Our madam chair’s obvious wish to invite only tall speakers continues unabated, with Mr Rhodes also topping the 6’ mark.
In addition to this excitement, the new Beverley Town sound system also made its first appearance, bolstered by two microphones from us.
[And, as an aside, demoting our treasurer/sound engineer from his post behind the mixing deck. Brian is now confined to financial duties only!].
Will Rhodes last spoke to us as a Yorkshire player back in 2015, alongside Jack Leaning and the County Championship Trophy.
In 2017 Will left Yorkshire for Warwickshire, captained the club from 2020 to 2023, won another County Championship and the Bob Willis Trophy, and has now moved to Durham.
Although he seldom played at Beverley Town, his few memories are fond ones of good wickets and good matches.
Club cricket was his route into a playing career.
He moved seamlessly into the Yorkshire system – one trial and he was in.
Will entered the Yorkshire academy with Jack Leaning and Alex Lees, and played for England Under-19s before captaining the team in the UAE in the 2014 World Cup.
Nearly all the members of that side have gone on to enjoy substantial pro careers – Ben Duckett the star name – and Will learned to do media and off-field duties as part of that experience.
On joining Warwickshire, Will had Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott as senior pros in the dressing room.
But even such quality players can demonstrate strong reactions when one runs the other out!
Will was honest enough to acknowledge that he’s thrown a bat in his time, in contrast to Yorkshire’s Adam Lyth who always drags himself off so despondently.
Will was surprised to be offered the captaincy at Warwickshire.
Come Covid and lockdown in March 2020, however, all plans and team lists went out of the window, and he enjoyed the experience of playing to empty grounds as there was no immediate judgment from the spectators.
He retired as captain in 2023, feeling he’d reached a natural end to that phase of his career.
He’d been at the helm through a pandemic, a Championship win in 2021 and a last-gasp escape in 2022 (when an astonishing win over Hampshire sent Yorkshire into the Second Division).
Following his move to the Riverside, Will has found that Warwickshire and Durham are very different clubs.
The Edgbaston ground is used for much more than cricket, so the club has quite a commercial ethos, while Durham is predominantly a family club.
Commenting on England’s Ashes performance (I so want to use the word ‘debacle’), Will was at Perth for Day 1, excited to watch as a fan rather than a player.
He thinks the ‘stardust’ of players like Ben Stokes does rub off onto others in the dressing room.
Will believes he lacks the skills needed for The Hundred, but he enjoys the 50-over game and loves the outgrounds often used for this format.
Like his friend Olly Hannon-Dalby, he was also part of an MCC side that toured Nepal in 2019 – the first time the Nepalis had played a red-ball game.
Will is a great interviewee, and Maggie thanked him on our behalf for another super evening.
The raffle raised £178 so as always much gratitude to all who contributed so generously.
We also learned that our next speaker will be Arnie Sidebottom on Monday 9 February, bringing an appreciative ‘oohh’ from those present.
Arnie stands at 6’ 1”; and I believe he has a 6’ 5” son who has played a little cricket ... Just saying, madam chair!