Between 1969 and 2012 my father ran the 1st XI cricket at St Peter’s School in York. I did once ask if he was to rank the players from four-and-a-bit decades into some sort of order, where would I come. Apparently, he had given it some serious thought and narrowed it down to a top 200 – and I didn’t get a mention.
Maybe I should have a bit more specific: bowlers... left-arm... slow... called Kirby?
Finally, I was in the top twenty!
Right at the very top of the list however was Jonny Bairstow, and it was perhaps fitting that the school’s first future post-war test debutant (Norman Yardley having made his England debut in 1938) came towards the end of Dad’s tenure. Jonny’s ability and potential were obvious from a very young age, and I know how thrilled Dad was when Jonny came through the county ranks to become a full international.
My own cricket “career” never reached such heights; although plenty of batsman hit me fairly high... and far... and often; but I made plenty of friends and had some great times during my twenty-five years playing club cricket. I retired in 2004 due to a combination of a painful hip problem and public demand, and apart from a handful of overs a couple of years later, I basically hadn’t bowled in almost a decade.
Until 21 May 2014 that is, when the 1981 St Peter’s captain (me) met his 2007-8 counterpart (Jonny) at York Cricket Club in order that I could complete challenge of bowling at a test cricketer.
Jonny was playing for Yorkshire in a T20 game against a Yorkshire League side in aid of Tim Bresnan’s benefit, and it was slightly unnerving to try and propel a ball from one end of the net to the other (preferably bouncing just once, and hitting the back of the net and not the side or top) with the cream of local cricketing talent warming up next to me. That said the first ball not only pitched, it turned as well: from memory that had last happened in 1995 - and even then, it was only the once. Anyway, I practised for about a quarter of an hour, before Jonny arrived, and it was nearly time to bowl the “proper” over.
We had a quick chat as Jonny padded-up. I’d met him a few times before; he’s a genuinely nice bloke as well as an outstanding cricketer. Jonny took guard and I went back to the start of what could only loosely be described as a run-up.
Thankfully, all six deliveries pitched (once each), and although the first four were slightly short of a length, there was nothing wrong with the last two, which were very respectfully defended. I was pleasantly surprised with how I bowled, although I was far less impressed by how quickly and how much my back began to hurt (and continued to hurt for the next couple of days).
The customary photo was taken; and Jonny also signed another picture (which he duly pierced with one of his spikes for authenticity!). It was over in a matter of minutes, but they were the last deliveries I would ever bowl and it was a privilege to bowl them at arguably the finest player to have ever graduated from the St Peter’s cricket field.
Maybe I should have a bit more specific: bowlers... left-arm... slow... called Kirby?
Finally, I was in the top twenty!
Right at the very top of the list however was Jonny Bairstow, and it was perhaps fitting that the school’s first future post-war test debutant (Norman Yardley having made his England debut in 1938) came towards the end of Dad’s tenure. Jonny’s ability and potential were obvious from a very young age, and I know how thrilled Dad was when Jonny came through the county ranks to become a full international.
My own cricket “career” never reached such heights; although plenty of batsman hit me fairly high... and far... and often; but I made plenty of friends and had some great times during my twenty-five years playing club cricket. I retired in 2004 due to a combination of a painful hip problem and public demand, and apart from a handful of overs a couple of years later, I basically hadn’t bowled in almost a decade.
Until 21 May 2014 that is, when the 1981 St Peter’s captain (me) met his 2007-8 counterpart (Jonny) at York Cricket Club in order that I could complete challenge of bowling at a test cricketer.
Jonny was playing for Yorkshire in a T20 game against a Yorkshire League side in aid of Tim Bresnan’s benefit, and it was slightly unnerving to try and propel a ball from one end of the net to the other (preferably bouncing just once, and hitting the back of the net and not the side or top) with the cream of local cricketing talent warming up next to me. That said the first ball not only pitched, it turned as well: from memory that had last happened in 1995 - and even then, it was only the once. Anyway, I practised for about a quarter of an hour, before Jonny arrived, and it was nearly time to bowl the “proper” over.
We had a quick chat as Jonny padded-up. I’d met him a few times before; he’s a genuinely nice bloke as well as an outstanding cricketer. Jonny took guard and I went back to the start of what could only loosely be described as a run-up.
Thankfully, all six deliveries pitched (once each), and although the first four were slightly short of a length, there was nothing wrong with the last two, which were very respectfully defended. I was pleasantly surprised with how I bowled, although I was far less impressed by how quickly and how much my back began to hurt (and continued to hurt for the next couple of days).
The customary photo was taken; and Jonny also signed another picture (which he duly pierced with one of his spikes for authenticity!). It was over in a matter of minutes, but they were the last deliveries I would ever bowl and it was a privilege to bowl them at arguably the finest player to have ever graduated from the St Peter’s cricket field.