IT’S GO FOR CAPTAIN JOE
Exploring the roots of a true Yorkshire cricketing hero
ANY BUDDING young cricketer dreaming of becoming the England captain could do a lot worse than heading down to Sheffield Collegiate CC.
Granted, their quaint little Abbeydale ground is a long way from Lord’s and certainly the ECB Yorkshire League side does not quite have the spectator pulling power of the Test side.
However, after Joe Root’s appointment yesterday, the proud club has now, quite remarkably, produced two England captains.
The Yorkshire batsman follows in the footsteps of Michael Vaughan who also worked his way up from Collegiate to the most prestigious job in English cricket, leading his country for 51 Tests and famously winning the epic 2005 Ashes series.
Root was confirmed in the role following Alastair Cook’s resignation last week, sparking great delight at the club where he learned his trade and can still so often be found on his rare days off from piling up the runs.
“It’s absolutely brilliant news,” said Andy Tyas, who is co-ordinator of Collegiate’s booming junior section.
“I’ve just seen a tweet from Michael Vaughan saying we’ve produced two of the last five Test captains and has there ever been two from one club like this?
“It’s a really good position to be in. We’ll be on the look-out for a third now! There’ are a couple of lads from our Under 11s and 12s who played for Yorkshire age group last year, so you never know.
“But it’s great for Joe. He’s often back at the club supporting us whenever he can. Last year after England had won a Test match he was down here the next day watching his brother in the first team and carrying on drinks. It’s a bit of the pun but the whole family – his brother Billy is at Notts, too, and his dad is wedded to the club – don’t ever forget their roots.” Root, 26, came through the junior section at Collegiate and, given his obvious talent, they were keen to get him in the first XI as soon as possible. Current captain Matt Dixon was the man who gave him his first shot, so what were his words of advice to the future England skipper? “He was probably 14 or 15 at the time and I think I just told him to play the way he always does,” he recalled. “To be fair, I don’t think he needed much advice from me; he was always an old head on young shoulders. “He was always very enthusiastic in the field, too, and very supportive to his fellow players, certainly me as captain. Some people will say this (the England captaincy) will be a hindrance to Joe but I think he will really go develop into it and see it not as a burden but as a great opportunity.
“I remember when he came back from the (Yorkshire) Academy you could tell he wanted to captain Collegiate.
“I let him do that for a few games to get some experience.
“He’s always got a smile on his face, too, and is not adverse to a dressing room prank. I’ve just exchanged a text with him and you can’t print what I’ve had to say in response to his!
“It is great as a club though to have Vaughany and now Joe, too, as captain of England.”
He will see it not as a burden but as a great opportunity.
Matt Dixon
AS SPORTING coronations go the appointment of Joe Root as England’s new Test cricket captain was as popular as it was predictable. After all he was vice-captain and the obvious successor to Alastair Cook.
It’s a job the Yorkshireman has long been tipped to get. He was first touted as a future England captain as a 13-year-old playing cricket for Sheffield Collegiate. Since then he’s established himself as the standout English cricketer of his generation, and what the 26-year-old lacks in experience he more than compensates for with his calm self-assurance on the field of play.
There will be challenges ahead and, as his predecessor will no doubt attest, being England cricket captain can be a lonely job at times. But in Joe Root England don’t just have a safe pair of hands, they have a man with the talent and temperament to become one of English cricket’s greatest ever captains. We wish him every success.