Cottam In Line To Break Tradition In Yorkshire (03 Jan 1996)

Electronic Telegraph Wednesday 3 January 1996

Cottam in line to break tradition in Yorkshire

By Charles Randall

THE applications list for the job of Yorkshire`s first manager closed yesterday, but no appointment is expected until March, when the start of the new season is looming.

Bob Cottam, Somerset`s director of cricket, already seems the most likely choice if Yorkshire decide on someone without any connection with the White Rose.

Among the leading Yorkshiremen under consideration are two former England batsmen: Brian Close, a county committee man, and John Hampshire, who has guided Zimbabwe through their early years in Test cricket with sensitivity and typical good sense.

Yorkshire`s appointment committee will not be meeting until the return of Sir Lawrence Byford, the chairman, from South Africa in a couple of weeks.

Cottam`s credentials for this important post are intriguing, as Yorkshire have defined the role as requiring leadership and commitment to match technical qualifications.

Steve Oldham, last season`s director of cricket, has been given a subsidiary coaching role.

Cottam, 51, a former Hampshire and England fast-bowler, has not flinched from awkward decisions during his time coaching at Warwickshire and Somerset, and Somerset have maintained a respectable championship placing, with relatively thin resources, under his managership.

Yorkshire were tempted into breaking further new ground when considering a successor to Martyn Moxon as captain at the end of last summer. Michael Bevan, their Australian batsman, was considered as a candidate before David Byas was finally given the job.

Only five years ago Yorkshire would not have even contemplated employing an overseas player, let alone appointing one as captain. Giving the manager`s role to a non-Yorkshireman would be taken as further acknowledgement that birthright has little relevance if trophies are to be won in professional cricket.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http: www.telegraph.co.uk)