End Of An Era At The Riverside

Posted by Luke on March 1, 2007 2:10 PM | Permalink

So you can take the Yorkshireman out of Yorkshire but it seems you will never be able to take the Yorkshire out of the Yorkshireman.

After six years, two promotions, two relegations and nurturing the emergence of three international cricketers, Martyn Moxon has finally been lured back home to Headingley to head a new-look regime as Director of Cricket.

Quite why the former England batsman has decided the time is right to return home is unclear – because he has resisted their overtures several times in the past – but what is crystal is he will be sorely missed at Chester-le-Street.

His record of two promotions, two relegations and no trophies does not do the man justice. Under Moxon’s careful guidance, Durham have become the blueprint for every ambitious county in the country.

It has not been a smooth ride for their coach, who had to endure the ignominy of seeing a young and horrendously inexperienced team routinely humiliated on the pitch as the club began it’s new policy of filling the side with homegrown talent.

His Yorkshire pride was battered by the wooden spoons which accompanied the ridicule, but he always retained his dignity, as well as his motivation, to ensure the club’s ambitious project bore fruit.

The fruit first appeared on the trees when Shotley Bridge’s Paul Collingwood became the first Durham player in almost a decade to play for England when he was selected for the one-day side and he was quickly followed by Ashington’s Steve Harmison, who within two years of his Test debut was ranked the number one bowler in the world.

Ask both men who the biggest influences on their career have been and Moxon will be one of them – a calm, almost fatherly figure in both their lives.

The same is true of Liam Plunkett, the latest Durham youngster to leap on to the international stage and every one of Durham’s local lads will have something to thank Moxon for as the county became the envy of the nation.

But the fruit really ripened with the arrival of Mike Hussey, Australia’s Mr Cricket and future captain, who was lured to the North-East by the challenge offered by Moxon.

With Hussey and his successor as captain, the South African Dale Benkenstein – another major talent attracted by Moxon’s plans – at the helm, Durham’s youngsters thrived as they were blended with experience, winning double promotion in 2005.

Moxon had already formed his plans for next season when the call from Yorkshire came, with last season’s problems at the top of the batting order apparently solved with the signings of Australian Michael Di Venuto and former Nottinghamshire opener Will Smith.

But the lure of home never went away and finally became too loud to ignore for the boy from Barnsley. Durham’s loss is undoubtedly Yorkshire’s gain, but Moxon’s legacy will remain for years to come.