With his long, curly, ginger hair, standing 6' 4" and weighing 13 stone, Ryan Sidebottom is one of the most recognisable figures on the county circuit and now, after a belated second chance at international cricket, is making up for lost time at the top level.

Like his father - Arnie - who was an accomplished footballer and one-time Test player - he made his county debut for Yorkshire as a left-arm seamer in 1997, having previously impressed the scouts of Sheffield United Football Club. For much of his career it appeared Sidebottom jnr would remain a one-cap Test wonder like his father. He'd been handed his debut in 2001 against Pakistan, but after a wicketless performance was banished back to county cricket. Although he bowled tidily throughout, he failed to take a wicket and was generally considered to be out of his depth and he was quickly discarded, and seemingly forgotten after two poor ODIs against Zimbabwe that October.

He left Yorkshire in 2004 and headed to nearby Nottinghamshire, where he impressed in his first two seasons. The first year there he helped them to a double promotion, and the second year he took 50 first-class wickets to become the Player of the Year and help them to the Championship title for the first time in 18 years.

Still, with Duncan Fletcher obsessed by finding raw pace bowlers Sidebottom was continually overlooked despite having one of the best records in the country. However, six years after his debut - under the new Peter Moores regime - he was surprisingly recalled after a spate of injuries to England's attack. He responded with eight wickets against West Indies at Headingley and developed into a key member of the line-up. He helped England to a 3-0 win over West Indies before bowling without luck against India. Equally impressive with the white ball he was Man of the Series as England won the one-day tournament in Sri Lanka, but it was during the New Zealand leg of England's winter that he really shone, decimating the hosts with 24 wickets at 17.08, including 7 for 47 in the final Test in Napier.

Further success followed in the home series against New Zealand, during which he was unveiled as England's Player of the Year, but the pressures of carrying England's attack took their toll, and he struggled for fitness thereafter, culminating in an Achilles injury that limited him to a single wicket in an arduous tour of the Caribbean in February 2009. While injuries dented his opportunities in Test cricket thereafter he became an important member of the one-day side. In the 2010 World Twenty20 in the Caribbean his selection ahead of James Anderson raised a few eyebrows, but he proved the doubters wrong as his fiery and disciplined opening bowling was a crucial part of England's triumph.

His international career, though, ended with his retirement late in 2010 and he would play out time on the domestic scene. And after helping Nottinghamshire to a last-gasp Championship title that summer the final stage of his career will be back at Yorkshire after he returned to his roots.

Cricinfo staff April 2011