ANDREW GALE

and found him in a very positive frame of mind. Andrew leaves on 17^th February for a batting school in Mumbai which The Corridor of Uncertainty have helped with sponsorship – see ANDREW GALE - OUR MAN IN INDIA. I picked up the pre-season interview with a question about Yorkshire’s pre-season plans which start shortly after Andrew’s return from India.

 

Yeah, pre-season starts on 8^th March and then we go to La Manga on 25^{th or} 26th March. Our new fitness trainer Dean Riddle’s been twice with Sheffield United and Leeds United and he says the facilities are top drawer out there and we are going to enjoy it. I’m looking forward to it especially with the fitness trainer coming out with us, it should be interesting.

 

You’ve mentioned to me that you go to the gym morning and afternoon. Is that every day?

 

Yeah, most days, Monday to Friday - I usually go for a cardiovascular session in the morning and then a weights session in the afternoon. We got programmes given to us. You need to be fit for the start of pre-season, it’s no good turning up in March unfit as then you’re just playing catch-up. Six weeks doesn’t give you enough time so I’ve been sticking at my fitness since the middle of October.

 

Who are known as the fittest guys in the side?

 

There’s probably me and Richard Pyrah who I’d say are the fittest. Matthew Wood’s pretty fit and Mark Lawson. We try and set the benchmark for everyone else to keep up with.

 

Do you do the dreaded bleep test?

 

We’ve not done that for a couple of years because we’ve been in with Leeds Met and we’ve done all our fitness tests up that. We’ve been put on a treadmill with like an oxygen mask on and you do three minutes and then have thirty seconds off and they take your blood every three minutes from your finger. They can work out your Max from that. I’m not sure but I think we’re bringing the bleep test back this March. There are different levels – you start on level one which is a slow walk for 6 bleeps and then it will go up to level two which is 7 bleeps and so on and it gets quicker and quicker until when you’re on level 12 and 13 you’re literally sprinting. It’s the turning that does you.

 

What else have you been doing over the winter?

 

I’ve got a coaching business that I run. I run clinics in Bradford and Bridlington in the school holidays. There’s one in Bridlington next week actually (wc 12^th) and that’s for kids aged 7 to 13 who are just starting out. I run those clinics as 2 or 3 day courses and I also take about ten one-to-ones a week at the cricket school and help out with the Yorkshire school nets. I also coach the girls who have just got the grant once a week at Headingley and they’re really young girls.

 

I’m a level 3 coach and got level 3 last February and I enjoy my coaching. I started it a couple of years back when I was going to go to Australia and it fell through. I started doing some coaching at the cricket school and I thought it would be a good opportunity to set up some courses. I set up a course at Woodlands Cricket Club in the Bradford League and from there it’s really grown. I get twenty-five kids on each course, we have nets and play games and I really enjoy it. I do see myself, if my career goes to plan, progressing to become a coach at the end of it.

 

When the kids are that young it’s just a case of getting them to enjoy cricket isn’t it?

 

Yeah it is. I know on my courses if the kids are enjoying themselves they’ll come back and it’s about getting them interested in the game, understanding the rules and what the techniques all about. They develop from there and if they want to go further there are nets at Headingley and stuff like that.

 

Last season the big thing that happened to you was the match at Scarborough where you scored 149. There are loads of questions that have come in praising that innings. One of the questions though was ‘did you think it was your day when you were dropped off a sitter on 51?’

 

(laughs) It was an absolute sitter and probably it changed my career. Yeah it was my day, it goes like that for you though sometimes. Sometimes you leak a few and everything goes to hand. Other days you hit a few and get dropped. After I got dropped on 51 I just thought to myself don’t give this away, you’ve got to really knuckle down and go on to make a big score. I remember going in at lunch and I was about 70 not out and Craig White kept saying ‘it’s your day, make sure you get a big one today, make sure you get a big one’ and that was just going through my head all the time after I came back out. I knuckled down and got a big one.

 

That win at Scarborough pretty much kicked Yorkshire’s season into gear. Your innings was overshadowed in the media by Adil Rashid’s debut with the ball. How conscious were you of the importance of that knock at that stage in the season?

 

I was sort of in and around the team, but hadn’t really got a decent chance. I was sort of just filling in. It started off I was playing a Saturday game at Driffield and I got a phone call from Dave saying ‘can you come up to Durham Vaughny’s knee might not be right’ so I shot up to Durham on the Saturday night and arrived there for the Sunday League game. I drove all the way back from Durham down to Sussex on the Sunday night and got there about half three in the morning and played for the 2^nd Team in Sussex on Monday and Tuesday. I came off the field on Tuesday and they said they needed me to go to Southgate for the Championship match, so I shot off there and ended up opening the batting because Craig White had a bad knee [scored 0 and 2]. So I was in and around the team, next in line because I was getting a lot of runs in the 2nds and my chance didn’t come about until Scarborough, where I knew I was actually in the side. Darren Lehmann got injured and all of the time up to that I was either 12^th Man or getting told half an hour before the start that I was or wasn’t playing. I knew definitely at Scarborough that I was playing so it gave me time to prepare myself for it.

 

Did that make a real difference then if you’ve got that longer period to psych yourself up and get yourself ready?

 

Yeah it made a big difference to me. It’s quite tough turning up and not knowing if you’re going to play or not. It’s something that I’ve been working on this winter with a psychologist, trying to make myself prepare quicker over a short period of time ready for the call.

 

At Scarborough we knew we had to start winning some games and I saw that as an ideal opportunity to fill my boots when Darren Lehmann was injured and it worked out really well for me. That was my chance to stake a claim. It’s always been said that Darren’s done so well for Yorkshire, but Yorkshire have done quite well when he hasn’t played as well. Maybe that’s down to some of us relying on his runs sometimes I’m not sure. We won that game even when Darren wasn’t playing and it made a huge difference to our season really.

 

Where do you see your position in the batting order, because you’ve opened and also been middle order as well?

 

At the moment I think middle order. I see myself 4, 5 or 6 and maybe opening the batting in one day cricket. I have opened all of my career so if it means opening the batting to get a place in the team I’ll go there by all means.

 

One of the questions we received said ‘your driving at Scarborough was so strong you looked like a left-handed Jack Hampshire’ which is pretty high praise. The questioner went on to ask whether you’d worked on the hook shot as I don’t think he was so impressed with that.

 

(laughs) I work on all my shots really. I’ve been working on my shots since January. I write down a list of things I’d like to work on and hooking and pulling is on there. Driving is my strength and it was a good pitch at Scarborough and they kept pitching the ball up so I kept driving it (laughs). I drove well that day – I’m not sure about the hook shot question (laughs).

 

I’ll go through all the shots during the winter but there are some I will work on more than others. I work quite hard on my back foot play and I’ve worked quite a lot on my cutting and then I’ve worked on my play against spin – when I go to India next week I can develop that a stage further. It’s not easy working on stuff indoors when you haven’t got the bowlers there and the bounce isn’t the same as outside.

 

My standard of cricket is fifty miles beneath your own level, but I found when I did my Level One coaching course it really helped my game. When you do Level 1 you go through basic routines to teach kids and cover all of the basics of technique and I got more runs the following season. Do you think coaching benefits your own game?

 

Yeah it does. It makes you more aware of your own technique, not just technically but mentally and physically as well. I did the level 3 last February and it really gives you an insight. I thought I knew about cricket but it just developed it a stage further.

 

What do you have to do to pass level 3 for those that don’t know what a coaching certificate involves?

 

Level 3 involves quite a lot of video analysis - you get given a batter to analyse and a bowler, a wicket-keeper and a fielder. You have to analyse all them and give the points where you think they’re at fault, and give them points how you think they can improve and how you would go about improving that. You get given a kid in a net and you have to watch them and then go through a talk with them for half an hour on their lifestyle, physical, mental and get out of them where they feel they have to improve. You have to take them into a net situation then and work on a one-to-one basis on how you can improve whatever they want to work on. It’s quite complex and it took a week at Old Trafford staying there every day and doing 9 till 9 every day – pretty full on, but I enjoyed it.

 

I’ve had a question from a Cleckheaton fan who asks whether you’ve missed playing in the Bradford League and will you ever return?

 

Yeah I’ve missed it a bit. I had three years at Cleckheaton after the Yorkshire Academy and I enjoyed it. It helped me become the player I am today and I do miss playing there. The wickets have deteriorated a little bit in the Bradford League and I got in touch with Driffield through Dave Byas and the wickets there are really good so it was an opportunity to play on good wickets which is good for my batting. I was trying to find wickets that were similar to county pitches and playing at places like Scarborough – it’s the closest you can get to first class pitches really. In the Bradford League they seem to be spending a lot of money on players instead of facilities. Eventually when I retire from county cricket I’d like to go back and maybe play for Cleckheaton one day.

 

The same questioner also said that you’ve played with two of his heroes – Darren Lehmann and Ian Austin. They both played the game to win. What influence have they had on your career?

 

They’ve both had quite a big influence. I played three years with Ian Austin when he was captain at Cleckheaton. He gave me an opportunity and believed in me and really taught me a will to win. Both Darren and Ian play the game really hard and they taught me to play tough and when you come off shake hands and have a beer after the game. Darren’s helped me loads at Yorkshire with my technique and stuff, especially in one day cricket. He really helped me a lot over the last two years. He couldn’t do enough. Some days he’d go out of his way to get in the nets with me and help me with my technique and with the way he thinks about the game and his preparation and if I could pick things off him to help my game I would. He’d always find time for the young players and sadly with him not coming this year he will be missed.

 

Is there anyone else you’d class as being a big influence on you as a player?

 

Anthony McGrath’s been quite a big influence on me, he’s helped me quite a lot at Yorkshire with my cricket and in the nets. The batting coach Kevin Sharp has been a big help too. I’ve worked with Kevin since I was 16

 

When I was looking through your entry in The Cricketers’ Who’s Who it says that you don’t like odd numbers. How does that come about?

 

Yeah (laughs). It’s just on volume controls and stuff I won’t have them on odd numbers. It’s weird I know, but if I’m driving to a game I only have the volume on even numbers. When I first got my squad number I made sure that it was an even number.

 

What happens when you’re on 99 then?

 

(laughs) I don’t know, it’s quite weird, it’s just superstition I guess.

 

When looking at your own position in the side you were knocking on the door last season and as we’ve discussed had a great game at Scarborough. With people leaving the club you seemed to be in line for a starting berth but the signing of Jacques Rudolph looks like it might have pushed you down the pecking order again.

 

Like you say we’ve signed Rudolph and we’re not sure whether Anthony’s coming back or not so I’m not sure at the moment. All I can do is make sure I go about my business in the right way and make sure that I’m ready to go come 18^th April at The Oval. There’s nothing I can do about selection – that’s not my side of things. I’ve got to do everything I can to get ready and give myself the best opportunity I can to get selected.

 

How frustrating can it be to get runs in the 2nds and not getting your chance?

 

I scored a hell of a lot of runs last year in the 2nds without getting much of a chance at times, but as soon as you start to get yourself down then it affects your results so you have to find a way of staying positive so that when your opportunity comes you are still in form. That’s what I did last year. It is frustrating at times, but you’ve got to stay positive.

 

You have expressed your views on too many overseas players in the past, but with the permitted number being reduced from 2008 it seems Kolpaks are now the issue to be debated?

 

It’s a tricky situation because legally you can’t do anything about it. Kolpaks come over and play as English qualified. I think it’s bizarre when the rules allow Jacques Rudolph to play for South Africa and then come and play here as an English player, but that’s the law. I think if we had just one overseas player it would give opportunity to more young guys like myself. On the other hand when you bring players of Jacques Rudolph’s calibre in you can only learn from him. He’s played a lot of international cricket so it’s good to have him around as well.

 

It’s not so much Rudolph and the better Kolpaks that are the problem is it? There are too many very average Kolpaks about.

 

There is. They come towards the end of their careers and play a couple of years and then go back home. There’s nothing you can do about it as that’s the law and clubs will continue to do it. It doesn’t happen in any other sports. It does depend on the calibre coming in - the two guys we’ve got in Deon Kruis and Jacques Rudolph. I know Deon helps the bowlers and we’re a better club for having him around and I would imagine that will be the case when Rudolph arrives as well. It’s a difficult one.

 

Do you set yourself targets for a season?

 

For someone like me where I’m not sure what side I’m going to be in then it’s quite difficult. I set myself targets of doing my best every game, innings to innings playing the situation as it is. It’s difficult sometimes coming in at 5 and 6 – sometimes you’re there to knock off 20 or 30 runs. In my mind I know what I’ve got to do and what sort of runs I’ve got to score to make myself available – scoring big scores and making sure I’m in form.

 

With the position you’ve had in the side over the last year or so you’re as well placed as most to give an opinion on the youngsters at the club. What’s your verdict on the future?

 

Adam Lyth is very promising. I played a lot with him last year and he had a great season in the 2^nd Team. In the first game last year we had a big stand against Durham where we put on something like 300 together and he got 160 and he’s a real promising player. There’s also a good batch of seamers coming through. There’s Oliver Hannon-Dalby who’s really good. James Lee who played the Roses match last year is also coming along nicely. Ajmal Shahzad has had a taste of it. I think the future’s quite bright in the youngsters department. The Academy is very strong. If you look at the 2^nd Team last year we had quite a young side. When we got to the final of the 2^nd XI Trophy we only had 3 players over the age of twenty-five and all the rest were from the Academy, junior pros and 2^nd Team caps. Compared to the teams we were playing against who had maybe two or three fully capped players in. It’s really positive and the Academy is doing very well under the guidance of Ian Dews.

 

There’s been bad press over the winter but things seem to be sorting themselves out now. How do you see the 2007 season?

 

We’ve got nothing to lose I think. The players we’ve lost we’ve probably replaced and it’s a chance for the young players – myself, Joe, Matthew Wood to step up and fill the places that have been left. There’s a real buzz about the place now, opportunities are going to be there and we can do well. If we avoid relegation or middle table would be a realistic target to start off with and then we see where we can go from there. If we get a good start and get out the blocks well we can go on from there. Even though we started badly last year we had a real good finish and we’re still going into this season thinking about the end of last season. If we can get the form back that we finished with there’s no reason we can’t compete and do well.

 

My thanks to Andrew for his time - if you have any comments on this interview please enter them in the thread below.

Next weeks player in the spotlight is SIMON GUY. Please enter any questions for Simon HERE.

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