Winning mentality is Gillespie’s speciality

IT was Bob Appleyard who put it best.
Yorkshire's head coach Jason Gillespie, right, celebrates with his captain, Andrew Gale at Trent Bridge.Yorkshire's head coach Jason Gillespie, right, celebrates with his captain, Andrew Gale at Trent Bridge.
Yorkshire's head coach Jason Gillespie, right, celebrates with his captain, Andrew Gale at Trent Bridge.

The former Yorkshire and England seam and spin bowler, now 90 years old, was talking to me about Jason Gillespie’s appointment as Yorkshire first team coach in November 2011 when he said these words that stuck in my mind.

“He’s a winner,” said Bob.

“And that’s exactly what this club needs.”

I thought of Bob – and his shrewd observation – when Yorkshire lifted the County Championship trophy at Trent Bridge on Friday.

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It was their first Championship for 13 years, and their first silverware of any description since 2002, when they won the old Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy.

Once again, Jason Gillespie – multiple Ashes-winner with Australia, member of the greatest modern cricket team and, quite possibly, the best team ever – had proven himself, yet again, to be a winner.

Why, this is a man who could probably win a raffle without buying a ticket.

Gillespie, however, did not seek credit for Yorkshire’s triumph.

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On the contrary, it seemed to me that he took something of a back seat in the post-match media scrum at Trent Bridge, allowing his players to enjoy their moment in the spotlight.

Gillespie – one of the most media-friendly coaches going, and a man who does much to promote the game in that regard – realised, along with director of cricket Martyn Moxon, who also promotes the club superbly through the media, that it was, first and foremost, a time for the players.

It was a snapshot into the sort of man-management that has made Gillespie a winner and Yorkshire County Cricket Club, as a whole, a renewed success story.

When I eventually found Gillespie standing on the staircase that leads up to the dressing room, celebratory pint of amber nectar in hand, he was quick – as had been Moxon in the immediate aftermath of the trophy presentation – to recognise the efforts of everyone apart from himself.

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“I’m proud as punch of the lads,” said Gillespie, the former fast bowler. “I know what they’ve done to get to this point, and it’s their hard work that has paid off now.

“All the hill running in early December, the early starts, the hard graft working on their specific skills. I’ve seen how hard they’ve worked, and I’m absolutely delighted for them.”

Gillespie, 39, can be seen as the final piece in Yorkshire’s cricketing jigsaw.

When he returned to the club he had served as a player in 2006 and 2007, Yorkshire had just been relegated in the Championship and their coaching set-up had been overhauled.

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Out went bowling coach Steve Oldham and batting coach Kevin Sharp – whose contributions, incidentally, should not be forgotten in Yorkshire’s see-saw journey to get to this point, with both men playing an important role in the development of players – and in came Gillespie and Paul Farbrace, who is now assistant to England head coach Peter Moores.

Former Yorkshire and England off-spin bowler Richard Dawson replaced Farbrace as second XI coach prior to this season, while director of cricket development Ian Dews and academy and development coach Richard Damms also formed the coaching team that reports to Moxon.

“I’m chuffed for the lads, but I have to say I’m incredibly chuffed for our director of cricket, Martyn Moxon, who’s worked his butt off for a long time,” said Gillespie. “He was nearly in tears (after the Championship was won) and it’s him who has put this support staff together and this squad of players together.

“I have to say that he’s one of the best leaders around.

“I’ve learned a lot from him, and he’s been a really good mentor for me.”

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Moxon has been no less quick to praise Gillespie’s efforts, which can be quantified in terms of a pronounced upward curve since 2011.

In 2012, Gillespie’s first season, Yorkshire won Championship promotion and did not lose a single Championship game.

They also finished runners-up in the Twenty20 Cup and flew the flag for England at the Twenty20 Champions League in South Africa.

Last year, Yorkshire came second in the Championship First Division – their highest finish, apart from their 2001 triumph, since 1975, the year of Gillespie’s birth – before going one better this year.

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Yorkshire, in fact, have lost only three of 47 Championship games since Gillespie took charge, 20 of which have been won and 24 drawn.

The first defeat came in the opening game of last season, when Sussex beat Yorkshire by an innings at Headingley, a result that could perhaps be attributed to a touch of ring-rustiness in the home ranks, followed by another defeat towards the end of last season against eventual champions Durham at Scarborough.

This year, the only defeat, with one match still to play, against Somerset at Headingley, starting tomorrow week, came in freakish circumstances at Lord’s in April, when Middlesex knocked off 472 to record the third-highest chase in Championship history.

It is, quite clearly, an incredible record – and one that speaks of consistency and solid performance.

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“We’ve just tried to play positive, aggressive, entertaining cricket,” said Gillespie. “We’ve got a great seam attack and a spinner who spins the ball hard, which is a good start when you’ve got to take 20 wickets to win a game of cricket.

“In terms of our batting, it starts at the top, with a great opening partnership and positive players all the way down the order, and we’ve got a captain in Andrew Gale who backs his players publicly and backs them privately, and who interacts with them incredibly well behind closed doors. It really is a true team effort.”

Gillespie is right, and yet it would be wrong to underplay his own contribution.

He has indeed been that final piece in the Yorkshire jigsaw, that crucial cog, the man who has helped Moxon bring the whole cricketing operation together.

Bob Appleyard, as usual, knew what he was talking about. He said Gillespie was a winner – and he was absolutely right.