The Twelfth Man 2011

19 On left is a photo taken on the day MCC came to Castleford to play Zimbabwe. It was during my year as Millennium Mayor of the City of Wakefield and I was delighted to welcome the whole party. On my right is Ted Dexter while on my left is the man chosen to be the next President of MCC, Wakefield’s Phillip Hodson, (members will spot other familiar faces I’m sure). Phillip is the son of my old colleague, Peter, a tear away fast bowler from the happy days when Wakefield CC was a top team playing at College Grove. Vic Wilson was Captain with Sonny Ramadhin in the team when Wakefield were Champions of Yorkshire. At that time Peter was President of the Club and very proud of the progress being made by his son, Phillip away at Cambridge University where he got ‘Blues’ in 1972/73. Indeed in 1973, when Phil Edmonds was Captain, he finished top of both batting and bowling averages. He later married Sally, sister of former England captain Tony. Phillip, when he takes office at Lord’s in October will be the fourth Yorkshireman to hold office after Lord Hawke (1914), Sir F.S.Jackson (1921) and Sir William Worsley (1962). I bet Mick will be inviting him to visit us one evening, in the near future. Another Yorkshire President for MCC A few remarks from Sam Wilson What a pleasure it has been to work with such a group of polite, hard working young men whose understanding of cricket never ceases to amaze me. But that’s enough about the coaches. Seriously I spend a lot of time working with the youth of today and the players who have been to the nets this year are a tribute to themselves, their parents and their clubs. May they always remember politeness cost nothing, but can earn you the respect of the world. If I have to be critical and I do. I would perhaps pick up on the lack of fitness of some and stress the importance of developing the core muscles as they are the powerhouse of any sport. On that note I would like to thank Lee Wilson who has taken over from his big brother as my Guiney Pig when demonstrating difficult exercises. We do not practice these at home and so I am not sure Lee can carry them out before hand. I do hope that most if not all of the players have enjoyed my warm up sessions. I spend hours watching Extreme Commando Training before deciding which I would include. Seriously I hope we have shown exercise can be fun. Warm up is essential in preparing your mind and body for sport. Bad new for next year as I am hoping my health will have improved sufficiently to allow me to get back into training. Look out if that happens, as I will be leading the warm ups again and expect each and every one of you to still be going when I tire. Christian’s Net – Derek Moxon Award This youngster has attended the Wombwell nets for the past couple of years but has made massive improvements to his game over the past ten weeks. During this time his bowling has improved considerably, he has a natural run up, delivery stride and follow through to his action. Towards the end of the ten weeks he was bowling superbly well and taking wickets on a regular basis. He was also one of the stand-out bowlers in the main game which all the players took part in on the last Sunday. When batting, he has a good eye for the ball. He is often constrained by his height and is known to have been hit a few times because of the bouncy surface at Bawtry Road. However, he always picks himself up and gets on with the game. He needs to learn to move his feet more at the crease but this will gradually come as he gets taller. Most of all he has a good attitude for the game and always plays with a smile on his face. The runner up is Elliott Jenkinson The winner attended the Wombwell nets for the first time this year but has impressed his coach because of his natural ability for the game plus his willingness to learn and improve. What stood out in the opening weeks was his WCLS Coaching Awards 2011 A Review of
the Wombwell coaching
sessions and award evening 2011