YCCSA Speaker Evening 28 February 2016 Well Over Fifty People

YCCSA Speaker evening 28th February 2016 Well over fifty people attended the February meeting of the Association to hear the Yorkshire Skipper, Andrew Gale, give a most welcome address on the eve of the Club’s defence of the County Championship Pennant. It came as quite a shock to learn that Andrew has captained the side for side for six years and the momentum is now really building. During his first year in charge the team were rated as relegation fodder but put in some sterling performances to finish third. The following Season the team were in fact doomed to the second division and Andrew reckoned that this was a blessing in disguise as it allowed the Club to completely re-structure the backup staff and give opportunities to such promising youngsters as Joe Root, Gary Ballance, Adam Lyth and Jonathan Bairstow. It also allowed Adil Rashid space in which to develop and hone his burgeoning skills. Jason Gillespie was appointed as coach and has an identical philosophy to Andrew in that a culture must be developed wherein individuals can thrive by accepting responsibility for their own progress. It follows that a more cohesive team spirit will then appear based on mutual trust and respect for the abilities of others. This will lead to a more aggressive approach to playing the game and engender a formula for continued success. In addition Paul Farbrace and Richard Dams joined the coaching staff thus allowing Martyn Moxon to take a step back from the front line of organising and being responsible for all aspects functioning and accept the role of Director of Cricket, which allows him time to view the bigger picture. Promotion was achieved at the first attempt despite the fact that 50-60% of the matches played were affected by rain and the foundations were laid for a winning culture to emerge, like a phoenix from the ashes. Success built on success following the promotion season of 2103and this became more apparent as consummate professionals such as Jack Brooks and Liam Plunkett were attracted to the Club. The icing on the cake came when the Championship was secured in 2014 although the celebrations were somewhat marred by the treatment of Andrew in his exclusion from the presentation party, on the field at Trent Bridge, following the final winning display. This success was compounded in 2015 when the winning sequence was continued and to Andrew it was all the more satisfying as the title was confirmed during the match against Middlesex, at the Home of Cricket and Andrew was on the field, batting, at the time. Sadly, possibly due to the euphoria of the occasion the match was allowed to slip, despite Ryan Sidebottom’s magnificent feat of taking three wickets in the first over. This 2015 achievement, in Andrew’s opinion, even eclipsed the events of the previous season because at the beginning of events six capped players were missing, ostensibly on Test Match duty with England in the West Indies; although four of them did not play a single match. Some highly talented youngsters filled the breach and the likes of Jack Leaning and Will Rhodes gained valuable experience during this time. At the end of this period, when all the players returned and were available it meant that a solid platform had been built and that records could be broken. The team achieved the distinction of registering the highest number of victories in a season and breaking the previous record of points secured for the season. The only discouraging aspect, as far as Andrew was concerned, was that the team relied more upon individual efforts rather than a holistic team performance. However, this was offset by the fact that some remarkable performances were registered not leas amongst them the effort of Jonathan Bairstow and Tim Bresnan’s unforgettable partnership of 370+ against Durham and the remarkable recovery from 99 for 9 to a competitive total by Glenn Maxwell and his last wicket partner. However, all this paled into the background when Andrew had the distinction of collecting the Championship Cup on the hallowed turf of Lords. This poses the question can Yorkshire be successful again in 2016 and win a hat trick of awards? Andrew appears more than keen and optimistic but he has instilled into his team that this achievement of dreams will not be a walk in the park. The opposition will pull out all the stops to frustrate Yorkshire’s ambitions, their players will try even harder, the objective of other teams will be to at least force a draw with the Championship County and it is anticipated that the wickets at away matches will be even more benign thus making a positive result all the more difficult to achieve. Andrew then spent a long time answering members’ questions and at the end of the session he left bearing all the good wishes of a very attentive audience. ASK 29Feb: 2016 .

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