Matthew Fisher determined to end Yorkshire CCC career with Championship promotion

A change is as good as a rest, as they say, and it can only be hoped that Fisher - when his next destination is finally announced - has a little more luck on the injury front especially, having been bedevilled by problems that have prevented him from realising his full potential.

Before he says goodbye to a club that he first represented at the age of 15, however, Fisher is determined to create another happy memory - that of helping Yorkshire win promotion back to the First Division of the County Championship.

“All I want is Yorkshire to do well - all I’ve ever wanted is Yorkshire to do well - and I want to be the one who’s putting the performances in to help us go up,” said Fisher, who took six wickets in the innings victory against Leicestershire at Grace Road this week, his first match for four months following an ankle injury.

“Hopefully, that can continue and we can go on and get the points that we need to be able to finish in the top-two.”

Fisher also contributed a career-best 88 with the bat at Grace Road, and he said: “There was a match a few years ago when me and Patto (Steve Patterson) were batting at Headingley, and we had an important partnership (to help beat Warwickshire), and that was the game that kept us up.

“I was trying to think back to that and trying to use it in terms of helping us to go up this time instead of trying to stave off relegation.”

Fisher’s innings, his first half-century for the club in any format, highlighted batting ability that has always been present.

Operating at No 10, he shared in a crucial ninth-wicket stand of 138 with Jonny Tattersall, which set up the chance of the innings win.

“When you’re batting 9/10/11, you sometimes bat like a 9/10/11, and potentially you put less into it,” he said.

“I’ve still been trying to work hard on it, but sometimes game situations mean that you try and bat a bit faster, or whatever, and I’ve always batted better when I kind of play the ball as I see it, rather than be ultra-aggressive.

“When I first came into the team under Andrew Gale, he batted me at No 7 for a few games and he really backed my batting.

“It’s something, going into the next few years, that I want to try and get better at, so it was nice to get a few runs on this occasion.”

Any regrets on missing out on a maiden century?

Fisher was caught behind trying to chop away a ball from Rehan Ahmed, the England leg-spinner.

“I tried to hit that ball for a one when I should have just tried to smack it,” he reflected.

“I was a little bit gutted because you always want one (a hundred) in your career as a bowler, but hopefully I get another chance at some point.”

That chance will come in the colours of Surrey, the dominant force at the moment in English cricket.

Although Fisher cannot comment specifically on his move, pending official confirmation from SE11, it would have been tough for him to turn down the switch but still a big wrench to be leaving his native county.

“It was a tough decision to make, but one which I thought was right for me for cricketing reasons,” he said.

“It felt like the best thing in terms of my ambitions and stuff going forward.

“There were so many things that were swaying me both ways, but one little thing is that I do have a bit of baggage in terms of injuries here, stuff like that.

“It’s upsetting not to be able to help the team when I have been injured, so there was a little bit of ‘can I go somewhere fresh?’, that sort of thing.”

Fisher, who reported no ill effects from his ankle at Leicester, has suffered more injuries than most and battled back bravely.

There are few parts of his body, in fact, that have not been in the wars over the years, meaning that he has played only 34 first-class matches for Yorkshire across 10 seasons, capturing 110 wickets in that time at an average of 26.63.

“When you look back at how many games I’ve played, it’s sad and it does disappoint me,” he said.

“I’d love to have seen where I could have been and how many wickets I could have taken, and how much I could have progressed.”

Hopefully, this fine cricketer and man has many good years ahead of him yet - injury-free ones, touch-wood.

He will certainly be appreciated by the club that he leaves behind, which will wish him all the very best.