Yorkshire captain Gale gets on his bike for good cause

Four weeks after his Yorkshire side dropped into Division Two, Andrew Gale will today begin a charity bike ride across America in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care.

The Yorkshire captain, along with club physiotherapist Scot McAllister, is riding 336km from Yosemite National Park to San Francisco in a mammoth trek across California.

The pair have already raised over £11,000 – nearly double their target of £6,000 – on the back of generous support from Yorkshire businesses and the Yorkshire members.

For Gale, the event has profound personal significance. The 27-year-old lost two of his grandparents to cancer and knows what a magnificent job Marie Curie do to help those afflicted with terminal illness. “I lost my grandparents about eight to 10 years ago and Marie Curie helped out and allowed them to die at home with the family surrounding them,” said Gale.

“I’ve been looking at doing something like this for the last couple of years but I’ve been away during the winter playing cricket and it hasn’t really fitted into the schedule.

“This time, I knew I probably wouldn’t be going away before Christmas so I spoke to Marie Curie about doing this bike ride and being part of the event.

“I’ve been involved in a few of the opening days of their centres, where people go not just for treatment but also to socialise and talk about things they probably couldn’t talk about at home to their partners, about how they are feeling and that sort of thing, and I think the work the charity does is tremendous.”

Gale and McAllister have been touched by the kindness of the Yorkshire public, which has rallied to support their fund-raising cause.

Many have donated at the website www.justgiving.com/Andrew-Gale0, while others have sent cheques to Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s headquarters at Headingley Carnegie in Leeds.

“Businesses have sponsored us, the Yorkshire members have sponsored us, and everyone has been brilliant,” added Gale.

“We’ve raised money through collections at Scarborough and Headingley, and the support we’ve had has been fantastic; overwhelming really.

“I’m really looking forward to the event, although it remains to be seen whether I can keep up with Scot.

“He’s a very fit lad and does a lot of training, but it’s not a race or anything like that; so long as we get over the finishing line, that’s the main thing.”