“These sorts of games go back a long way,” said former Yorkshire and Shropshire batter Kevin Sharp when asked to reminisce ahead of tomorrow’s National Counties Showcase fixture between the two counties in Telford (11am).
Sharp has been invited back to watch the 50-over fixture between his two ex-sides at Wellington Cricket Club, which serves as a warm-up to the forthcoming Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
That starts for the Vikings on Thursday against Surrey at the Kia Oval.
Sharp’s links with – and his contribution to – both counties are strong and immense.
“I’m sure I’ll be in a unique situation, because I’ve played for and coached both counties,” he said, proudly.
This year, Sharp has been back in and around Yorkshire Cricket.
Picture by Vaughn Ridley/SWPix.com. Kevin Sharp during his time as a Yorkshire batting coach.
In May, he was appointed president of the Yorkshire CCC Players’ Association, and since then he has been summarising on a few Vitality Blast games for BBC Radio Leeds.
Sharp’s 15-year playing career with Yorkshire (1976-1991) actually included a 1984 first round NatWest Trophy clash against Shropshire in Telford – not at the venue of tomorrow’s clash but at the nearby St George’s Ground.
And Shropshire won it, humbling a Yorkshire team also including the likes of Geoffrey Boycott, David Bairstow, Phil Carrick, Ashley Metcalfe, Martyn Moxon, Steve Oldham and Graham Stevenson.
They won by 37 runs defending a 60-over total of 229-5 as Yorkshire were bowled out for 192. Former Pakistan all-rounder Mushtaq Mohammad was their star on the day with 80 and three wickets, including Sharp’s scalp.
“Back in those days, the Minor Counties, as they were, had a lot of really experienced players.
“Mushtaq Mohammad was the Shropshire pro at the time, and the former Glamorgan bowler Malcolm Nash opened the bowling. His figures were extremely economical. He bowled really nicely for 1-16 from 12 overs. That wouldn’t happen today, would it!
Picture by Adrian Murrell – Allsport/Getty Images. Kevin Sharp bats for Yorkshire in 1983.
“Steve Ogrizovic, the Coventry City goalkeeper, also played. He was a really good cricketer.
“Steve Gale went on to be a first-class umpire and John Foster, who I think still plays for England Over 60s. Andy Barnard’s, Ed’s dad, was another.
“They were a good side.
“I worked in Shropshire as a development officer and played cricket there for eight years after I left Yorkshire as a player.
“I got to know these lads quite well, and Shropshire have invited a few of us back on Sunday, which will be nice. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Reflecting further on that NatWest game, Sharp continued: “It was a competitive score they got, and they bowled and fielded really well.
Picture by Ben Radford – Allsport/Getty Images. Steve Ogrizovic, the former Coventry City goalkeeper, was a talented cricketer and part of the Shropshire team which beat Yorkshire in the 1984 NatWest Trophy.
“We didn’t start the game well. We dropped a catch or two early on, I seem to remember. We were also a bit slow in the first 20 overs of our chase.
“Malcolm Nash bowled really nicely, as did Mushtaq Mohammad.”
A disappointing day, clearly, but a chuckle emerged as Sharp recalled: “It was certainly a quiet journey home.
“That was Bluey’s (David Bairstow) first year as captain.
“I put something out about the game on social media the other day and Simon Dennis tweeted me and said, ‘I had to travel home with Bluey, and he wasn’t best pleased!’”
Sharp scored 14,398 runs in 440 matches for Yorkshire with 15 centuries in all cricket.
Picture courtesy of Kevin Sharp. Kevin in the Headingley nets with a young Joe Root.
For Shropshire, between 1993 and 1997, he scored scored 3,067 runs from 53 matches with nine hundreds.
“I left Yorkshire in 1992, and I really enjoyed it,” he said. “Initially, I was just going to Shropshire to do some development work, which had been organised by Gordon Lord at the Test and County Cricket Board.
“Straightaway I was introduced to the county club, and we agreed that I’d play as professional, which I did for a couple of years. Then I just carried on playing, not as pro, for the last two or three because I enjoyed it so much.
“I know I made nine hundreds, which was a record at the time – the most hundreds by a Shropshire player. I’m not sure if that still stands.
“One of the stories I tell is when I left Shropshire, they had a get-together for me and a presentation.
“That was before I came back to Yorkshire as a coach.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Ottis Gibson leads Yorkshire into this season’s One-Day Cup and will use tomorrow’s clash with Shropshire as vital preparation.
“The chairman, John Bennett, said that what he’d admired about me was that when I made a hundred, I made it a big one.
“Well, one of the reasons for that was that once in the mid-eighties, I gave my wicket away in making a hundred for Yorkshire against Derbyshire at Harrogate. I was in real good form, but I played a daft shot.
“And Boycs told me what he thought.
“He said, ‘What do you think you’re doing playing silly shots like that?When you get a hundred young man, you make 200. The second hundred’s easier than the first’.
“He was absolutely spot on, and that stuck with me for the rest of my career.
“Ever since that day, when I made a hundred I almost took a deep breath and started again.”
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Shan Masood will be available for the group stages of the MB50, but he would miss the quarter-final and semi-final should Yorkshire progress because of international duty.
On Sunday, Sharp will watch Yorkshire prepare for eight MB50 group matches to come.
With Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Adam Lyth, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root and Jordan Thompson all on either Test and/or Hundred duty, a number of youngsters will get their chance to impress.
“It’s the great thing about this competition, and it’s Yorkshire – there’s always going to be talent,” said Sharp, also a former Blast-winning coach with Worcestershire.
And he added: “I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed getting involved again at Yorkshire this year through the Players’ Association, catching up with a few old boys, and doing some of the BBC commentaries.
“It’s been fantastic, and I feel really quite attached to the place again.
“There are still lads in that current Yorkshire team who I know pretty well like Lythy.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Adam Lyth will miss the MB50 campaign due to Hundred involvement with Trent Rockets.
“I’ve also got to know Shan Masood over the last two or three years. I was introduced to him by Moeen Ali. He’s a good man.
“There are also lads there who were kids when I left. Jordan Thompson was in the age-groups, as was Fish.
“I’ve also been introduced to one or two of the lads who I don’t know over the last few weeks, which has been really nice.
“I’m lucky that I’ve had Yorkshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire, and I’ve had a lot of great memories from all those clubs.”
Yorkshire will have players playing at two different venues tomorrow as they prepare for their 50-over campaign, with top order batter Yash Vagadia representing Northumberland against Durham at Jesmond.
Vagadia, 20, was the county’s leading run-scorer with 213 in nine matches in the recent Second Eleven T20 competition, which saw the Vikings beaten in the final by Somerset on Tuesday. The Durham University student qualifies to play for Northumberland having been born in Newcastle and will use the opportunity to press his case for a Yorkshire first-team debut.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Yash Vagadia will play for Northumberland v Durham tomorrow.
