The Twelfth Man 2014

! 32 talk!about!which!senior!player!to!blame!–!as!it’s! the!captain’s!fault!–!and!now,!who!is!going!to!be! the!coach!or!Director!of!Cricket!to!replace!Andy! Flower.!! Mick,!our!special!guest!this!evening!is!being! mentioned!as!a!contender.!But!we!are!also!here!to! talk!about!Nottinghamshire!cricket!and!Trent! Bridge,!which!many!of!us!regard!as!one!of!the! prettiest!grounds!in!the!country.!Mick,!who!is!the! Director!of!Cricket!at!Nottinghamshire,! represented!the!county!from!1984!to!1992!as!a! rightM!handed!batsman,!legMbreak!bowler!and! occasional!wicketMkeeper.!His!best!season!was!in! 1987,!when!he!scored!1,054!firstMclass!runs!at!an! average!of!39.03.!He!was!appointed!Second! Eleven!manager!and!captain!in!1992,!and!was! promoted!to!First!Eleven!coach!10!years!later.!He! has!led!the!club!to!County!Championship!titles!in! 2005!and!2010,!the!County!Championship!Second! Division!title!in!2004,!as!well!as!the!Second! Eleven!Trophy!in!2011.!He!also!presides!over!the! production!of!Nottinghamshire!players!for!Test! cricket.! Mick!thanked!our!chairman!for!his!introduction! saying!how!nice!it!was!to!see!so!many!familiar! faces.!Needless!to!say,!he’d!had!a!hectic!week!with! the!press,!not!least!one!request!for!a!reM enactment!of!the!Pietersen!kitMthrowing!incident! of!yester!year!!! Mick!started!by!giving!his!take!on!the!Ashes! debacle,!the!main!factors!in!his!opinion!being!the! reMemergence!of!Johnson!as!a!worldMclass!bowler! coupled!with!the!poor!form!of!our!batsmen.!Mick! now!believes!we!should!look!forward!to!our!next! Test!series!in!England!and!see!what!sort!of!a!side! we!turn!out,!hoping!the!young!guns!can!deliver.! Also!a!turn!round!in!form!by!Finn,!in!the!style!of! Mitchell!would!be!a!big!help.! On!the!question!of!Kevin!Pietersen,!Mick!thought! that!when!Piers!Morgan!starts!offering!expert! advice!on!the!subject,!perhaps!we’ve!reached!the! end!of!the!road,!but!said!he!would!be!happy!to! answer!questions!on!it!later.!Mick!then!went!on!to! give!his!view!on!last!years!county!championship,! especially!the!Notts!v!Yorkshire!match!where! things!went!belly!up!for!his!side.!The!Durham!v! Notts!match!was!also!looked!at!in!detail.!The! Durham!victory!seeing!off!Yorkshire’s!challenge! as!potential!champions.! Mick!was!hoping!Notts!would!have!a!much!better! season!this!year!with!the!recent!signing!of!Siddle,! a!muchMneeded!fillip!to!the!squad.!The!question! and!answer!session!proved!very!lively!as!well!as! surprising,!when!we!heard!that!Kevin!Piertersen! was!a!very!shy,!reserved,!church!going!youngster! when!he!first!arrived!at!Trent!Bridge!from!South! Africa.!!!! February!27 th !–!Azeem!Rafiq!! ! Our!chairman!introduced!Azeem!with!a!full! background!of!his!junior!Yorkshire!career!so!far! as!follows:! Tonight!we!are!delighted!to!welcome!back!to! Wombwell!Azeem!Rafiq,!who!first!came!here!on!a! Young!Yorkshire!Evening,!and!who!in!2012!when! he!was!21,!became!the!youngest!player!in! Yorkshire’s!history!to!captain!the!first!team!when! he!took!over!the!Twernty/20!leadership!because! of!the!injury!to!Andrew!Gale.!Yorkshire!has! struggled!to!know!who!its!attacking!fingerM spinner!is,!following!the!demise!of!Richard! Dawson!and!the!mistaken!release!of!James! Middlebrook,!but!in!Azeem!they!believe!they!have! found!a!genuine!all!rounder!–!a!frontline!right! arm!offMspin!bowler!and!a!genuine!middleMorder! batsman!who!can!collar!the!attack.! Azeem!has!captained!England!at!underM15!and! underM19!levels,!and!he!was!the!first!Yorkshire! cricketer!of!an!Asian!background!to!lead!an! England!side!at!any!level.!It!was!his!use!of!the! doosra!against!Michael!Vaughan!in!the!Headingly! nets!that!drew!Azeem!to!the!attention!of!England! bowling!coach!David!Parsons!and!earmarked!him! as!a!possible!future!England!bowler.!Azeem!was! the!recipient!of!a!Sport!England!award!in!2006.! Azeem!was!a!recipient!of!a!Brian!Johnson! Memorial!Trust!Scholarship!to!give!young! Yorkshire’s!Azeem!Rafiq!with!Brian!Sanderson !