The Twelfth Man 2016

12 ask if I could get in touch with Queensland and Australia fast bowler Craig McDermott to see if he would be interested in becoming Yorkshire’s first overseas player. The deed was done – only for McDermott to change his mind a few days later. Welcome Sachin. PHILIP AKROYD We mourn the loss of one of the hardest workers and greatest gentlemen in Yorkshire cricket. Philip Ackroyd , who died aged 80, was a Vice-President of Yorkshire County Cricket Club whose devotion to the grassroots of Yorkshire cricket remained staunch to the end. Here at the Wombwell he had been a stand-in Chairman who declined a longer term of office only because he was so busy working in cricket at county and club level. The first time I shared the speaker platform in this hall with David Warner it was Philip who proposed the vote of thanks. His was a talented batsman for his club, Hanging Heaton, and also Yorkshire Owls. Philip joined the Yorkshire Committee as a Dewsbury district representative in 1984 when fresh elections followed the Geoff Boycott controversy. He served Dewsbury until the committee was revamped in 1993, when he was returned as a West District representative on the 12-strong body. He served on the Finance and Marketing subcommittee before gaining a place on the cricket subcommittee in 1995 where he remained until 2001. His fearless integrity was shown when resigned his seat over cuts to the playing staff, but he was elected a Vice- President of the Club in 2006. He was particularly prominent in encouraging young cricketers from an ethnic background. He developed a close association with the progressive Mount Cricket Club at Batley, where he regularly attended and spoke at their prize presentation nights and encouraged me to speak there a time or two. He was a tireless encourager of youth cricket and women’s cricket and when it came to defending behavioural standards he was no softie Philip and his devoted wife, Patsy, from Mirfield, were among Yorkshire’s most loyal supporters, travelling widely to watch their team in action and never happier than when soaking up the atmosphere from the balcony at Scarborough. Philip was also a former president of the Joe Lumb Competition for U17 teams from around the county. James M.Greenfield PHILIP AT WOMBWELL CRICKET LOVERS’ Philip succeeded Keith Round as the Society’s chairman in September 1995 and served until the appointment of Frank Taylor in 1998. BRIAN CLOSE The life of one of the strongest, toughest and most endearing cricketers of the past 60 years and more ended on 14 September with the death at his Baildon home of former Yorkshire, Somerset and England captain, Brian Close, CBE. The tributes, which poured in from far and wide when his death was announced, reflected the esteem in which he was held. His record shows that he was a truly great leader as well as being perhaps the most courageous and fearless. Close aged 84, had been ill for some months and his death was not entirely unexpected although friends and cricket followers alike cared to believe that he was invincible. He had a rare and natural talent for every sport that he turned his hand to – and they included almost any that you can think of – but it was the game of cricket at every level that he loved the most and which made him a much loved and respected figure where ever the game is played. Born and brought up in Rawdon, Close became a true legend of the game and no sportsman that ever lived was the subject of a Former Wombwell Chairman, Philip Akroyd (extreme left), alongside Notts and England cricketer Derek Randall, Alex and Zac Morris, John Abrahams and Sid Waddell at the Society’s Spring dinner in April 1993 (Photo: John Womack)