By Neil Fissler
Yorkshire had endured a long 14-year wait for trophies between winning the Benson & Hedges Cup in 1987 and the County Championship in 2001.
But then, like London buses, a second trophy came along the following year when they won the C&G Trophy against Somerset at Lord’s.
Little did they know at the time that it would be another 12 summers before they won the first of back-to-back County Championships.
Yorkshire hadn’t tasted victory in the premier one-day competition since 1969 and opener Matt Wood remembers it taking his mind off a poor Championship season.
He said: “I had a nightmare in the Championship team but played really well in the one-day competitions. In the Championship I didn’t score many runs.
“I had just come back from a winter in Australia with England academy under Rod Marsh and I never really got going but in the white-ball stuff I had a really good summer.”
Yorkshire reached the last four after seeing off Devon (116) by 143 runs at Exmouth, then Northants (254) by 49 runs and Essex (283-9) by losing fewer wickets.
“I scored 91 in the second game of the C&G Trophy against Northants down at Northampton in a big-scoring game that I remember well,” said Wood.
“Chris Silverwood came in as a pinch-hitter and scored about 60, he then knocked over their top order including Mike Hussey to win the man of the match award.”
Then after being drawn at home to Surrey in the semi-finals, Wood says that they started to prepare for a bowl-off as the rain came down for three days.
On the fourth day, Surrey made 173-8 before Wood (59) and Craig White (100) saw them home by ten wickets.
Wood added: “We were sat there waiting for a bowl-off, it was unbelievable. It was frustrating because there was going to be a massive crowd and as the days went past the crowd got less and less.
“The forecast was so bad, there was chat of a bowl-off and lads had taken themselves off to the indoor school to practise bowling at the stumps.
“Surrey were a really good team, fully loaded with stars and we rolled them over from nowhere. The wicket had been under cover for four days and we caught everything.
“It was a really long week and we didn’t think we were going to get on because it was so wet. Then when we batted Surrey bowled too short and took the pitch out of the game.
“Craig White got a hundred and played out of his skin and we won at a canter in the end. I scored 50 odd.”
Then in the final against Somerset at Lord’s, Matthew Elliott, playing in his only game in the competition that season, almost won the game single-handedly.
Somerset made 256-8 thanks to Matthew Hoggard’s 5-65 before Elliott crashed 128 runs off 125 balls as Yorkshire made 260-4 to win by six wickets.
“It was a topsy-turvy final, I remember Michael Vaughan catching Marcus Trescothick one-handed at wide extra cover, it was a blinder and it got us going.
“They were heading for a big score but we pegged them back. When we batted Matt Elliott played a remarkable innings, from ball one. He took Andy Caddick apart.
“And that set the tone for the rest of the run chase. Then Anthony McGrath came in at the end and saw us home,” said Wood.
BACK ROW (left-right):
Matt Wood: A batsman who became territory manager for R & R Ice Cream but is now personal development manager for the Professional Cricketers Association (PCA).
Richard Dawson: An England off-spinner coached Yorkshire 2nds but is now head coach at Gloucestershire where he also had a spell as a spin coach.
Matthew Hoggard: The England seamer works in business development for Foreign Exchange wholesale brokerage and runs his own coaching academy.
Ryan Sidebottom: The former England bowler, whose father, Arnie, also played for his country, is in his second spell with Yorkshire.
Michael Lumb: The England batsman, son of Yorkshire opener Richard, has been playing for Notts since 2012.
Gary Fellows: A batsman has been business development manager for parts distributors Andrew Page, in Huddersfield, since leaving Yorkshire 12 years ago.
FRONT ROW:
Chris Silverwood: The England pace bowler has been head coach for Mashonaland Eagles and in December 2015 was appointed as head coach of Essex.
Michael Vaughan: The former England batsman who captained the 2005 Ashes winning side has mentored the England U19’s as well as forging a career for BBC radio’s Test Match Special.
Richard Blakey: England wicketkeeper/batsman is now running his own sporting and corporate events company from his base in Brighouse, Yorkshire.
Darren Lehmann: The former Australia Test batsman is now his country’s head coach after a spell working in the IPL. His son Jake recently signed for Yorkshire until the end of the season.
Craig White: An England all-rounder is the brother-in-law of Darren Lehmann and since 2012 has been on the staff at Hampshire, where he is assistant coach.
Anthony McGrath: The former England all-rounder who has worked in the media was appointed assistant head coach of Essex in February 2016.
NOT PICTURED:
Tim Bresnan: The England all-rounder is still a member of Yorkshire’s first-team squad and was a T20 World Cup winner in 2010.
Simon Katich: The former Australian batsman is now working as a full-time media pundit for ABC Radio in Australia.
Darren Gough: The former England fast bowler is now a brand ambassador and also presents drive-time on talkSPORT radio.
Matt Elliott: The Australian Test opener is now living in Melbourne, Australia, and has been a civic estimator for construction company BMD for the last two years.
Vic Craven: A batsman is now running his own heating and plumbing business in Harrogate, Yorkshire.
This piece originally featured in The Cricket Paper, Friday August 12 2016
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