches’ Association into an exciting future.

Zoya Thakur

Secretary

Zoya has been a Cricket Australia Representative (Level 2) accredited coach since 2023. She was Head Coach for the HK&HDCA Girls representative programs from 2022–23 to 2024-25, covering the U/15 Peden and U/13 Dive Shield teams. Zoya has coached and managed two open-aged female overseas tours to Sri Lanka (2024) and India (2025). Playing in the pathway, she represented NSW 2nd XI, NSW U19s and U15s sides. Zoya has coached U15s Girls NSW State Challenge teams, winning back-to-back titles. Heading into her 11th season of NSW Premier Cricket, she currently captains the First Grade Women’s team at Sydney University CC as an EAP athlete. Zoya enjoys her HKHDCCA work, performing the roles of Secretary and High Performance Girls Coordinator, which involves leading female development and representative programs.

Chris Burnett

President

Connor Hindmarch

Head Coach

Zoya Thakur

Secretary

Tyler Lang

Treasurer

Tyler coached cricket at Barker College from 2020 to 2025, coaching multiple ‘A’ teams, coaching the 2nd XI and completing the role of Lead Coach of Year 9. In the 2024-25 season, he won Barker’s Alyssa Healy Contribution to Cricket Award. Currently Tyler is a PDHPE teacher at Knox Grammar School where he continues his coaching in the school system. Since 2021-22, Tyler has been coaching HK&HDCA representative teams and coaching for CricketLAB. He completed the Cricket Australia Representative (Level 2) accredited coaching course in 2022, and graduated with a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science (Honours) from UTS in 2023, conducting research into female fast bowling with Cricket NSW. He has coached for HKHDCCA since 2023-24 and guided the RTC (East) team to victory in 2024-25 and 2025-26. Tyler has been the Association’s Treasurer and Community & Representative Program Coordinator since 2025, winning the President’s Award for his work in this space in the 2025-26 season.

Elysa Oliveri

Vice-President

Elysa has been a Cricket Australia Representative (Level 2) accredited coach since 2024 and has coached over 50 days for the Coaches’ Association since 2022. She played junior cricket for Thornleigh CC and West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook CC, before progressing to Northern District CC. Elysa is the Girls Cricket Co-ordinator at Thornleigh CC, which was a valuable precursor to her taking on a similar role for the Coaches’ Association. Elysa displays maturity and leadership skills, and has won several major cricket awards, including the NSW and National Young Leader of the Year award in 2023; the Sport NSW Young Coach of the Year award in 2023; and the AIS ⁠Sport – Volunteer of the Year award in 2023-24. Elysa was pleased to be part of ‘Project Inspire’ in 2025, a Cricket Australia program that is creating a stronger presence of female leaders in the game.

Aliya Colburt

Member Protection Officer

Aliya has been a Cricket Australia Representative (Level 2) accredited coach since 2024 and has regularly coached for the Coaches’ Association since 2022. She played club cricket for West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook CC, and representative cricket for HK&HDCA. Aliya won the HKHDCCA Rookie Coach Award for 2022-23, jointly with Elysa Oliveri. She has displayed excellent leadership skills and was School Captain at Pennant Hills HS in 2023. In June 2021, Cricket NSW published a feature story on Aliya (and Elysa) regarding the great work they did at their school, Pennant Hills HS, raising over $2,500 and increasing awareness for the McGrath Foundation and NSW Blind Cricket, to mark the opening of their school’s new cricket nets. Aliya is committed to Child Protection protocols in her role as Member Protection Officer on the Coaches’ Association’s committee.

Corey Miller

Social Media Co-ordinator

Corey is a talented left-handed batter who attended HKHDCCA’s clinics in his youth. He was a member of our U/15 touring team to the West Indies / USA in 2017. Corey was selected in the Cricket NSW under-age teams and performed well in the national championships. He played in the NDCC Green Shield team that won an undefeated premiership in 2018-19. Corey made his First Grade debut at age 17 (NDCC cap # 453) and broke a club record for the highest score in any grade when he hit 262 in Second Grade in 2020. Corey represented Australia in the ICC U/19 World Cup in the West Indies in 2022. He made his NSW Second XI debut in 2024-25. Corey is a Cricket Australia Representative (Level 2) accredited coach who has coached over 50 days for HKHDCCA since 2018. He is also a senior coach for CricketLAB at MTO, Waitara.

Ben Burrows

General Committee

Ben has played cricket for West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook CC since the U/8s in 2014, and he played rep. cricket for HK&HDCA from 2017 – 2022. He has played senior cricket for WPHC CC since 2020, progressing from D Grade to A Grade, as a left-arm pace bowler. Ben won the WPHC CC Charles Booth Memorial Trophy in 2020, and was a member of two T20 champion teams. He was Captain of the Cherrybrook Tech HS 1st XI team in 2022-23 that were Sydney North Champions in the NSW Alan Davidson Shield competition. Ben completed the Cricket Australia Representative (Level 2) Coach accreditation in 2025, and has coached for HKHDCCA at junior clinics since 2022, recording over 50 days service (Rookie Coach award in 2023-24). Ben has also run skills sessions WPHC CC since 2021, where he is currently the Academy Head Coach.