The Twelfth Man 2014

! 31 Yorkshire!were!out!for!revenge.!Cutting!a!long! story!short,!Lancashire!needed!78!in!the!last!two! hours!and!then!18!in!the!last!two!overs.!In!the! final!over,!with!Trueman!bowling,!Yorkshire! needed!three!wickets!and!Lancashire!5!runs.! Trueman!took!two!of!the!required!wickets!and!it! went!to!the!last!ball!with!one!wicket!or!one!run! needed.!The!batsman!edged!it!for!four!and!the! look!on!Trueman’s!face!was!worthy!of!a! photograph.! The!question!and!answer!session!proved!lively!to! conclude!a!very!fine!evening.!! January!23 rd !–!Young!Yorkshire!Evening!! Our!chairman!introduced!Yorkshire!Academy! Coach!Richard!Damms!and!his!young!guns:! Gerrard!Warner!(fast!rightMarm!bowler),!Jordan! Thomas!(allMrounder)!and!Mathew!Whitehurst! (fast!rightMarm!bowler).! Richard!introduced!the!young!men!with!a! background!to!their!present!experience!and! progress!including!last!year’s!achievements.!The! boys!then!gave!us!their!own!perspective!on!their! past!and!present!positions!within!the!Academy! before!we!moved!on!to!questions!and!answers.! The!boys!were!in!agreement!about!the!present! various!forms!of!the!game:!they!train!for!and! enjoy!them!all,!each!having!their!preferences!but! all!very!enthusiastic.! When!asked!about!the!present!return!to!form!of! Mitchell!Johnson!and!his!comments!about!the!debt! owed!to!Mitchell’s!sport!psychologist,!Richard!felt! the!proof!was!in!the!pudding!so!to!speak!and!that! psychology!had!always!been!part!of!the!game.! Richard!was!asked!about!the!steps!taken!to!rule! out!the!excessive!no!balling!and!he!said!they!had! tried!out!a!forfeit!system!with!the!youngsters!last! season.!This!being!that!with!no!balls,!wides,!and! getting!out!to!bad!cricket!shots,!the!perpetrators! had!to!sing!a!song!or!tell!a!joke.!This!had!the! desired!effect,!but!they!had!to!suffer!very!poor! jokes!and!even!worse!singing!! The!question!and!answer!session!went!on!well! into!overtime!to!conclude!a!first!class!evening.! January!30 th !–!Adrian!Grayson! An!addition!to!the!fixture!list!at!the!end!of!January! was!an!evening!with!Adrian!Grayson,!the!father!of! Essex!Coach!Paul!and!Preston!North!End!manager! Simon.!! He!said:!“I!feel!honored!and!privileged!to!be!asked! to!speak!to!the!Society.!!I’ve!been!lucky!in!life!to! have!two!sons!who!have!gone!on!to!play!sport!for! a!living.!!I!never!thought!that!Simon!would! become!a!manager,!while!Paul!always!wanted!to! be!a!cricketer.”! “As!a!youngster!Simon!played!for!Leeds!United!in! the!same!midfield!as!David!Batty!and!Gary!Speed.! It!was!tough!for!him!to!get!into!the!first!team,!so! he!joined!Leicester!City.!!I’ve!seen!him!play!and! win!in!a!playMoff!final!at!Wembley.!In!his! managerial!career!I!have!met!a!few!famous! people.”! He!added:!“Paul!found!himself!batting!at!number! seven!for!Yorkshire!so!he!was!never!going!to!get!a! lot!of!runs!for!them.!!At!number!seven!the!team! have!been!struggling!or!they!need!some!quick! runs.!!He!had!offers!from!quite!a!few!teams!but!he! decided!to!join!Essex.!!I’ve!seen!him!play!in!some! finals!at!Lord’s!and!get!runs.”! !Adrian!was!a!schoolteacher!in!Bedale,!teaching! Geography!and!PE!and!he!played!cricket!in!the! North!Yorkshire!League’s!where!he!bowled!leg! spin!and!batted!in!the!top!four.!!His!best!figures! were!10!wickets!for!three!runs.!!He!has!coached! many!youngsters!who!have!gone!on!to!make!a! career!in!cricket.!!Of!the!present!day!players!he! coached!Jonny!Bairstow!was!among!them,!when! he!was!11.! “Jonny!has!a!lot!of!natural!ability.!!At!one!game!he! asked!me!if!he!could!open!the!bowling.!I!said,! Jonny!you!are!the!captain,!the!wicketMkeeper!and! you!bat!in!the!top!three.”! Adrian!coached!Matthew!Fisher,!who!at!the!age!of! 15!and!212!days!became!the!youngest!player!to! play!for!Yorkshire!in!a!competitive!county!match,! when!he!made!his!debut!against!Leicestershire!at! Scarborough.!!“He!will!play!for!England.”! NW! February!6 th !–!Nottinghamshire!evening! with!Mick!Newell! Little!could!any!of!us!have!known!when!the! secretary!booked!our!old!friend,!Mick!Newell!to! speak!to!us!tonight,!that!England!would!have!been! thrashed!5M0!by!the!Australians!in!the!Ashes! series!Down!Under!and!drubbed!in!the!oneMday! tournaments!as!well.!Those!newspapers!which! still!give!cricket!the!space!it!deserves!are!full!of!