The Twelfth Man 2020

“ I started my career here as a young lad and want to finish it as a Yorkshire player. I really can’t see myself playing anywhere else in county cricket. Obviously there have been other teams I’ve played for in franchise cricket around the world, and hopefully that continues. But Yorkshire is the only county for me. It’s a club heading in the right direction, without doubt. Photo courtesy of Jeremy Lonsdale In his haul of 16,000 plus runs, he has reached 100 on 28 occasions, including a career best first-class score of 251. He said: “I started my career here as a young lad and want to finish it as a York- shire player. I really can’t see myself play- ing anywhere else in county cricket. Obvi- ously there have been other teams I’ve played for in franchise cricket around the world, and hopefully that con- tinues. But Yorkshire is the only county for me. It’s a club heading in the right direction, without doubt. There has been a transition over the last few years, but in 2020 I think we can be right up there in all competitions with the signings we’ve made and the progres- sion of the younger lads. Dawid Malan is a fantastic player who has a wealth of ex- perience of playing all formats. The over- seas players as well (Ravi Ashwin, Keshav Maharaj and Nicholas Pooran), they’re all high quality. They are signings we needed to make to help us build something very special here.” So, with three more years in a Yorkshire shirt, how would they perfectly play out? “To score as many runs as I can and put in some match-winning performances to help us win that silverware I mentioned,” he added. “Then, you never know, if I do what I’m capable of there might be another call-up for England. I’m really happy with where my game is. I’d love a few more runs here and there, although I think every batsman will tell you that. Opening the batting is tough, but I’m sure I can put in some big performances over the next few seasons that I’ve signed for. Personally, my next goal is 15,000 first-class runs. That’s what I think I’m very capable of doing.” We let Yorkshire’s director of cricket Martyn Moxon have the last word: “Obviously Adam has performed in all competitions for us, and he’s done particularly well in T20 over the past couple of seasons. In Championship cricket he’s been consistent. Hopeful- ly he can turn some of the starts he got last season into big scores, which would be match-winning contribu- tions. But, overall, he’s been a very consistent performer for us for a num- ber of years. He’s a highly experienced player and a great team man and a vi- tal part of the squad moving forward. Any team needs experienced players to be around our younger ones, and he’s a great role model. He works extremely hard at his game, a fit lad and contributes with bat, ball and in the field. He’s an outstanding fielder – a great slip fielder; one of the best around. He’s someone who’s very enthusiastic; a bubbly character, full of life. He’s also a very natural talent, a natural sportsman. It’s not just cricket; he’s very talented in a number of sports.” 18 19