The Twelfth Man 2014

! 33 cricketers!financial!support,!and!was!awarded!the! Yorkshire!CCC!Academy!Player!of!the!Year!in! 2008.!He!went!on!to!captain!the!England!UM19! squad!in!the!2010!World!Cup!and!in!June!2012! captained!Yorkshire!in!a!Twenty/20!match! against!Durham!to!become!the!youngest!captain! in!the!county’s!history.!! The!question!and!answer!session!was!long!and! lively!and!covered!the!subjects!of!the!Doosra,! experiences!as!captain,!influence!of!Darren! Lehmann,!youngsters!coming!through!the! Yorkshire!Academy,!future!ambitions,!plus!a! whole!host!of!other!subjects!to!conclude!a! fascinating!evening.!!! March!6 th !–!MJK!Smith!OBE!and!Douglas! Miller! Mike!Smith!captained!Oxford!University!in!1956,! Warwickshire!County!Cricket!Club!from!1957!to! 1967,!and!England!from!1963!to!1966!(Ted! Dexter!captained!the!home!series!of!1963!and! 1964).!He!was!one!of!England’s!most!popular! cricket!captains,!and!nearly!one!of!the!most! successful,!as!the!Ashes!series!down!under!in! 1965M66!was!tied!but!not!won.! Mike!played!one!Rugby!Union!Test!for!England!in! 1956,!and!with!his!comeback!Test!Matches! against!Lillee!and!Massie!in!1972!he!is,!in!fact,! England’s!last!double!international,!although! Arthur!Milton,!a!double!international!in!football! and!cricket,!made!his!first!appearance!in!a!second! sport!six!weeks!after!Mike.! Mike!was!encouraged!to!move!to!Warwickshire!in! 1957!to!take!over!the!captaincy,!and!he!amassed! 2,000!runs!a!season!each!year!from!1957!to!1962,! including!3,245!runs!at!57.94!in!1959.!He!was!a! brilliant!close!fielder,!who!held!a!record!593! catches!for!Warwickshire!and!53!catches!in!50! Tests!for!England.!His!cool!cricketing!brain!took!a! rebuilt!Warwickshire!to!third!fourth!and!second! in!the!championships!in!1962M64.!! After!a!very!distinguished!career,!Mike!finally! retired!in!1975!and!in!recent!years!he!has!been! chairman!of!Warwickshire!CCC!(1991M2005)!and! also!an!ICC!match!referee!(1991M1996).!Mike’s! son,!Neil,!followed!in!his!father’s!footsteps!by! captaining!Warwickshire!and!also!playing!in!oneM day!internationals!for!England,!whilst!Mike’s! daughter!Carol!is!the!wife!of!Sebastian!Coe.! Douglas!then!introduced!himself!and!gave!us!a! full!background!on!the!book!he!has!written!on! Mike!and!also!their!association.! Mike!then!continued!with!a!background!of!how!he! became!associated!with!cricket,!starting!off!as!a! village!lad!in!Leicestershire!and!then!later!moving! to!Stamford!in!Lincolnshire!where!he!fortunately! went!to!a!sporting!school,!which!got!him!involved! in!both!rugby!and!cricket.!Among!his!school! friends!was!Colin!Dexter,!who!brought!us! Inspector!Morse.! Mike!played!a!few!matches!with!Leicestershire! before!his!National!Service!and!then!on!to!Oxford! University!where!he!played!Rugby!and!Cricket! (Colin!Cowdrey!was!one!of!his!team!mates).! Mike!went!on!to!tell!us!about!his!county!and!Test! career!with!lots!of!stories!and!anecdotes,! especially!about!the!West!Indian!and!Australian! tours.! The!question!and!answer!session!was!fully! engaged!by!both!Mike!and!Douglas,!to!conclude!a! fine!evening.!!! March!13 th !–!Sam!Collins! Jim!introduced!our!guest!tonight!as!journalist!and! filmmaker!Sam!Collins.!Sam!had!very!strong! views!on!where!Test!cricket!is!heading!and! unfortunately!it!was!not!good!news,!with!the! Indian!Revolution!posing!a!much!greater!threat! than!any!of!us!thought!–!let!Sam!explain.! Firstly!Sam!apologised!for!the!fact!that!his! planned!film!show!would!have!to!be!viewed!on! his!small!computer!due!to!technical!problems.!He! then!explained!that!after!10!years!of!being! involved!in!the!backwaters!of!the!game,!he!paired! up!with!his!filming!partner,!Jarrod!Kimber,!a! typical!Aussie!!!Rumours!started!in!the!early! noughties!that!there!was!considerable!trepidation! within!the!game!in!relation!to!Test!cricket.!Sam! and!Jarrod!decided!to!research!the!game!with!this! Mike!Smith!and!Douglas!Miller!with!Mike!Cowan !