The first time I saw Joe

posted by John Winn

Last Friday the June edition of The Cricketer magazine came through my letter box and my attention was arrested by the cover photograph which is of a slightly stubbled Joe Root and alongside the serious looking portrait the headline The Rise and Rise of Joe Root. Inside the magazine there are five pages dedicated to the young Yorkshire and England star and the rise has continued this week with the award to Joe of the accolade of England's cricketer of the year and his appointment as England's vice captain for the test series which begins at Lord's tomorrow. Some week, some year and some player and there are many amongst the blog's followers who have followed his career since its very beginnings, perhaps with Sheffield Collegiate or with the Yorkshire academy or second XI who will take special pride in Joe's achievements.

Joe's high profile over the last week set me thinking as to when I first saw him in action and tucked away in a now rather shabby looking blue notebook I found an entry for 'YII V Derbyshire II @ Barnsley, I x @ Barnsley' which translates as Yorkshire seconds against Derbyshire seconds and my first trip to Shaw Lane, a match won by Yorkshire by an innings and 8 runs and written at a later date  are the words 1 x JE Root. The date for this game was September 10th 2008, when the elder of the Root brothers was seventeen.

Cricket Archive gives the full scorecard for the match of which I saw the first of three days. Derbyshire won the toss and elected to field and after a bad start Yorkshire recovered to 334 all out with Root making 30. Derbyshire were bowled out twice for 143 and 183. The Yorkshire side included three other players who have gone on to play for England and were captained by Craig White who neither batted nor bowled. For those who like to test their memories here are a few quiz questions

1 Who were the 'three other' Yorkshire players who later won test caps?

2 Which then Yorkshire player is now playing for Derbyshire?

3 Who kept wicket for Yorkshire ?

4 Who kept wicket for Derbyshire and did so in their opening T20 match at Headingley  last week?

Answers on Friday.

The above photograph has got nothing to do with Joe Root or Barnsley but I posted it because I like it. It is of Tholthorpe CC in 1924 when they won a cup, probably for the championship of The Forest of Galtres League.*  Tholthorpe is a small village between Alne and Helperby; cricket in the area is maintained in these two villages who while they play in  the Nidderdale league are geographically very much in The Vale of York.
* see my post in January 2014