You made a breakthrough at Yorkshire
in 2001, having played in the Academy and Second XI for several
seasons. That must have been a big moment for you and your family?
It was, Steve. I had come through the
ranks at Yorkshire and done well in the seconds. I had six or seven
centuries to my name for them and two days before the game against
reigning champions Surrey at The Oval, I had a call from Arnie
Sidebottom, to say that I was playing.
I was 19/20 and didn't sleep between
times, thinking about the big moment that I had dreamed of for so
long. They had a very good all-round side and facing Martin Bicknell
and Ed Giddins was a tough baptism for me. After that, I had another
few games that summer, got a few starts but didn't go on to a score
to make a point.
Then your first first-class half
century came the following season – another big moment?
I spent the pre-season working really
hard, with the ambition of getting into the team, but it was a strong
batting line-up. My first senior game of the summer, curiously
enough, was also against Surrey and I remember facing Alex Tudor
bowling very quickly down the hill, while Saqlain Mushtaq was turning
it a lot at the other end. It was a tough baptism, but I got an
unbeaten 52 and was thrilled with that, even though we were beaten by
an innings and plenty.
In the next match I opened the batting
against Warwickshire at Headingley. They had New Zealander Shane Bond
as the overseas pro and he'd recently been 'clocked' at 95mph in a
Test match. His first ball was a bouncer to my opening partner, Vic
Craven. It went over his head and over that of wicket-keeper Keith
Piper, going for a one bounce four byes.
Neil Mallender was umpiring at my end.
He turned to me, pulled a face and said 'Jesus...that was quick...'
I managed another fifty against an
attack that included my future Derbyshire team mate Mo Sheikh and was
quite pleased with myself. Then I got to play in the Roses match,
live on Sky and was out for a duck in each innings, second ball each
time. Not one of my better memories!
Over the following three summers,
you only got eight first-class matches. That must have been a
frustrating time in your life?
Yeah, the most I got was three
consecutive games, but the batting was very strong. There was
Vaughan, Lehmann, White, McGrath, Lumb, Blakey – it was tough to
break through into that side as a young player.
There were precious few one-day
opportunities there either, fairly strange in the light of your form
for Derbyshire in the format. Why was that – was it ever explained?
I was very much seen as a potential
opener in the four-day game and advised to concentrate on that. I
think I scored 34 centuries for the second team, and three double
hundreds, yet no one at any point seemed to consider that I could
adapt my game to play in the shorter formats.
In the winter of 2005-6, you moved
to Derbyshire. How did that come about?
It came to a head at Yorkshire in 2005.
I had a poor run with the bat, but I got engaged to Charlotte, which
was the only bright spot of the summer. Then, all of a sudden, it
went right and in three innings for the seconds I had consecutive
scores of 160, 210 and 140-odd.
Former England skipper, Ray Illingworth
was always my mentor. At that time he wrote or 'ghosted' a column for
the Yorkshire Post and he missed few opportunities to bang the
drum for me. Yet no matter what I did or what he wrote, David Byas,
the coach, didn't seem to rate me.
The next time I met Illy I told him I
was giving serious thought to packing it all in. He told me to wait a
while and give him a few days. Apparently he gave Dave Houghton a
ring at Derbyshire and a couple of days later, Dave phoned me,
completely out of the blue. He told me some nice things, the sort
that you always want to hear, and said that he saw me as number three
at Derbyshire in all forms of the game.
He invited me down to the club and that
invitation extended to my family, who all had a nice day out. It was
in stark contrast to Yorkshire, where families were usually not
welcome and were regarded as a distraction!
Then, all of a sudden, there was the
offer of a two-year deal at Yorkshire, but I'd had enough of it by
that stage and was happy to go to work with a man who had a proven
reputation as a coach and man manager.
What were your early impressions of
your new team mates? There were two Tasmanians in Michael di Venuto
and Travis Birt for starters...
It was great. Dave Houghton was a
terrific coach and I liked what he had to say. At Yorkshire it was
all about Trueman, Close and Boycott – the legends. Here, the
environment was much more friendly and exactly what I needed at the
time.
There were a few new guys. Steffan
Jones, Graham Wagg, James Pipe – we all came in together and bonded
really well. From a personal point of view, it was nice to be told to
pad up and face the bowling machine and bowlers at the start of a net
session, rather than being tagged on to the end as an afterthought.
Charlotte, my wife, quit her job as a
trainee solicitor and became Personal Assistant to Peter Gadsby at
Derby County. We moved into a rented flat at Mickleover and were very
happy.
I was lucky enough to get runs from the
start and got a hundred in my first innings for the county in the
Parks against Oxford University. When I got to my century, I launched
into a mad celebration that 'Pop' Welch still ribs me about today. It
just felt so good, though, so right at Derbyshire.
Looking forward to hearing about this. Extremely stylish player who in my opinion should still be playing first class. Hugely talented player who made it look easy
ReplyDeleteNice person too