Episode #2 - Padding up

Join the England Over 60 cricket commentator, Rash Mahmood, as he talks with players, managers and those in and around the team. With previews & reviews of matches and insights from those connected with the team, everything you wanted to know about England Over 60 cricket is here.

(02:55) In this episode, Rash travelled across The Pennines to visit Littleborough Cricket Club, which was hosting a game in the newly formed Regional Over 65 competition. He spoke with the respective captains Chris 'Noddy' Dearden & Nigel Moore, as well as League Chairman Dave Murphy to get their views of the competition, and Rash reviewed the game as well as the other 2 games taking place.

(16:43) Just the 2 questions sent in this time around, one regarding selection and a tricky one regarding a World 13.

(22:06) Scotland are England's first International opponents of the season. They have already been in action, and Rash has a short review of their fixtures and looks ahead to the games against England and The Lions in a few weeks time. 

(27:10) Rash was also at the Inter Squad game at Ticknall CC, alongside the students from Gloucester University. He reviews the game, the last competative match before England,Lions & World Cup squads are announced.

(34:28) Nick Gaywood is the special guest this week, who talks about cricketing in Devon, batting with Joe Root, his work with academies and The Barmy Army.

If you want to get in touch with the show, then either e-mail us at willowstowisdompodcast@gmail.com or use the following link to Speakpipe, https://www.speakpipe.com/msg/s/461658/5/w5kfkj96gmd6h2og it's free to use and there is no charge, and you can leave a voicemail message, and keep up to date with all that is happening by following England Over 60 Cricket on your favourite social media platform, details below -:

England 60s Cricket X – https://x.com/eng60scricket
England 60s Cricket Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/eng60scricket/
England 60s Cricket Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/england60scricket
England 60s Cricket TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@england60scricket
England 60s Cricket LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/england-over-60s-cricket-team/
England 60s Cricket YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@england60scricket
England 60s Play Cricket - https://englandseniors.play-cricket.com/home

England Over 65 Regional Championship - https://seniorscountychampionship.play-cricket.com/website/division/139754

In the next episode, Rash will be reviewing the 2 International matches against Scotland, and look ahead to the England Lions matches taking place in June.

There will be some more listener questions, and with the summer & World Cup squads announced, Rash will take an in depth look at the teams.

Ian Barton, the Lancashire & England Lions player, and co-host of BBC Radio Lancashire's 'Inside Edge', is the special guest.

If you want to get in touch with the show, then either e-mail us at willowstowisdompodcast@gmail.com or use the following link to Speakpipe, https://www.speakpipe.com/msg/s/461658/5/w5kfkj96gmd6h2og it's free to use and there is no charge, and you can leave a voicemail message, and keep up to date with all that is happening by following England Over 60 Cricket on your favourite social media platform, details below -:

England 60s Cricket X – https://x.com/eng60scricket
England 60s Cricket Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/eng60scricket/
England 60s Cricket Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/england60scricket
England 60s Cricket TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@england60scricket
England 60s Cricket LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/england-over-60s-cricket-team/
England 60s Cricket YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@england60scricket
England 60s Play Cricket - https://englandseniors.play-cricket....

Transcript

WELCOME & COMING UP

(00:00) Rash -: Welcome to the podcast dedicated to all things related to England over 60s cricket. These veterans of the game, custodians of its history who carry the game's past, define its present and prove that age is no barrier to brilliance. Legends of experience who wear the three Lions with pride and still very much players to fear. I'm your host, Rash Mahmood, and this is Willows to Wisdom, where cricket's wisest voices take centre stage.

(00:37) Rash -: Hello everyone, and welcome to this the 2nd episode of Willows to Wisdom. Now we start this episode with a few thankyous. Firstly, thank you to all of you who have downloaded the first episode. At the last count, the podcast had been listened to in 20 countries, including some countries not traditionally associated with cricket, amongst them, Vietnam, Finland, Japan & Switzerland to name a few. The podcast has been downloaded over 220 times since it’s launch last month, so a big thankyou to everyone for doing so, and I hope you will continue to do so and spread the word. 

It’s also an opportune time to thank Harrison Burridge the England Social Media Manager for all his work on promoting the podcast via all the England Social Media platforms and to Trevor Lee & Grant Timms, the co hosts of the excellent Silver Stumps podcast for giving this show a mention on their podcast a few weeks ago. And briefly staying with Silver Stumps, I would just like to pass on my best wishes to Grant, who has just recently had an operation, that will be keeping him out of action, playing wise for a good while. Rest and recover Grant, and I hope to see you and Trevor some time during the summer.

Well there’s lots to pack in to this episode, so here’s what’s coming up………

A new regional competition has started featuring the over 65’s, and I went along to Littleborough cricket club on 23rd April where the Northern Superchargers hosted the Midlands Mavericks. We’ll have a match review and a few snippets of wisdom from the respective skippers, Chris ‘Noddy’ Dearden & Nigel Moore, as well as catching up with the league chairman, Dave Murphy for his thoughts on this new venture for seniors cricket, and we will have a round up of the other 2 games taking place.

The players taking part in the inter squad game at Ticknall Cricket club on 30th April were announced a few weeks ago. I was there to cover the game alongside a new broadcast crew from Gloucester University, and we will have a review of the game. 

There will be some more of your listener questions, and thank you to everybody who has been in touch to submit a question.

I’ll be previewing the first Internationals of the season as England and the England Lions start their summer fixtures against Scotland, and our special guest this time around is the Yorkshire & England opening batter Nick Gaywood. So, let’s get started.

(02:55) Rash -: Well we start this episode with a trip to Littleborough Cricket Club near Rochdale. This wonderful, always welcoming venue was hosting a match in the new over 65’s Regional competition. The competition, is comprised of 6 regional teams, and I was present to watch the Northern Superchargers take on the Midlands Mavericks. 2 other games were also taking place, with the South East Saxons taking on the Eastern Echos at Polo Farm Cricket Club in Canterbury and Cricket Wales taking on the South West Falcons at Newport Cricket Club, and we’ll have a review of all the games shortly.

With the sun out, and a healthy crowd present, I managed to grab a word with the 2 respective captains, Chris ‘Noddy’ Dearden of the Superchargers & Nigel Moore of the Mavericks, here’s what they both had to say…..       

Rash -: Chris Noddy Dearden, captain of the Northern Superchargers. Noddy, good to speak to you.

Chris -: And good to see you again Rash.

Rash -: Always a warm welcome here at Littleborough. The ground looks absolutely magnificent. Sun's out. Listen, Skipper today. Big honour. New competition. You must be really looking forward to it.

Chris -: Yeah, I am. Yeah, It's something the Aussies have been doing a while and I think we should have been doing it again for a few years. But thanks to Paul Bradley and others, we've got it moving now and so we'll see how it takes off this year.

Rash -: Six teams in the competition. You're playing the Midland Mavericks today. Nigel Moore, someone you know very well, Mooro skippering  the opposition. But it's great to get players together. Your feelings of having a number of Yorkshiremen in your team, Noddy.

Chris -: It's a rivalry, obviously, but it's a rivalry I've loved for years. Love to play against them, whether it be 50s or 60s. I'm now playing with some of them in the 65s. It's great. And, you know, at Littleborough here we are, one mile away from Yorkshire. They're still sending raiding parties over the top, but we're fighting them off. Yeah, I love I love the Yorkies, and we have a bit of banter when we play.

Rash -: Super stuff, Noddy. Listen, have a great day. Enjoy it. We always get a fantastic reception here, and today's been no different. Enjoy the rest of the day.

Chris -: Cheers. Thank you.

Rash -: So, we've heard from one of the skippers, Chris Noddy Dearden. What about the other one? Delighted to say that Nigel Moore, Midlands Mavericks skipper, has sidled in alongside me. Mooro, always good to see you.

Nigel -: And you Rash. Yeah, thank you for inviting me.

Rash -: No, you're more than welcome. Now, listen, this captaincy thing, it's not new to you. You represented the Midlands team, I think it was, against Australia at Oakamoor last summer, and then back end of the season, the Tri-Nations, the England Lions against the England Seniors. Different kettle of fish, the 65s. Question is, you've played with and alongside many members of your team and against them for many years. What's the different dynamic trying to captain them? You played against them.

Nigel -: Yeah, I also skippered a lot of league sides, so the best of, so all the clubs forming together to form league sides and then Warwickshire Cricket Association back in the day. So I'm quite used to getting 11 guys that don't, and try not to give away too many of your own club secrets or anything else to them, but make sure they want to play for the team. Not for me, just for the team. So far today, I think we've done that very well. It's just enthusing them to play a game of cricket. Not tricky on a day like today.

Rash -: Beautiful sunshine, it's a wonderful ground here at Littleborough. Your personal thoughts on having an over 65 age group?

Nigel -: I think it's everything that it's set up to do. The guys I've got playing for me are really good players, never had a chance to play above their county, and now's the first chance to do that. So, you know, we're getting older, we've just been chatting about in there about new players in the 60s squads and the youngsters at 60 coming in, so and chuckling away at that. But, you know, there's a lot of experience in here people at 68/ 69 we shouldn't still be getting into our county 60s really unless we're good so more power to the elbow for this competition.

Rash -: Absolutely. And with the prospect, of course, speaking to the great and the good of the management committee, there's potentially a tour next year. A competition in Sri Lanka, over 65s, gives you a great opportunity in that age group to play international cricket for England.

Nigel -: I'd like to see, I know selection should be entirely on merit, but I think it would be good to discover one or two hidden gems from the competition. Pete Howard's come, 69 year old Pete Howard takes 5 for today, but what an introduction to the tournament for him, and a great opportunity for somebody like him at his age. Yeah, I think it's going to be great.

Rash -: Well, super stuff. Listen, I wish you the best of luck for the rest of the competition. Thank you. That's Nigel Moore, the Midlands Mavericks skipper. Thanks, Nige.

Nigel -: Thanks, Rash.

So, both skippers agreed that this competition was something that was needed, and they were both looking forward to the game, but how did the competition come about, well to answer that, I caught up with the League Chairman Dave Murphy, here’s what he had to say……

Rash -: This competition starting out today. Six teams involved. We're here at Littleborough for the Northern Superchargers versus the Midlands Mavericks. But it's been a couple of years in the making this. You must be delighted.

Dave -: It has been a lot of hard work by some very enthusiastic people and that's what's made it happen. Paul Bradley, myself and a couple of others discussed it. Yeah, a couple of years ago, and to be perfectly honest, we were influenced by the model that the Australians have got. They were bringing in 65s and we felt we didn't want our 60s tailing off and having to wait until they were 70 before they could play representative cricket, and whilst we couldn't get it quite off the ground last year, Trevor Lee managed to get a game as a bit of a tester down in the southwest against another side and it worked very well as a two-day game and we were then determined to persevere and get it going this time and Paul Bradley, myself and Trevor especially has driven it, come up with a slight changes in the format, but it's pretty much the 45 overs and we should be playing with a pink ball, but that's not happened here today, but that's another story. 

Yeah, the key is we've got it up and running and here we are in, you know, last Thursday in April and the sun is belting down whilst you're out of the breeze. It's glorious. And the number of people that are here interested to come along and watch players who are representing the North and those representing the Midlands and the camaraderie already being shown between now new teammates. It's, it's great to see.

Rash -: It certainly is. So 6 teams in the inaugural competition, Dave. The take up from the counties must have been good, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to get this up and running. What has the feeling been from the county reps as you discuss things and try and get this competition going?

Dave -: I think initially there was some reservation as to whether we could get it all filled in and the format became important. Hence the reason we play it as a 65s, third Thursday of each month and that way it doesn't interfere with the 60s game. So those players who are, I'd like to think, still good enough, fit enough, they're very keen and they've driven their organisers, managers. And then what they've done is appoint for each group of the six or seven that make up that group, of the counties, someone who's then been the main lead. And they've appointed selection panels and they've got captains and they've got various games where they're trying people out. And of course, the ultimate goal is that we will find a very good set of players to take on the Aussies and the Indians and New Zealanders when they have the 65 World Cup in Sri Lanka, which is planned at the moment for 2027.

Rash -: Well, that's fabulous news. I mean, something to look forward to, no doubt. Before I let you go, Dave, I just want to touch on one final thing. The beauty of competitions like this made-up of regional sides is that players who have played against each other for a number of years are now coming together. We've seen it today. You know, Yorkshire, Lancashire, camaraderie is fantastic. But how good is it, do you think, for the County Championship, for the players who are 63, 64 thinking, actually, I've got another pathway. The 65s if it takes off, and I'm sure it will, it just gives the whole seniors cricket movement a massive boost.

Dave -: Oh, without a doubt, that has already been, you know, voiced by so many, hence the enthusiasm. Players are seeing it as another opportunity of playing representative cricket, not just at the top level, i.e. the England side, but to represent your group, be it the Midlands, the north, southwest, Southeast, East and Wales, to say, actually, I was, in that setup and I played in that in those early years. I'd like to think, yeah, it's players now coming through, so many wanting to play more cricket, retiring early and whatever. and are capable of playing Tuesdays and Thursdays. Delighted the way it's going and today, couldn't have been a better start. The weather's been very kind to us. Everyone has been a smile on their faces and encouraging and it's been really good.

Rash -:  Dave, enjoy the rest of the afternoon. Thanks for spending the time talking to me.

Dave -: No problem.

Rash -: There's the League Chair, Dave Murphy. I'll let him get back to his sunbathing.

Dave -: Cheers. 

Rash -: Well my thanks to Noddy, Mooro and Dave for speaking to me, and I’m sure that those behind the competition and those competing in it will ensure it is competitive. As to the game itself, well the Northern Superchargers won the toss and elected to bat, and with a very powerful batting line up, would be looking to score 250 runs plus. As it turned out, they finished their innings on exactly that score for the loss of 8 wickets after their 45 overs. There were good contributions from Martin Watkin scoring 48, Richard Merryman with 34, the skipper Noddy Dearden scoring a very entertaining 47, and David Lees & Ian Davies chipping in further down the order. Pick of the bowlers for the Mavericks was Leicestershire’s Pete Howard, who at 69 years old, proved that experience and know how are still the best tools in the box, as he bagged a 5 wicket haul, finishing with figures of 9 overs, 0 maidens , 5 for 34, an outstanding return.

The Mavericks run chase didn’t start too well, with Rob Drake falling lbw in the 2nd over to Colin Gibson, but slowly but surely, the Mavericks regrouped, only to be stifled by some tremendous bowling and fielding, as the Superchargers turned the screw, taking 4 wickets in 8 overs for just 18 runs. From then on, the task looked a difficult one for the Mavericks, and despite some fine late batting by the Warwickshire pair of Kev Bissett scoring 39 & the skipper Nigel Moore scoring 13, the Mavericks were all out for 158 in 40.4 over, the Superchargers winning by 92 runs. Superchargers skipper Noddy Dearden was the pick of the bowlers returning figures of 6 over, 0 maidens 3 for 33, and a special mention to the Yorkshire Ridings stumper Alan Lees, who kept magnificently well and bagged himself a couple of stumpings. So the Superchargers up and running with a convincing victory, but what about the other 2 games.

Well at Polo Farm CC in Canterbury, the Eastern Echos won the toss and elected to bat against the South East Saxons. Opening up, Cambridgeshire’s Nigel Gadsby bagged himself a half century scoring 57, as did Hertfordshire’s Si Sampat who scored 66, with 52 of his runs coming in boundaries. Good lower order batting and a 68 run partnership between Bedfordshire’s Colin Stevens scoring 37 & Suffolk’s Kevin Dobson 35 not out, got the Echos to 245/6 after their 45 overs. The standout bowling performance for the Saxons was from Middlesex’s Neil Stevens who finished with figures of 9 overs, 4 maidens 2 for 16.

In reply, the Saxons opened up with a 160 run partnership between Andrew Stegall & Gordon Morgan, who scored 55 & 107 respectively, and with Surrey’s Mark Sheppard scoring an unbeaten 50, the Saxons reached their target with 5 balls to spare, winning by 8 wickets, in a very convincing win. Norfolk’s James Johnston took the 2 wickets for the Echos.

Down at Newport CC, Cricket Wales lost the toss and their opponents the South West Falcons elected to bat, and it was a good team effort with the Cornwall skipper Hugh Rogers leading from the front scoring 47, ably assisted by the England Seniors captain Ed Gordon Lennox scoring 65 & Wiltshire’s Kevin Evans retiring not out on 43, to leave the Falcons well set at the halfway point having reached 291/5 off their 45 overs.

Well the run chase for Cricket Wales was always going to be a difficult one and despite partnerships of 80 and 133 runs during their innings, they were always going to fall short. Rob Franklin scored 38, but top score in the match, and indeed in the first round of the competition goes to Stuart Carpenter who remained unbeaten at the end of the Cricket Wales innings having scored 131 runs off 110 deliveries, a fine, fine effort indeed. Wales finishing on 255/4 after their 45 overs, so the victory going to the Falcons by 36 runs. 

So the opening round of fixtures produced some excellent cricket, and this will no doubt be the case going forward, and if you would like to get to see the next round of fixtures, scheduled to take place on Thursday 21st of May I’ve put a link to the competition website in the episode notes. 

My thanks to all the staff at Littleborough for looking after me so well, and a big thank you to all the grounds, members of staff, umpires and scorers for coming together for this competition. Round 2 promises to be an exciting one !!!

(16:43) Rash -: Now it’s time for your listener questions, and a big thank you to everyone who has got in touch. Our first question comes from the Silver Stumps co-host Trevor Lee who asks -: Who makes up the selection committee for the seniors?

The committee is made up of 5 people. Former skipper Richard Merryman and current Lions skipper Jason Caunt, are on the committee in an advisory capacity. The final say on selection rests between seniors skipper Ed Gordon Lennox, Lions Manager Paul Gelder, and England Team Manager Paul Bradley. So, there you go Trevor, a nice easy question to answer.

Our next question was sent in by Chris Ellis from Abingdon, who asks….Having watched more senior’s international cricket than most of us, can you name your world 13 squad.

Well I’m not so sure thanks is the word Chris. It’s a near impossible task, but I’ve given it a lot of thought, and at the risk of getting struck of a lot of Christmas card lists from people I have got to know over the past few years, who don’t make my team, here’s my world 13 -:

Opening up we have the 2025 World Over 60 player of the year, Australia’s Darren Smith. Not only is he a tremendous batter, but his ability to bowl, and hold an end up is a tremendous asset. He is also a fantastic fielder close in to the bat. His opening partner would be the hard hitting Pakistani opening batter Sajid Ali, who has the talent and ability to destroy any bowling attack in the world.

At 3 I have gone with England’s Mel Hussain, technically gifted as a batter but more than useful as a bowler.

At 4 is Australia’s Graeme Pavey. A fine strokemaker, his ability to run quickly turning 1’s into 2’s, and 2’s into 3’s, ensures he puts maximum pressure on the fielders. He is also, in my humble opinion, the best outfield fielder in world cricket.

At 5 is the dual threat of the West Indies Deonarine Dayal, a superb batter and bowler, who looks a class act everytime he steps on the field.

At 6, is England’s Nick Gaywood, our guest on the show this week. No bias involved, but when he is on song, there is no finer batter in world cricket.

At 7 is Syed Saggar Abbas of Pakistan. An elegant strokemaker, who’s ability to find gaps in the field are an added bonus to his talent.

At 8, is the England stumper Steve Aston, again in my opinion the best glovesman in senior world cricket, and a more than capable batter, either in the middle order or opening up.

So those would be my batters, as to the bowlers, well I’ve gone for -:

Lal Ranasinghe from Sri Lanka, a spinner who works batters out quickly, and bowls an impeccable length. 

The world over 60 player of the year in 2024, Australia’s Tony Panecasio. TP although a spinner, is a strike bowler, with the uncanny ability to take wickets in his first over. When he is in his grove, there is no more difficult bowler in world cricket to score off.

For the seamers, I’ve gone with Australia’s Bill Blair, who is still rapid and possesses the ability to hurry batters into their shots. As an added bonus, he is a more than useful hard hitting middle order batter, and England’s Kevin Watson also makes the list. A player who wears his heart on his sleeve, and very rarely lets you down. In addition he is an exceptional fielder, and my 13th and final pick would be New Zealand’s Andrew Nutall, a very underrated spinner who has been impressive everytime I have seen him. He has the ability to get the ball to turn even on pitches seemingly unhelpful to spinners.

So there we go, my 13, and I’m sure those of you listening would have many different thoughts. So, do you agree with my selections? Send in your world 13 to us here at the show, details of how you can do so are coming up.

Well thanks to Trevor and Chris for your questions, and if you would like to send in a question or have a comment or suggestion about the show, then here’s how you can get in contact with us.  

(20:35) Rash -: Now here on the Willows to Wisdom podcast, we want you to be involved. If you'd like to send a question in or have a comment or observation about over 60s cricket, then you can get in touch a number of ways. In the episode notes, you will find a link to Speakpipe. Click on the link, it's completely free to use, and we will read your message out on the show. Don't forget to leave your name and where you are contacting us from.

But if hearing your voice on the podcast isn't for you, then please send us an e-mail. Our e-mail address is willows to wisdompodcast@gmail.com. That's willowstowisdompodcast @gmail.com and that's all one word. And talking about getting in touch, you can also comment or messages via the England's social media platforms. And to run you through where you can find and access them, here's the England's social media manager, Harrison Burridge, with further details.

(21:27) Harrison -: Have you enjoyed listening to this podcast and want to keep a closer eye on the England's 60s team's progress? then open your favourite social media app and search for England's 60s cricket. You'll be able to find the team on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Hit follow and have a front row seat to the summer's cricket.

Rash -: Thank you Harrison. So please do folks, follow us on all the social media platforms and via the SpeakPipe link or indeed e-mail to get in touch with us here at the show. We really do look forward to hearing from you.

(22:06) Rash -: Well the first international matches of the season are nearly upon us, and the opponents for England and the Lions will be Scotland. Now, I briefly mentioned some of the Scottish players in the previous episode, and how as a side they have greatly improved over the past couple of years. Now Scotland have been in action already this summer embarking on a mini tour of the North of England, playing matches against Yorkshire, Lancashire & Durham. In the first game against Yorkshire, having lost the toss, and been asked to bowl, hopes would have been high, having dismissed the very dangerous openers Nick Gaywood and Martin Watkin, with only 6 runs on the board. But an unbeaten half century from Neal Jackson, continuing his fine batting from the Lions Tour in India and runs from the ever reliable Pat Neal, got Yorkshire up to 197/9 off their 45 overs. Javaid Ashraf by all accounts bowled very well taking 3 wickets as did Imran Adrees.

 In reply, Scotland were reduced to 20/4 and never really recovered, although they had changed their batting order to give people an opportunity, and those players batting further down the order than they normally do, did at least score a few runs. In the end Scotland finished on 153/9 off their 45 overs, Yorkshire winning by 44 runs. 

Next up for Scotland was another tough fixture, this time against Lancashire, who won the toss and elected to bat, posting 230/7 off their 45 overs, with unbeaten half centuries for Ian Barton & the evergreen John Punchard. Javaid Ashraf was again amongst the wickets taking 5 for 41. In reply, despite being reduced to 17/2, Scotland played some really intelligent cricket, thanks in no small part to unbeaten half centuries from Cam Glasgow & Stevie Allison, and Lancashire’s very own Tony Bennett scoring 44 not out to get Scotland to their target reaching 234/3 with 8 overs remaining. So a very professional performance from Scotland, and they were hoping to carry this momentum onto their next game against Durham, and after losing the toss for a 3rd consecutive time, Durham elected to bat and were all out for 188 after 43.1 overs. So, Scotland seemingly in the driving seat, thanks to the wily spin bowling of Jerry Smith who returned figures of 5/17. Sadly, their batting was not as it was the previous day, and they lost wickets at regular intervals, and despite some late defiance by the Scottish captain Clark McConnachie who scored 41, Scotland were all out for 169 off 41.5 overs, losing by 19 runs.

So, a good run out for Scotland against 3 traditionally powerful northern sides. There was enough on display in these three games to suggest that if Scotland can execute all 3 phases of the game, they can pose both England sides problems in the upcoming matches. Cam Glasgow continues to impress with the bat, and in Javaid Ashraf, Scotland have a bowler who is clearly above average. Scotland clearly used the 3 matches to introduce new players into the squad, and I don’t think we can read too much into the changes of personnel and batting & bowling orders during this brief tour, but it is quite clear that the more exposure Scotland get in playing international cricket, and cricket against top domestic sides, that they are bound to improve. At the time of this recording, the England sides are not yet known, but that aside, the pressure will definitely be on BOTH England sides, and Scotland have 2 free hits so to speak. They can and may well inflict some damage to the confidence of the England players, who are wanting to stake their claim for further inclusion in the summer’s cricket, and ultimately force their way into the World Cup squad.

Unfortunately, both matches at Marton & Seaton Carew will not be streamed live, but you can follow the action via the England Playcricket site, or by following England Over 60 cricket on our social media platforms. But in the next episode, we will have a comprehensive review of both fixtures. 

(25:57) Rash -: Now it may surprise you to know that the England over 60 team do not receive any direct funding from the ECB. We are reliant on the goodwill of the players and the continuing support of sponsors, so if you'd like to be involved in sponsorship, get in touch and we will pass your details on to Paul Bradley, who will be more than happy to discuss what your sponsorship will bring, and to give you an example of how far reaching England Over 60’s cricket is, last year there were over 4 million views across the various Social Media platforms. Our YouTube channel had over 137, 000 views spanning some 14,000 hours of viewing, in 55 different countries, so the opportunities for individuals, companies and corporations to gain exposure is there for all to see.

That said, our work with the over 60s continues due to the generous, loyal and continuing support of our main sponsors, those being Stonehill Sports, Sporta Tours, NVPlay and Kleenclad. On behalf of the England management team and everyone connected in and around the team, thank you for your continuing support. 

(27:10) Rash -:  So, the first real competitive action for the England Seniors took place at Ticknall CC in Derbyshire on Thursday 30th April. The 24 players involved were announced on 13th April, with the Seniors skipper Ed Gordon Lennox captaining Team A, and the England Lions skipper Jason Caunt captaining Team B. Teams were 12 a side, with 11 in the field, and the match would be 45 overs per side, with the bowlers likely to get a minimum of 6 overs each, and the batters having to retire on reaching 40 runs. The match was to be played with a pink ball. Now, those were the conditions set prior to the game taking place, but as it turned out, they were relaxed on the day itself, and there were a couple of notable absences from Team B, namely Dean Sykes with injury and Muhammed Zahid due to a family matter.

Both teams contained a number of players who had played for the senior and lions team in the past, Team A skippered by Ed Gordon Lennox had the likes of Razi Ahmed, Phil Hillson, Vince Mulholland, Simon Routh & Charles Scolefield included, all who have recent senior and lions experience.

Team B skippered by Jason Caunt had amongst their ranks, Mel Dobson, Phil Hulston and Steve Small but there were a number of players participating for the first time. Both teams looked to have a good balance. 

The pitch was in immaculate condition and looked to be a very good one for batting, with the ball expected to come on to the bat nicely, provide a true bounce, and little or no movement off the seam or turn for the spinners. 

Team B won the toss and elected to bat, and it was the right hand, left hand combination of Andy Sapey and Steve Small who opened up the innings, and right from the start they showed their intent, recognizing the batter friendly pitch conditions, with both openers scoring 2 boundaries each from the first 2 overs. 5 overs in, they were going at 7 runs per over, and the 50 run partnership was reached in the 10th over. 

Team A needed to stem the flow of runs, and it was Middlesex’s Charles Scholefield who made the breakthrough, clean bowling Sapey for 30, the score 74/1 after 11.5 overs. Michael Jadunath was the next man in, and Team A started to bowl much better and got just reward for their improved bowling when Razi Ahmed clean bowled Jadunath for 12, Team B now 94/2 after 16.4 overs. 

Small continued his assault on the batting reaching a very fine 50 and together with Phil Hulston, shared a 52 run partnership, before Small retired not out on 85 off 67 balls with 15 fours and 1 six, the score had reached 164. Hulston was the next man out, waltzing down the pitch to Mullholland, and hitting the ball powerfully to wide mid-on and set off running, however his partner Paul Clements was not moving, and a superb piece of fielding by Ed Gordon Lennox, who stopped the ball, turned and threw to Mullholland, who threw to the keeper’s end leaving the keeper Simon Routh with the simple task of removing the bails, with Hulston desperately trying to get back in, Hulston out for 20, the score now 159/3 after 28.4 overs.

Paul Clements was the next wicket to fall for 20, holing out to long on off the bowling of Alan Whitman, with Vince Mulholland taking a very well judged catch, the score 182/4. Nigel Martyn had started his innings in circumspect fashion but now really started to motor on, hitting some fine shots and together with the returning Jadunath, took the score onto 250, before Jadunath came down the pitch to Paul McKeown, missing the ball and giving Simon Routh an easy stumping. Jadunath out for 27, the score 250/5, and 2 balls later another wicket fell, Martyn mistiming a shot and McKeown taking the catch off his own bowling. Martyn out for a very entertaining 41 off 43 balls, which included 3 sixes, 251/6. Zaheer Nazir & Mel Dobson saw out the rest of the innings, with Team B finishing their 45 overs on 268/6.

Paul McKeown finished with 2 wickets, and Vince Mulholland caught the eye, and his bowling figures do not do him justice. 

Team A chasing 269 to win opened up with Simon Anderton & Scott Stratton, and as in the first innings the 2 batters went after the bowling straight from the start, with Mick Haynes getting clouted for 13 runs in his first over. With the final ball of the 8th over, the score had reached 41, when Dave Walklate clean bowled Anderton for 21.

Colin Cliff was the next man in, and was happy to play a supporting role, and why not, as Stratton dispatched the bowlers to all parts of the ground, playing some wonderful shots. He reached a well made half century, and whether by choice or by design then decided to go into full attack mode, ably supported by Cliff, the pair sharing a 97 run partnership, before Stratton retired not out on 81 off 54 deliveries hitting 10 fours and 3 sixes, the score 138/2 after just 20 overs. 

Phil Hillson was the new man in, and together with Cliff carried on the superb display of hitting, Cliff retiring not out on 50 after a 53 run partnership between the pair, the score on 191, and Team A seemingly on course for a comfortable victory.

Hillson departed for a belligerent 35 off 28 balls, when the score had reached 204/2, and Simon Routh & Alan Whitman then steered Team A towards victory, with Routh adjudged lbw for 26, the score on 246/3, and it was left to Vince Mulholland to remain unbeaten at the end with Whitman, the winning runs coming as a result of 4 byes off the first ball of the 43rd over, so Team A recording a victory by 7 wickets.

Zaheer Nazir picked up 2 wickets, but special praise must go to Mick Haynes, who after being smashed for 13 runs in his first over, showed real grit, determination and no little skill and ability in returning figures 9/1/1/36.

So much for the selectors to ponder on, with some fine individual performances. Player of the match as selected by the commentary team was Scott Stratton.

All the players taking part need commending for their camaraderie during the day. Many had travelled the day before, with some travelling a long distance during the morning, and their commitment and dedication should rightly be recognised.

Special thanks also to Ivor Richards from BBA Media for the superb work in providing the live stream, which drew a lot of praise from those present and from comments on the YouTube channel. It should be noted that this was also the continuing partnership with the students of Gloucester University, with a new team assembled for this year, so my thanks to Micz Gleizups, Lucy Ballinger & Mollie George, for their hard work and professionalism throughout the day, particularly as it was their first venture covering cricket, and it’s also a big thankyou to my co-commentator Adam Herrington, and to the players who gave their time to join us in commentary.

On behalf of The England Management Team, the players & commentary crew, our thanks to Ticknall CC, for hosting us, and I’m sure it is a venue we will be returning to.

(34:28) Rash -:  My guest today on Willows to Wisdom this time round is an elegant left-handed opening batter and underrated left-arm orthodox spinner, or so he tells me. He now resides in my home city of Sheffield, although he's from the rough end of town, as you'll no doubt gather when he comes online. 

He played minor counties cricket for Devon from 1981 to 1999, where he accumulated 7,709 runs, a highest score of 174 not out, whilst also chipping in with 28 wickets. his best return being 7 for 85. He's played a number of A-list games and is widely regarded amongst the over-60 cricketing community as one of the finest batters in world cricket.

As well as representing Sheffield Collegiate at club level, he is also heavily involved in the Yorkshire over 60, 1st team and, of course, England. His formative cricketing years and later academic studies have led him to coaching and sports administration, which have included having a helping hand in the start-up of the academy at Desert Springs in Almeria, Spain, being heavily involved in youth cricket via the Root Academy, and more recently a role with the Barmy Army. 

Now, he's most often seen with a cheeky smile on his face, and is a colourful character, much respected by his peers and opponents. His dress sense, however, can be best described as eclectic, with some suggestion that he's dressed by Stevie Wonder. His self-deprecating style is often to the fore, as when taking a stunner of a catch in the first One Day International against Australia at Littleborough last summer to dismiss Graham Pavey, on the commentary I alluded to him leaping like a salmon, to which he replied at the end of the game, more like a mangy trout. It's a great pleasure to welcome onto Willows to Wisdom, Nick Gaywood. Well, as I said in my introduction, Nick, you reside in Sheffield now, not far away from me. But your cricketing career didn't start in sunny South Yorkshire. Tell us where it started.

Nick -: My home club is Bovey Tracy, where my father played for about 50 years, which is a village just in the foothills of Dartmoor. So I used to go and watch cricket. with my brother and we used to play around in the car park, hitting cars and getting in trouble. And well, dad played, and then we used to go and scoff the tees, which were quite brilliant at Bovey Tracy, and that's where it started. 

We didn't have a junior setup. There was school was the only place. I was the last year of what was called Newton Abbot Grammar School, and in that first year I was there, we had two or three fixtures. So that was my first sort of ever game of cricket was a school game. 

I think I played adult cricket straight away then. I think I went and played with my uncle in Moretonhampstead but probably the worst wicket you'll ever come across,very good teas again but it's a shocking wicket with some very dubious cricketers so that was the Dartmoor Village League it was called so I played when I was sort of 12/13 I played there.

Rash -: And were you scoring heavily in that league, Nick even at 12, 13 years old on dodgy pitches?

Nick -: No, no, I was batting down the order. I was worried it was going to hit me on the head or roll along the floor. Occasionally got a bowl, but just, I don't know, it just seemed to be happy to be on the pitch playing men's cricket. That was all, it was enough.

Rash -: Super stuff. Well, I also mentioned some of your stats when playing for Devon as you progressed, unbelievable. Now, you made your debut for them at age 18 in 1981. 123 appearances, all told, which is a phenomenal effort, Nick. Did you want to play at a higher level? Minor counties is still a good standard. Was there an opportunity to play at a higher level?

Nick -: I don't know if this is a... I don't think it's a thing now, but certainly I felt a bit of sort of imposter syndrome when I was younger. You played village cricket. We didn't, at the time I then started playing league cricket, you hardly saw an overseas player, hardly saw a county second 11 player. So my aspirations were just to play in the Premier League. So I actually moved from Bovey Tracy, who had been in division one, into the Premier League with a club called South Devon, which is in Newton Abbot where we live. 

Then again, my aspirations, I started to think I really want to play for Devon. but it just didn't seem real. I went to Australia at 18, which was a massive help because I played at Manly and I played third and second grade there. I still can't believe I'd started in third grade because I was looking around me going, oh my God, looking at the fifth grade and fourth grade thinking this is different league, training three times a week, really hard cricket. But it was a brilliant experience and I've just got in the Devon side. They were, again, I was a bit lucky because they were looking to bring youngsters in they'd had a title winning side in the 1977 they'd been a really good outfit and they knew they needed to rebuild and they they were looking around for youngsters but I wasn't really in the under 19s and under 17s.

I wasn't favoured but the Devon captain saw me bat on a Sunday afternoon against Torquay his club and I had a played really really well and that then he he gave me the opportunities when other people were sort of healthy so it was quite interesting I was lucky but it was very, it's very I've still felt for years for a long time in awe of anybody that turned up with a sponsored car or a tracksuit or had a reputation and I don't think if I'd been brought up in Yorkshire it would have been the same because you're constantly surrounded by test players at your club or overseas pros and I I think it would have been quite interesting to see how I what my aspirations would have been if I'd been brought up in Yorkshire yeah.

Rash -: That's a good point though playing for Devon for that length of time you must have had some career highlights I mean I've got them listed down but I think it's better coming from you I don't want to blow too much smoke up your ring but uh go on what's your career highlights for Devon?

Nick -: I'd never won anything up to about the age of 27/28 and then I was very lucky because Collegiate, Sheffield Collegiate where I've been for years had a really good group of players and we started winning Yorkshire Leagues, the National Knockout and just a little bit before Devon started winning the Minor Counties Championship and we got to finals at Lords and Championship finals. And so the winning those things with two teams and two bunch of blokes that really got on with, we had great spirit in both of those teams was wonderful. 

I mean, the the obvious thing that you'll have written down is I've got 100 at Lord's in the minor counties final and that still seems completely unreal. I was briefed before I went out to bat to be fair. A lad that had played the year before said to me, he said, you just need to be careful. He said, you'll get a rush of adrenaline as you walk through the pavilion and down the steps. And it is just awe-inspiring being there. He said, I went to pieces. He said, I thought I was Viv Richards and I tried to smash every ball and he got out cheaply he said  you'll seize up and he says you've got to try and just play one ball at a time and do everything that you normally do which was great advice and I, it must have happened because I, I played very well but I I don't remember.

I remember two shots okay. So one one was a clip off my legs that went into the mound stand it was a very short boundary but it I middled it and it went two levels up And the other one was when I was on 99, I should have been run out. I called for a very dodgy single to get to 100 and it missed the stumps by a whisker. So I would have been out for 99. And I honestly can't remember anything else, any of the other shots or anything. I don't know how I got from zero to 100. I don't know. It's it's not in the memory bank.

Rash -: Well, it doesn't have to be in the memory bank, Nick. It's in the record. It's there in black and white. Tremendous, tremendous achievement. Now, I'm going to go slightly off topic because I had a conversation out in Perth at the back end of 2024, a former teammate of yours, I believe, who said that in your formative years, You used to get into a bit of trouble because you always tried to smack the first ball for six, is this correct or not?

Nick -: Not my formative years. My formative years were spent batting with my dad a lot who told me I had to hit the ball on the floor and I wanted to hit it harder so we were always sort of bickering about how I should play and I was a bit of a perfectionist and every time I got dropped I used to think the rest of the innings didn't count and would just smash the ball around but then I got a bit aspirational and I went very technical and I was trying to look like the cricketer I wanted to be instead of playing cricket. 

So I had a period of... I think I had a couple of trial games at Notts over a few couple of years and went to pre-season training and things and I was there really conscious of what I looked like and I wasn't playing the game. But then, my friend Nick Folland, who you met in Perth, Nick lives in Perth now, said, look, I want you to play for, he was captain and he said, but I want you to be really aggressive, and the mission was that I opened the batting and my role was to try and take them on from ball one. So it wasn't quite that, but I was freed up, if you like, in a bit Baz Ball stylish. I was freed up and encouraged to go walking and wandering down the wicket first ball of two-day games. And we tried to score 6, 6 an over, seven an over, and declare really early. 

It was 2 innings in two days, if you can remember that format. If most grounds had really good wickets, the club had bent over backwards to make it the best surface of the year. And it's really hard to get a result in two days. So we've tried to just say, right, let's pull out the 45 overs. We've got 240. And then we would end up bowling 65, 70 overs at the opposition. So we spent loads of time in the field, but we then, the last innings, we nearly always had a bit more time to play with. and you could get genuine results rather than contriving a finish so it was a it was an interesting time so yeah I was I was told to have a go.

Rash -: Well maybe on the basis of Nick being present in that fifth and final one day international on the the England tour to Australia at the back end of 2024 you certainly did that it was a an innings I keep harking back to it was one of the finest knocks I've seen absolute pure timing it was a great to watch Nick and it was a real privilege to be there.

Now we'll move on, listen you're transition to seniors cricket it's given you the opportunity to continue to play to a high level and of course on the international stage how would you describe your senior cricketing journey so far?

Nick -: It started in the over 50s I didn't even realise there was a county over 50s Championship. I'd played Premier League at Collegiate till 53 and then I'd finished my teaching career and I'd started working for a cricket golf resort in Spain, and my job was to try and get people to go out there and play in tournaments and training camps and things because it's an all year round grass facility and my boss said, well, you can play some midweek cricket. It might be good to meet these guys and try and get them out to Desert Springs. 

So I had a semi-work head-on, but I got invited by Steve Wales, who was captain in Yorkshire. And I absolutely loved that. He played it really hard. It was really competitive. Lots of like-minded people. You met and caught up with loads of people that you played against in the past, which was really lovely to sort of meet them 20 years down the line. So from 54 to 61, I think I played seven seasons that was great and by then the 60s was established and I knew it was a pathway. I didn't get in the England 50s team, I think I might have been a bit unlucky but I was doing a bit quite well and didn't get a go but you know there are a lot of good players out there and I got invited to the 60s and that was it's just carried on being a brilliant experience.

Rash -: It certainly has, listen you've had some opportunities and seen places and been to places that you can only dream about playing cricket. That continued in January, when you were back out to India, back out to Chennai, playing for the Lions. Beautiful pitches out there, and you did your trademark. We had Routhy on in the first episode. I managed to catch up with him at Loughborough, and he said his mission was just to nudge one to give you the strike, and he said you made it look easy, flaying the bowling to all parts of the ground at Pondicherry. Different experience in Chennai this time for you Nick, but just as enjoyable I would have thought.

Nick -: Yeah, I was listening to Routhy's  kind comments. He was playing very well himself, he's being very modest. But no, that first game was a, the first game we had was on the Chennai Super Kings training ground, which is in the process of being built. There's a huge pavilion that apparently was going to have paddle, tennis, saunas, gyms, swimming pool, weight training rooms and rooms for the players so they could stay there, and it was sort of half constructed. All sorts of grass net that weren't quite ready yet, but the pitch had four different turf surfaces. It was a huge arena, floodlights, and I don't know which one we played on, but it was flat. And then we moved to Pondicherry, where there were eight grounds at this venue, indoor nets and outdoor grass nets, and they were all in the same place.

Rash -: Wow.

Nick -: And they were all, as was documented last week, of extremely high standard pitches and outfields. And again, India's always interesting place. Something's always happening. Sometimes you think, oh my God, this is awful. And the next minute it charms the pants off you. It's a really interesting place to visit. But we had a great time again, and a brilliant experience for everybody.

Rash -: Super stuff Nick. For those making a step up into the England Lions and England setup from County Cricket and we've had an influx of new players over the last 18 months or so, what is the biggest difference you can say that you have found making that transition up from County Cricket onto the international stage against?

Nick -: The best teams it's clearly the fielding the running between the wickets the field setting it's the the things you'd expect the fewer frequencies of bad balls but you know, again, it was documented last week that the scene is improving a lot, but really Australia and to a lesser extent, a little bit, New Zealand and sort of can keep you on your toes.

The others are county sides now that the infrastructure we've got is really good. The guys play loads of cricket. They give you just as good a games usually as some of the weaker international sides. It's the fielding, running between the wickets at the top level and that's where we've still got to improve. And we know Australia, New Zealand, India know very well what they've got to do now. They've got some very talented players, but I think Simon pointed it out. I think everybody pointed it out. They've got to be fitter.

Rash -: Yeah, they did. What advice would you give to those listeners who maybe have stopped playing, thinking that age has got the better of them, sitting there thinking, You know what? I'm quite inspired by this. I'd like to give it a go.

Nick -: Obviously, you've got to find out who the people are running the outfits in your area. It does seem now like most of the counties have second teams as well as first teams. And Yorkshire, as you know, we've got Yorkshire and we've got Yorkshire Riding, both with second teams. So there's about 80 cricketers of 60 plus playing regular 45 overs of cricket. You've just got to make sure sure you're fit. It's an ongoing battle. You get out of bed every morning and think, oh my God, I can't move. And then you somehow pull yourself round. I think a lot of the boys are doing yoga now and things.

Rash -: They are, I heard that at Loughborough yoga.

Nick -: Yeah, you've got to keep going. And it is hard if you stop. Better if you've managed to keep going. But it's not impossible to start again if you've been doing other things and kept being. People look after themselves, the aging population that we've got. and easily see more third 11s and 4th 11s around the counties playing. We know we've got it in Surrey, Kent, Middlesex, Essex, got four or five teams at that age group. So it won't be long before it happens in other places.

Rash -: Yes, absolutely. ever-growing sport and more and more people are taking the opportunity to play now you've been heavily involved in youth cricket and coaching Nick, you've been involved obviously with the Desert Springs Academy in Spain which continues year on year being an absolutely wonderful success you can just look at the social media folks it's it's booming take advantage out there if you can with your clubs I know a lot of the county teams have. You're heavily involved in the Root Academy as well tell us how those things came about you touched on the Desert Springs earlier on so do you just start with that one first and then get onto the Root Academy.

Nick -: Well, I was sort of a PE teacher in various guises and institutions for 30 years, and I was whinging about teaching. There's something you don't hear very often to my, not enough holidays, probably, I was saying to Matt Root, who's a friend I played at Sheffield Collegiate with for years and he said, well, he said, I might have something for you. So he picked me up one Friday lunchtime from school. My headteacher let me go, which was fantastic. I was working in a inner city primary school doing all the PE by that at that point in Heeley in the middle of Sheffield. And Matt, we went out, we caught a train to Birmingham, flew out and sort of two and a bit hours later, I was this it was dark.

I hadn't seen it. I was in this Resort and I woke up in the morning looked out of the window and the apartment I was staying and went bloody hell and it was this stunning golf course driving range lovely apartments mountains around it on one side the sea that you could just about see to the other the other way and I got a tour of it and he said well look there's 24 grass Nets there he said there's a that football pitch we use as a training ground for fielding and then this bit of desert is going to be a full-size cricket pitch in with grass turf wickets in well within a year.

I said really looks like a very rough patch of desert to me and lo and behold and I sort of watched it evolve it turned it into a brilliant cricket ground. They're very very difficult out there to keep the surfaces. It's really hard work. You cover them to keep them from drying out rather than to stop the rain. But it's really hard work. But there's 12 rye grass and there were six Bermuda grass wickets on the main square and the 24 rye grass wickets that were meant to be like in England. There's a pavilion there. It's close to the apartment. There's a ECB funded gym where you can train and then the leisure activities, there's paddle and there's golf and it was two restaurants and it was I thought, really, is this work?

I was allegedly paid to get people to go out there. We were doing very nicely and that COVID thing thwarted it. It made it really difficult. Also, the sort of increasing exchange rate was very poor, which didn't help, but it's picked up probably because I left, it's picked up very nicely in the last, it's really good to see the last four years or so. It's picked up and it's had a really good spring, thanks to Mr. Trump. People changed their destinations. I think people will go there again. I'd love to see us do something senior cricket out there. It's such a nice spot to go. Got to advanced years and we had a granddaughter and I didn't want to work full time. So I talked to Matt and Matt said, well, I've got something for you for the Root Academy, which was part time. And it's been a lovely job to do all sorts of different tasks within the company. We're moving excitingly. We're just setting up a foundation. So it'll be a charity My big thing is state school hardball cricket in secondary schools, but the charity can cover all sorts of things, and the charity and the company will work hand in hand. I'm a trustee, and I'm a trustee of the Cricket Society Trust, which also supports state school cricket. They're just lovely things and ways in which I can put things back into cricket. The game's given me so much, and occasionally get paid a little bit of beer money, so it's win-win, really.

Rash -: Way it is and it's a win for the charities because it's only half a shandy that you have as course isn't it?

Nick -: Yeah that's because I'm an athlete correct.

Rash -: An athlete, before we move on Nick just tell us about the Barmy Army.

Nick -: Well the Barmy Army and the Root Academy come under a banner of the Emprise Group Limited so we share an office in Chez Vegas and um we there's obviously obvious cricket links between the two organizations, but occasionally the Root Academy employees get offered the chance to go and work for the Barmy Army. They need tour managers in particular of the role. So I've been very, very lucky to go to Dharmasala in India, with the tour manager. Unbelievable venue, amazing experience. And I've also done with my wife and I managed 90 people in Melbourne at the Ashes this year overseas in Australia. So I'm very indebted to the people who trusted me with that sort of responsibility. But it was like Billy Bunter in a sweet shop, you know, cricket, socialising. I've been super impressed though with the Barmy Army. They've been, it's a long journey. They're 30 odd years old and they do an awful lot for charity, which I don't think people knew before. And it's now very family orientated and there's very high standards. They're very, very careful about the nature of the banter stroke songs.

Rash -: They are, yeah.

Nick -: It used to get a little bit possibly personal and we're really keen that doesn't happen. And anybody steps out of line, they're not welcome back. We had 30% of the 3,000 people that went out there this winter were women. And that's also been a brilliant step forward. And there were lots of solo women travellers came and we've also had lots of kids come or mums and dads come with their kids. And it's really, that is exactly how, you know, it's a cricket, the cricket family should be. It's a highly organised travel business. So I've been super impressed with the Barmy Army.

Rash -: And any chance that you're going to be out there 2027 for the 150th at Melbourne, I think.

Nick -: I doubt if I'll do that. I wouldn't mind helping out in South Africa, so I've not been there. So I'm trying to be a good boy and impress the boss. And we'll see if I can wangle a tour manager's job in South Africa. But they're very popular.

Rash -: They are. Right, take you back a few years now, about 20 years ago, I think. 13th of May 2006 playing for Sheffield Collegiate and you were opening the batting with a certain 15-year-old obviously became a cricketing Superstar Joe Root, you batted with him a few times Nick didn't you we um we've spoken about it before what were your impressions of him.

Nick -: Asked a lot by people who say or did you you spot that he was going to be the world's best batsman you know when he was little and the answer for me is no. You, you look and think this kid's really good but he's little and he's not very strong and and you think how can I possibly predict what will happen but uh he's his attitude to training and learning you know he's so interested in Cricket was what set him apart um and I I think Kevin Sharp tells a really good story.

Joe got a scholarship when he was about 12 or 13, somebody spotted something in him and said, has he got a coaching scholarship? And he used to get taken by granddad up to Headingley and Kevin Sharp coached him. The first time he went there, Joe watched a bit of Anthony McGrath being, well, Kevin was bombing him with a stick and peppering him all over the place and he was practicing against the short ball. And then Kev said to Joe, just sort of testing him out, said, what would you like to do, Joe? And Joe, straight away, and this is where, you know, he was so good from a young age, I'm not very tall, I need to play the short ball, I'm going to get a lot short, I want you to do that. And Kev thought, oh my God, I can't do that. And he ummed and ahed, apparently he wasn't sure whether he should do it, and then he did it. And he did a session with him. That was his first session.

And he peppered him, he hit him, he hooked some, he missed some, he fended some off his face, came out and they had a reflective chat about it. And I think Kev thought then that, well, he has got something special because he's picking up on things that I didn't expect a 13-year-old to be so aware of. Still thought, oh, he'll be a good county player. That's what I was thinking. The year that I batted with him the most, I think we had 6 partnerships. which I hadn't realised until somebody showed me how to use play cricket properly and you can look up your partnerships. And there's games that I hadn't got a clue. I couldn't remember at all. And it's like, you can't remember you've had 100 partnerships with Joe Root. No, they're there on play cricket.

He went to Australia to the Darren Lehman Academy and he came back from there a lot stronger and he'd also grown. And I think even within that year that I batted with him a lot, I could see him getting stronger and stronger. And it started off the year, I think, with me scoring quickly and then it reversed to me looking rather pathetic whilst he was smashing it all around Yorkshire League grounds. And in the end, people say, did you coach him? No, I didn't coach him. He was getting coaching from all over the place. It's a dangerous thing, meddling with talented people when they're already getting advice. I think I used to ask him more than I help him with. He'd come back from Yorkshire and I'd say, show me what you've been doing. And he was always happy to throw you balls or what have you.

Rash -: Great stuff. Now then, we'll move on because the World Cup comes round again. This time in Toronto, in Canada, in August, a curtailed international season for England. Few chances to impress. You'll be hoping to make that squad, won't you, to get on the plane to go across the pond.

Nick -: Oh, the last World Cup was an amazing experience. And you get to 60 and I'm still as nervous before I bat. I'm still worried if I'm not in form. I still want to try and be better. All the things that you've had all the way through your career are still there. And the World Cup is wonderful. You've got seven or eight matches to sort of get through to the final. And then there's the final. It's wonderful to be part of. The Ashes is extraordinary because If you play your league cricket or the county cricket, you play somebody and you might play them again later in the year. So you face those opponents maybe twice in a year.

Rash -: Yeah.

Nick -: In a five match Ashes series, you play the first game and if somebody's, you know, have got the evil eye on you, work you out, you've got to go back and face them again and then again and then again. And you start to sympathize for David Warner facing Stuart Broad or, you know, the Duckett/Stark you just ,you you think I know you've got to go out and do it again and again and it's not an opportunity you get in normal league cricket no so it's, it's an extraordinary the tension.

I was knackered after the five games as there was a lot of traveling so intense they were close games as you know and you don't get away from it even even at 62, you it's still with you and you're thinking about what's happened and thinking about the next match.

Rash -: Well, England are going to go out there as probably one of the tournament favourites, along with Australia, of course, but we heard in the first episode, Mr. Bradley waxing on about them. Pitches out in Canada could be a good leveller and teams are going to get better and better and better with more exposure to international cricket.

Right Nick, we're coming towards the end so we're going to be asking all our guests the same final five questions and it's not the traditional five of things, like your favourite ground your favourite tea. I think if yours and your favourite tea, we would be here about three hours, so here's your final five.

Number one, which part of your game has actually improved with age, even if no one believes you?

Nick -: My left arm spin bowling has definitely improved. It's a tad slow, but I can't seem to bowl it any quicker. But it's definitely, that's evolved and I really enjoy having a bowl now and again. That's great. I think I'm probably a little bit better balanced when I'm batting. Don't fall over quite as much. You pick up your shot selection, that's generally gets better. You're working out how to score off to bowlers and picking outfielders. You just, you get a bit sharper at that sort of thing. And I can play the reverse sweep sometimes now. So that's something I've never thought I'd be able to do.

Rash -: No, you can't. I saw you do that in India. At 49 you were. What were you doing you pudding.

Nick -: I've been working on it. It's fun to try new things and it's fun to work on your skills and it's still fun training so I'll be I'll be developing it.

Rash -: I shall look forward to commentating on your reverse sweep this this summer if I get the chance.

Nick -: I won't be playing it now. You've totally put me off that you know.

Rash -: Okay number two if your cricketing style were a vintage item what would it be and why

Nick -: A Friday afternoon Vauxhall Viva,  because bits of me keep breaking.

Rash -: I'm glad you said that. I thought we were going to get all sorts in the backseat shenanigans or anything like that. Right. Okey dokey. Number three, if you could give your younger self one cricketing slap, what would it be?

Nick -: Oh, just throwing away good starts and not making the most of situations where I should have batted longer.

Rash -: The reverse sweeping on 49 comes to mind yeah

Nick -: But I, it sounds that sounds wrong now when when you seem to point that out to everybody but uh generally I wasted a lot of opportunities when I was younger to bat for a longer time.

Rash -: Okay number four. Which rule of Cricket would you rewrite purely for the benefit of older players?

Nick -: I wouldn't. I think I'd leave them exactly as they are. The leg side wides I think it's good. You should be able to hold a line although I would quite like the idea of the profile wides so if you're an in swing or an offspin bowler and somebody plants their foot on the off stump and it turns or swings and just misses leg stump that's your fault not the bowlers I think I think that would be an addition.

Rash -: Finally Nick. Complete this sentence being over 60 in cricket means.

Nick -: It's very hard to get out of bed in the morning and you need to take a lot of Ibuprofen sorry am I allowed to use brand names.

Rash -: You can say what you want ,yeah other brands are available of course listeners.

Nick -: The key thing is keeping moving. You've got to keep moving. You've got to get out of bed and that stiffness and feeling like you can't walk anymore you've got to get past it and keep doing it because the rewards are so great for playing and I've just had a wonderful time never thought I'd be playing cricket to this age and with my mates and enemies who you want to beat, you know, it's a fabulous thing.

Rash -: Super stuff. Well, Nick, it's been an absolute pleasure talking to you. Listen, we've got to get together for a pint. I know you're from rough end of Sheffield, but I'll brave it and I might go up your way sometime and pop into Meadowhead and have a half a shandy.

Nick -: Yeah, you're always welcome at the posh end of Sheffield Rash. So it'll be lovely to see you.

Rash -: All right, folks, that's the Yorkshire and England opener Nick Gaywood. It's been a real pleasure to speak to him today.

(01:05:32) Rash -: Well that’s it for this episode. My thanks to our special guest, Nick Gaywood, and to my colleague Harrison Burridge for all he does in promoting England and the England Lions, and thank you to Trevor Lee and Chris Ellis for their questions. 

The episode notes list all the ways you can keep up to date on England over 60’s cricket, with links to our various social media platforms.

The episode notes also contain the Speakpipe link, which you can use free of charge to get in touch with us, to submit a question or get in touch with your observations and suggestions, or you can e-mail the show, a reminder that our e-mail address is willowstowisdompodcast@gmail.com

My thanks to Buzzsprout for hosting us, and for the technical help and assistance of Audacity and Auphonics.

Please like, share, subscribe and review the podcast, and you can find us via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox or via your usual podcast provider.

Next time around, we will review the England & England Lions games against Scotland, and preview the upcoming games for England and the Lions against UK Indians, Wales and the Australian touring side Geelong. We will have some more of your listener questions, and we will have an in depth look at the World Cup squad which is due to be announced, and our special guest will be Lancashire Over 60 batter, Lions player and co-host of BBC Radio Lancashire’s Inside Edge Ian Barton.

I’ve been your host Rash Mahmood and thank you all for listening to Willows to Wisdom, where age isn’t a number, it’s an advantage.

So until next time, it’s goodbye from me, and thank you.