Sheffield Cricket Lovers' Society Year Book 2020

11 www.sheffieldcricketlovers.org.uk at the crease SPEAKERS 2018-19 BY ROGER ALLUM Spot-fixing and match-fixing are hideous blemishes on the game of cricket. The Derbyshire and former Essex pace bowler related how he ended up being the whistleblower in a celebrated spot-fixing case in 2009, involving the Essex players, Danish Kaneria and Mervyn Westfield. After a night out with his fellow fast bowler, Tony said he was having a coffee in Westfield’s flat when his host produced a plastic bag full of banknotes (upwards of £6,000), telling him that it was payment for conceding a set number of runs in his opening over during a Pro40 match against Durham. Tony reported what he had seen to a couple of senior Essex players, who told him to do nothing and say nothing. Eventually the club went to the police and Westfield received a custodial sentence and a five-year ban from the game. Kaneria, who encouraged Westfield to spot-fix and was banned from professional cricket for life, finally admitted his involvement in October 2018. Tony made his professional debut for Essex in 2003 and moved to Derbyshire at the end of 2010, relishing the prospect of bowling on the lively Derbyshire pitches. And the pitches have not disappointed him. Leading bowler in his first season, he was instrumental in Derbyshire edging past Yorkshire for the Division 2 title in 2012 and was once again the club’s most successful bowler in 2018, his testimonial year, claiming 51 Championship wickets at 19.73. Resisting suggestions from the floor that he should bat higher up the order, Tony argued that batting calls for a massive mental mindset; he has a bowler’s mindset, which is completely different. However, he did concede that his night- watchman’s century against Australia A in 2012 was real Boys’ Own stuff, particularly as it was made with Messrs Starc, Johnson and Lyon in the opposition’s bowling attack. The Q & A session covered his thoughts on red-ball versus white-ball cricket (you learn far more about yourself as a cricketer playing four-day matches); off-the-field changes to the modern game (players now paid for 12 months of the year, instead of six or seven, and training starting in November); standout teammates (Wayne Madsen, Martin Guptill and Mark Footitt); losing good players to wealthier counties (adequate recompense should be provided via a transfer system); toss option at the start of a Championship game (the mandatory toss should be brought back – “at Derbyshire we know we will usually be batting at home on day 1”); major influences (Dominic Cork and new bowling coach Steve Kirby – for their never-say-die attitude); and future plans to stay in the game as a coach, having already gained the Level 3 qualification. Members warmed to this affable cricketer, who was open about his difficult times in the game and modest about his achievements as a highly effective seam bowler in the best Derbyshire tradition. Can someone please fix this? 12 November 2018 Tony Palladino County Cricketer Tony Palladino