Marcus North column – Nice work Dizzy… A top coach but also a top man

Yorkshire are on the hunt for a new coach with Jason Gillespie returning to his homeland, having gained massive popularity in this country, and enhanced all his credentials as a cricket tactician.

Five years ago Jason came over to England, relatively inexperienced in terms of coaching and leading a side. To come to a big county in Yorkshire, it could have been seen as a little bit of a risk.

You take on someone like Dizzy, who had a very impressive playing career, and you know it might not work out. But he’s proven to be a brilliant asset, not just to Yorkshire but to cricket in England – a perfect fit for the game over here.

He had some experience coaching first-class cricket in Zimbabwe, but nothing to really shout about. This was his first big job and he has surpassed all expectations that many would have had when he took the role back in 2011.

He’s very ambitious as a person, but we have seen how much he has developed as a coach, leading Yorkshire from Division Two to back-to-back championships. And they so nearly made it three in a row.

Jason has done it on arguably the biggest stage in county cricket with the success and history Yorkshire have had over the years, so the pressure has been on him. Yes, he has had a great bunch of players to work with, but he has to take a lot of credit for how they have progressed under him.

Anyone who knows Jason, or who has got to know him over the five seasons he has been at Headingley, will know he’s a real genuine character. He naturally has a great rapport with people, and that’s exactly what any good coach needs.

I played against him a couple of times – with some not very good memories! We had the odd beer after matches, as you do, but I really got to know Jason after his playing career had ended. We have worked together at Sky, and even then he comes across as a real balanced character. He’s very knowledgeable about the game, and that comes across so well when he has been a pundit.

Sky Sports broadcast ‘Cricketing Yorkshire’ which was a behind-the-scenes look at life at the club. It was a great programme to see how teams operate from players to the way the coaches communicate. It showed that Jason, (director of cricket) Martyn Moxon and captain Andrew Gale formed such a formidable trio.

But it’s not just that; Jason makes his players available for these types of media events and, despite the size and popularity of the county, Yorkshire have proved to be one of the most friendly and hospitable teams to go and watch. That stems from the very top, and the work Gillespie has done there should not be overlooked.

When Jason was a young cricketer for Australia he wasn’t overly comfortable with the media. That’s not uncommon with young players who can be a bit shy and not used to that exposure. To be more open with the media is a great thing, and it draws the fans in, too. Supporters want to know everything they can about their team.

On the field, he will always give players responsibility and ownership for their own game. They have the freedom to fulfil their ability and I don’t think Jason is a coach that has that style of being over-controlling, and that’s benefitted all the Yorkshire players.

Whether they are a youngster coming through the ranks or an old senior pro, the freedom they have in their game has shone through. Players aren’t afraid to try something new when Jason is their coach because they know he will back them 100 per cent.

One of the key reasons that players who are drafted in to the Yorkshire side (and they have a lot of players come and go with England duty) seem to do well is down to the attitude that Jason Gillespie has brought into the squad.

He’s the same when coaching the Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash and I have no doubt that he’d like to be in charge of Australia at some point in the future. He’s returning Down Under, which is where his family live, and that job will be on his radar.

We have to remember though that, as much as it might not seem like it, Jason is still very young in his coaching career. He’s only 41 and though he has achieved a lot, I’m sure even he would admit that he still has a lot to learn. We saw when the England job became available – which I know he was pretty close to getting before Trevor Bayliss pipped him – that Jason wants to challenge himself. I’m sure he would have done a very good job with England, and there’s no doubt that he would be a leading contender should that job come up in Australia.

Missing out on the England job wouldn’t have affected him too much. At his age he knows there will be plenty of opportunities still to come. You have to remember that Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq is still playing Test cricket and he’s a year older than Dizzy, so there’s plenty of time to get these international positions.

Experience is vital when it comes to choosing international coaches so I’m sure Jason will be keen to keep his eye in when he returns to Australia. He’ll probably have a few weeks just back with his family, then all of his focus will be on the Big Bash.

It wouldn’t have been an easy decision to leave England. His youngest child was born in Yorkshire and I know he has really enjoyed his time living in this country – an adopted Englishman. Every time I spoke to him he openly told me how much he was loving life in Yorkshire, but there will always be that tie to go back.

It’s rare to get a coach that spends a long time in one place. There is a bit of a shelf life, and maybe Jason thought it was time to challenge himself somewhere else. He’s going back to the same job in T20 that he had last year, but he’s not leaving the White Rose to fulfil a role with one of the states.

It will be interesting to see what his next move is, and I’m sure I won’t be the only one keeping a close eye on proceedings. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Jason back in this country at some stage in the future.

Either way, there is bound to be a few people knocking on his door and ringing his phone once the Big Bash is done and dusted. He won’t be having to flick through the papers to search for jobs. He will be inundated with offers, I’m sure.

This piece originally featured in The Cricket Paper, September 30 2016

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