Chris Lewis to work with PCA after prison release for drug offences

Chris Lewis has revealed he will work with the PCA to help young cricketers avoid the mistakes he made during his career.

The former England all-rounder, who was released from prison on Tuesday, will speak to emerging players at the Professional Cricketers' Association's 'Rookie Camp' next year and hopes they will learn from his experiences.

Lewis retired from county cricket in 2000 after playing 32 Tests and 53 one-day internationals for England and 12 months after attempting a T20 comeback with Surrey in 2008 he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for drug smuggling.

He was found guilty of smuggling liquid cocaine from St Lucia to England in fruit juice tins but has now been released after serving less than half of his sentence and now wants to help advise young players as part of the PCA’s programme of pre-season county visits.

"It's actually nice to be back and by back, I don't mean being outside - I mean back by being me. You would think that perhaps I would be apprehensive. I am excited," said Lewis ahead of his release on Tuesday.

"Keep cricket fun. You learn more when you are having fun, you play better when you are having fun. The stuff that may take away your smile just isn't as important as it seems now.

"Take the advice that is available now through the PCA. There have been enough people who have gone through this journey that there is decent advice for young cricketers to take care of their money, to take care of the things that they need to take care of themselves but most of all to have fun. You don't know how far you can go. The world's your oyster.

"The PCA has been extremely supportive from the beginning of this situation. They have been extremely helpful and certainly, going ahead, I would like to become a part of that, whether it's giving advice or whether it's just tugging on the grey matter to find out what happened at this particular time. 

"If any of that can help any young player going ahead I am in. I am in 100 per cent."

Lewis worked for the local council in Nottingham and was also involved with coaching in Slough when he retired in 2000 but admitted he became afraid of what the future held and he ended up making poor decisions that led to him being jailed.

"You are playing cricket, perhaps even hoping to get back into the England team, and within the space of a few months, it's all over," he added.

"There wasn't a great deal of information around for young players about what they should be doing or trying to do. Yes, you heard the stories about having to plan for your future because cricket doesn't last forever but what does that mean?

There wasn’t a great deal of information around for young players about what they should be doing or trying to do.

"At the time, I thought that planning was taking out a pension or taking out a life insurance which are things that I actually did. Standing here now, you know planning is a lot more and it takes a lot more time and effort.

"I left in a huff so the idea of missing cricket just didn't happen. At the time I left, I wanted to leave because it wasn't a happy environment. I worked for the council in Nottingham, I did a bit of stuff with coaching in Slough. We had a bit of a cricket academy.

"You try different things to try to generate cash. You are not talking about the same level of cash as when you played. You are talking about a level of cash that, now you are living a normal life, to sort that out. Coming back to play T20 for Surrey, that didn't work and at the same time the old hips played up.

"I had spent a bit of money. I had been away to Australia to train to try to get fit to come back to do the Twenty20 so money had been spent and nothing had been earned.  

"I became afraid of what the future held and at that point the thinking actually went awry. I thought about things and made choices that I shouldn’t have made and that were the wrong choices and that, in the end. I should say sorry for because they were the wrong choices, and I do say sorry for."