The Twelfth Man 2016

4 Chairman’s Report My vote of thanks to you. The presentation to me at the 2015 Wombwell Christmas Sunday Lunch of the E.H.Umbers Award for Services to Yorkshire Cricket was an honour as supreme as it was unexpected before the decision was taken at AGM. Cricket Writers’ Club President David Warner spoke kindly at the lunch of the Leeds League Hemingway Trophy I received in 1975, and he was not to know that the only previous cricket award that came my way was the Boston Grammar School Cricket Prize for 1960, when I took 7-33 against the old boys’ XI late in the season and scored 47 against The Masters in the last match. I thought I was shaping to be better than Wilfred Rhodes or George Hirst had ever been! I was chosen for South Lincolnshire Colts to play the North, but that was it. Yes, although of strong Yorkshire ancestry on both sides I was born in Lincolnshire… the same county as Lord Hawke… but they would never have let ME play for the White Rose! I played League cricket in Yorkshire for 22 years after moving to the Yorkshire Post, but the point about the E.H.Umbers Award is that it concentrates on the work its recipients do off the field. And that is the greatest honour. An honour that I never dreamed would come to me. It is because the Wombwell is world-famous as a centre for stimulating the love of cricket and nurturing the skills of our young players that we attract some of the speakers we do and our fortunes are followed by so many more people than we can see. We, as a Society, honour cricket… and we in turn are honoured. Strictly in alphabetical order – no issues of merit here – our thanks go to these gentlemen for continuing to give the Society its cred: John Ambler, Andy Bennett, Darren Crossland – Coaching Co-ordinator who succeeded Brian Workman – Mick Lindley, Brian Marsh, Mark Shevill and Richard Skipworth. I wish our Thursday meetings were more richly attended. One or two speakers, however politely, have expressed disappointment at the turnout. Yet appearances are so deceptive. I could take you to another cricket society in Yorkshire where the turnout may be double what we see at the Wombwell, but where the membership base has been reduced to less than half of ours during the last few years. We have to watch expenditure – gone are the days when all of our distinguished guests had little or nothing to charge – but our membership gives us a balance sheet that keeps our show firmly on the road. The lunch was the showpiece of the year, where Dave Callaghan, of Radio Leeds, did a live chat show with YCCC beneficiary Richard Pyrah, who was delighted with the envelope we raised. This year we are aiming for the mixture as before – Dave to do his party piece with beneficiary and Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale and (who knows?) the Championship Trophy brought to the Wombwell table again! We enter our 65th season with a fixture card embracing a rich galaxy of speakers – those who have played the game at the top level, those who coach it, and those who administer, watch and write about it. The world of professional cricket is changing, not always for the better, and we hope for the lowdown from Lord’s! We thank Neil Whitaker for returning to his old role as The Twelfth Man Editor, which is why you are reading these words, and Secretary Mick Pope and his long-suffering wife, Tracy, who this year were joined by Colin Barker as proof- reading backup. We remain especially grateful to Yorkshire Academy Coach Richard Damms, who not only convenes the Young Yorkshire Evenings, but comes again with a Yorkshire young player to give our end-of-term coaching awards and presentation evening such a fillip. We are fortunate to have a Society Committee who all work so well together. Vice-Chairman Ron Firth and Secretary Mick can do any job that needs doing, and Treasurer Brian Sanderson will always keep our feet on the ground. Brian, too, is a man of many parts: as a member of the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation Archives Committee he adds to our meetings with displays of memorabilia, and by the end of a Thursday evening he really is the proverbial Jack-In-The-Box: jumping up to preside over the last rites of the raffle, and then juggling his camera to take the pictures you see in these pages. Thanks to Tom Hudson, who records our wisdom for posterity. Yet we still need a Speaker Secretary and assistants for the Secretary and Treasurer to spread the load. Where is the bright, new talent? I look forward to seeing you at the end of September. James M.Greenfield