MATTHEW WOOD

An ever popular player, you sent loads of questions and good wishes in for Matthew. I started by asking him for his reflections on the 2006 season.

 

We got into some difficulties early on and put ourselves under pressure in the first half of the season. The team managed to remain in the top flight which at halfway was priority. We were disappointed we didn’t get further in a cup run, because we always fancy ourselves, especially in the 50-over game. It’s disappointed to be in a situation where we had to scramble for safety, but it was a good effort to win the last two matches. Boofer left in style and got the send off he deserved. I don’t think anyone would have said with two games to go that Notts would have got relegated. From our point of view we managed to survive and kept it interesting, but we would have much rather it had been interesting for us at the top of the league.

 

I struggled early season and made a few mistakes. It’s not an easy time of the year. You can get away to a flyer but I was up against it after a handful of games and the pressure was building. I lost a bit of confidence and lost my place, but the second half of the season I felt much better. I played some good innings for the 2^nd team, but with the first team’s results changing ‘round there was no way back really. The other lads in the 1^st team were doing the business. That’s the game – when you give up your shirt it’s the lad that’s in possession and they did quite well so it’s fair play to them. The team was winning and it was a bit tough for me to be on the sidelines. I’m not too hard on myself. I’m honest enough to own up to the first half of the season where the performances weren’t there and you pay the price in sport.

 

You always seem quite a bubbly guy but being dropped must have affected you. Has that experience made you more determined this year?

 

It was disappointing. When you’re a senior player you start the season with high hopes and setting good targets the other way and to find yourself in the 2^nd team as early as I did is disappointing as a professional because you’re missing out on the big games and the big match feeling. You’re back to where you were when you were in your teens and the buzz isn’t quite there and it’s a different kind of approach. You’ve got to make sure you are as disciplined as you can be, but it’s not the same. I’ve been on both sides of the coin where I’ve knocked a 1st teamer out when I was a youngster and the shoe was on the other foot this year. I only played a few top flight games last year. All that work that you put in pre-season – it’s sickening. This is the longest I’ve not been in the 1^st team so I am desperately determined to get back. My pre-season will be geared towards making it has hard as I can for the other players to beat me into that starting XI.

 

You’ve had quite an up and down career statistically, with some big seasons and some lean ones. From your point of view every time you’ve had a bad season you’ve followed it up with a thousand runs a year later so that bodes well.

 

(laughs) There’s no middle ground. The same work goes in pre-season every year. Like you say I have followed disappointment up with a thousand run summers so that gives me confidence that I know it’s in me and I’m capable of turning bad form ‘round. It frustrates me and I’m sure it’s frustrating for the coaches. When you’re opening the batting you can get on some runs of good form and you can have runs of bad form. If the bad times come at the start of the season you can get left out before I can turn it ‘round, whereas when I start well I tend to go the other way. The interesting thing is in 2003 I actually started quite poorly. I had the vice-captaincy at the time, McGrath went to play for England and if I hadn’t been vice-captain that season I may have been left out that summer. Yet I turned that season ‘round into well over a thousand runs and put in some big performances. I’ve got the belief that a big scores around the corner. Last year with not getting a second bit of the cherry there was no way back.

 

The ups and downs are frustrating and it’s the reason why my career hasn’t flourished into maximum potential. It’s something that’s keeping me in check a bit – it’s making me work that bit harder now. When you’re having poor form and the teams losing there’s calls for change, you can feel it in the press a bit and something’s got to give. The coaches have to make a decision. Its part and parcel of it and something you have to take on the chin.

 

Do you ever think it would have been easier to have been born a bowler – with batting you’re always one ball away from disaster, whereas bowlers get away with murder?

 

(laughs) We have this debate a lot in the dressing room – is it a bowlers or batters game? Bowlers say that when they’re getting spanked around the park they have to stay out there and cop it and I suppose when a batsman makes a howler he walks off and sits behind the glass for a few hours. The position I’m in at the minute is opening the batting and slip fielder so any mistake or lapse you’re going to get found out. It leaves you feeling either really good or really miserable at the end of the day. I think the bowlers do a good job, but there’s certainly no second chance with the bat.

 

With the changes in the squad you will be one of the most experienced members of the squad this summer – is that something that excites you?

 

Yes it does. It’s a bit of a blow that we’ve lost so many capped players but at the end of the day the lads that are still there – myself, Chalky, Brezzy, the overseas guys have got to help the youngsters now. It will be a different role and it’s something I’m looking forward to and sharing as much information and experience that I’ve got over the years with everybody else. It’s probably the change of an era and it’s maybe a different approach and we’ve got to help the youngsters even more now.

 

It’s likely that a few more youngsters will get a chance this summer. You played for the 2^nd XI last year – who are the names we should be looking out for?

 

It’s tough to name names in your own squad, but I did play a lot of cricket with the youngsters and they are good players. The 2^nd teams results were very good and their performances were good. Members won’t have seen much of Adam Lyth. They will have seen the led-spinners who we hope will progress. Richie Pyrah and Galey will play a role. It is a good time to be a young player at the club because they know at some stage of the year due to injuries or form they are going to be in the team so if I were a youngster right now I’d be really excited as there are opportunities on the horizon and I’m sure they’ll grasp them.

 

What have you been doing over the winter? Do you think cricket when you are away from the game?

 

Not between October and December this year, purely because the season fizzled out for me so the cricket bags went away for a few weeks and I’ve actually set up a building company with a friend. That’s really taken my mind off cricket (chuckles) there is more to life than cricket. I’m aware that there will be a need for a job after cricket so at this age now (29) it’s a good time to broaden my skills. Rather than go to Australia again as I’ve done before I’ve got stuck into the building work.

 

Now the years turned and we’re in to pre-season mode its tools down and pick the bat up again. It is cricket time now. I’ve enjoyed the last three months but the appetite’s there and I’m keen to have a big one. We’ve got a good stretch now of 16 weeks so there’s plenty of time to nail some aspects of my game I want to improve. I went on the bowling machine last week, threw a few phantom spinners down as well, and now I’ve got some sessions with Kevin Sharp before March when we will all come in as a group. Now the major work is on fitness, getting in the best shape I can, start hitting the ball nicely until we can improve our skills as a group.

 

I’ve done alright fitness-wise this time because the building work’s kept me strong and active. I’ve not been sat about, I’ve been up and down ladders and now it’s a case of blowing a few cob-webs off and getting some miles in my legs. Pre-season’s a time when the hard yards are done, you have to do some work behind closed doors and put yourself where you’re in a good position at the start of the season. People don’t see the work you put in which is why last season was frustrating.

 

Is there any aspect of batting you will be working on?

 

I had a problem last year – a lot of dismissals caught behind, so that’s one thing we’ve addressed. It’s just position at the crease and moving forward better. I’m working with Kevin Sharp on that, but people like Michael Vaughan when he’s back is always a good ear to bend. I used to ask Darren Lehmann lots, as although he had his own way of batting the principles were sound. So I’m looking at my weaknesses, but also my strengths to make them stronger.

 

Do you still follow Wakefield FC?

 

I don’t. It used to be Emley. I’m an Emley lad and unfortunately they moved to Wakefield. My Mum and Dad’s house overlooked the Emley ground. For years my Dad played and managed there so I was Emley through and through. When they moved to Wakefield they took it away from the village. There’s a team now at Emley called AFC Emley which has started again and I look out for their scores. Emley and Wakefield have moved on and are not really the village team that I followed.

 

In The Cricketer’s Who’s Who it says your favourite band is Atomic Kitten. Is that a joke?

 

(laughs) I once went to watch them in concert actually and they were brilliant. I did like them. I’ve got to say I liked the music and I used to enjoy watching the videos. I’m just glad I went to see them before they split up.

 

Would you want to be Yorkshire captain, if not this year at some stage?

 

I would love to. A few years ago I was vice-captain under Anthony McGrath. Anthony’s career rocketed that year and he went off to play for England and I got exposed to do the job maybe a year or so earlier than I think the Board or I anticipated. My record with the bat was very good as captain and I learnt a lot from the experience. As a young lad coming through the ranks I always had ambitions to be captain and getting to do it too early may have cost me over the next few years. That experience would stand me in good stead. I enjoyed the experience and would love to do it again at some stage.

 

Do you see opening as your position or would you play anywhere?

 

I’ve said that when in form I’m a good enough player in all forms of the game to bat anywhere in the top six. I started my career at Yorkshire at 4 purely because that was the available position and I had a big summer at 3 and 4. I’d be quite happy, if it got me in the side, to slot in anywhere really. When you are a kid, if you’re one of the better players in the team you get higher in the order so you have more overs to bat and that’s followed me through the age groups. It’s all about mindset for openers, when you’ve done 90 overs in the field and you get a tricky half an hour at night, which you don’t get in the middle order. When we get the new coach I’m hoping he’ll be quite flexible and if the team thinks it’s best for me to play in the middle order then that’s fine.

 

Who’s your favourite opening partner?

 

Me and Chalks had some great times as openers especially when he came back from England we had some really big stands, some 300 plus. I’ve also had some good times with left-handers, Phil Jacques and especially Stephen Fleming in his short spell. Joe Sayers is also that right/left combination, so I don’t mind. What probably didn’t help us last year was that we changed the combination quite a lot in the first months. It’s a position where your Hayden/Langer, or your Vaughan/Trescothick develops over time and the longer you get as a pair the more you get to know each other. You need to sense if your mate’s just nodding off and they’ve got to sense it with you. It’s a case of staying sharp and focussed on short-term goals which is really only what you can concentrate on.

 

You’ve always had a reputation for being intensely proud of playing for Yorkshire - right at the start of your career you reportedly gave a rousing pep talk to the team, reminding them of the pride of the County's supporters and the need for the team to repay that support. Why do you think that so many of your former colleagues have lost that pride over the years, and gone to play somewhere else?

 

The thing with Yorkshire is you take it off the field. Because the majority are from Yorkshire when you lose a game you are a fan, supporter and a player and you feel responsible. Whatever circles you socialise in people are constantly asking you about the club and that’s why actually being able to do something about the results and affect the game drives us on. It’s a special time and something that won’t last forever. Sometimes people leave and sometimes players are terminated and asked to find somewhere else. The pride thing really stands out when we’re winning. When we won the title there was no prouder dressing room than we had. The trip to Lord’s and walking around with great support as we’ve got a tremendous fan base – that’s what drives on. When we fail as a group it’s that bit harder to take as players. You are accountable and you live in the area and cop it from all angles. The pride is there, it is a big club, and you sense that when you drive through the gates – it’s got that feel to it – it’s your time sort of thing.

 

Then there’s the professionalism side, whatever the sport, where the players have their careers to think about and sometimes players have moved on for family reasons, to represent England or to play on surfaces that suit them more, etc. Richard Dawson’s just gone to Northants (although it wasn’t his choice to leave) and that’s a great move for Daws and we all wish him well. The lads who pull on the jersey, even the lads not from here get a feel for what it means, but sometimes your career has to come first and it’s never a decision made lightly. You can only play eleven at a time – people like James Middlebrook and Alex Wharf have gone and although they would have loved to play for Yorkshire they’ve done very well for themselves. It’s tough to keep everyone happy if they’re not playing.

 

How is the morale at the club after what’s happened in the closed season?

 

We were all rooting for Adams when he was announced and we had a good meeting and we were hoping that would go well. There wasn’t much damage done as he was only there a day, it wasn’t like we got led down a path. It’s been a good thing that the players have been away actually, some abroad and those in Yorkshire getting on with whatever they’ve been doing, because we haven’t been affected. When we get back in March we’ll pull together as a side and get on with the cricket.

 

Finally, is there a dressing room secret or funny incident you can share?

 

(laughs) loads but I don’t want to be the one to say what they are. The dressing room is a special place and what goes on in there stays in there.

 

Thanks to Matthew for his time - any comments on this article - enter them in the message board below... 

Next weeks interview will be with CRAIG WHITE. If you would like to suggest any questions to ask Craig please feel free to submit them HERE.

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