WHAT A YEAR THAT WAS - 2006 A REVIEW Part 5

Chris Adams
By JMB
December 21 2006

There have been rumours and conjecture about dressing room disharmony and a lack of faith in the management for months. In March 2006 Stewart Regan became Yorkshire chief executive and made it his mission to push Yorkshire cricket forward without the traditional infighting.

David Byas, fairly or unfairly, seems to have taken the hit for Yorkshire's disharmonious reputation. Players have left the county in their droves, searching for greener cricket squares elsewhere. When Lumb and then McGrath spoke of moving on the Yorkshire public winced once more. What is it within the club that causes Yorkshire men to want to play elsewhere? David Byas seemed to be the answer.

This site has always been a huge Byas fan. When David lifted the County Championship Trophy in 2001 he was God. He had a brief flirtation with the dark side of the Pennines before striding back in to town as Yorkshire coach.

Whether he is too tough or too blinkered in his vision, it seems players have not responded well to his methods. Anthony McGrath appears to be more willing to eat his own feet than play at a club that still has David Byas' name on the payroll.

The flipside could be that Byas is too strong a character and cares too much. The well paid and mercenary players of today don't eat and sleep cricket as much as he does. Whatever the reason for the discontent he was moved sideways when the 2006 season ended. Craig White's resignation as captain left the club with no man at the helm. Enter Chris Adams, and what a colossus of Yorkshire cricket he turned out to be!

When Adams was first linked with Yorkshire there were few dissenting voices. He was a player of talent, his captaincy had taken Sussex from the equivalent of the football Conference to the Premiership and he seemed a thoroughly decent bloke to boot. He sat at his unveiling - a man proud to be with Yorkshire, excited by the challenge and sporting his white rose emblazoned shirt with pride. He was to be the captain and the coach. He even said that if Yorkshire had come in for him when he left Derbyshire earlier in his career he wouldn't have contemplated a move to Sussex.

Just over a week later he was saying exactly the opposite. The job was too big. He wanted to end his days with Sussex. Someone somewhere had slipped something into his tea that made him reconsider his options. Only time will tell whether that finger of fate belonged to a Sussex committee member promising a few extra quid.

The club had spent months luring Adams in. Everyone was primed and ready to take his lead. The money and effort amounted to nought and the club found itself leaderless and floundering. Most players of any worth had taken those months to sign new deals with new or existing clubs. Yorkshire had missed the boat big time and to make matters worse both Michael Lumb (to Hampshire) and Anthony McGrath (to anywhere that either paid him more or helped him become a great test cricketer) wanted to leave.

The club secured the services of Pakistan great Younus Khan for 2007, but even the most optimistic of fans could see that the net effect of all this shenanigans was negative. The Yorkshire faithful became restless. When things go wrong it is always nice to have someone to blame. Everyone had been stabbed in the back. The only man to blame was sleeping soundly on the south coast, most likely with a healthier bank account.

The Yorkshire winter had turned into something more tumultuous that any season. Where can the club go from here?

Part 6: Looking Forward (To follow soon)