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Moxon decides on delegating responsibility to senior players
EXCLUSIVE: Yorkshire coach Martyn Moxon is putting his faith in the club's senior players by giving them greater control of the first team.
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Moxon is confident new captain Anthony McGrath and the county's top players can more or less run themselves and believes some of his time would be better spent watching up-and-coming talent in the second team.
Moxon – ever-present at Yorkshire's first team games since returning to the county as director of professional cricket in 2007 – will still attend the majority of first XI fixtures and remains responsible for the club's progress.
But so strong is his faith in the likes of McGrath, vice-captain Jacques Rudolph and England's Michael Vaughan and Matthew Hoggard that he believes the first team can pretty much look after itself, giving him more chance to cast an eye over potential future stars.
Moxon promised at least one member of the coaching team would be with the players at all times to offer guidance and advice.
Batting coach Kevin Sharp, bowling coach Steve Oldham, assistant bowling coach John Blain or director of cricket operations Ian Dews could all link up with the squad on a needs-must basis.
Moxon believes this strategy will best maximise Yorkshire's resources as they look to build a successful side for years to come.
The former Yorkshire and England opener has made a policy of developing home-grown youngsters one of his principal aims since coming back to Headingley Carnegie. "I feel we've now got a group of senior players within the team who can basically run that team and I'm comfortable to let Anthony as captain and the senior players run the show, albeit with support from me and the other coaches," said Moxon.
"Obviously, I'm ultimately responsible for results and I have to report to the board, but I'm comfortable that we've got the foundations of how we want to play and what we need to do, and that the disciplines are in place on a daily basis as to what is required.
"I want to get out a little bit more and watch the lads who are playing in the second team because I think it's important for me to see them more often in competitive situations, so I can then judge them in regards to the procession planning.
"I will still be attending the majority of first-team games but I'll certainly be attending more second-team matches than I have done in the last two years."
Yorkshire have talented players on the first-team fringe, including Azeem Rafiq, Jonathan Bairstow, Gary Ballance, Oliver Hannon-Dalby, Ben Sanderson, James Lee and James Finch.
It is this type of player Moxon believes he needs to see more often and he insisted a flexible coaching structure was the best way forward.
"There'll still be coaches with the first team if I'm not there," he added. "It could be Kevin Sharp, Steve Oldham, John Blain or Ian Dews who are with the first XI, depending on what we feel might be required at any given time.
"If we feel that a bowler needs special care and attention, for instance, Steve Oldham could go with the first team; or, if a batsman needs the same, then Kevin Sharp could be with the first team, and so on.
"At least one of us will be with the first XI for every game – and it will still mostly be me, although I wouldn't like to put a figure on it in terms of the number of matches that I'll actually watch.
"I couldn't say whether it would be four-fifths or six-eighths or whatever – just the majority of games.
"Basically, I've only been able to watch the seconds when the first team haven't had a game, which isn't very often, and I've probably only seen a couple of days of second-team cricket a season – let alone a couple of matches.
"I want to see a bit more of the younger lads because these lads are the players of the future and I want to assess them and see for myself how they're developing.
"There's a lot of quality players coming through the ranks and I need to see where they are in regards to playing first-team cricket.
"With the experience we've got in terms of senior players and coaching staff at the club, I'm very confident we'll have all bases covered."
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Weather for Yorkshire
Wednesday 08 February 2012
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