Ryan’s swansong

IT IS a measure of how good Ryan Sidebottom still looks as he sets out on one last year of county cricket with Yorkshire that the cliche of him as “the oldest swinger in town” looks more tired these days than he does. Back when it was first coined, in 2010 following retirement from international cricket, it seemed appropriate for a 32-year-old heading back to Yorkshire because Nottinghamshire would not offer him anything more than a two-year deal. Yet six years on, with the wickets and the locks still tumbling, it is Sidebottom who has had the last laugh a month after his 39th birthday. Incredibly, for a player who plies his trade as a quick bowler, in this his final year he will set out on a third decade at the top

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with his average better than it was six years ago.

And while he feels better than he did in his 20s he is determined not to cling on for the sake of it.

Sidebottom admits the last few years have necessitated understanding both from his county with a reduced workload, and of his ageing body.

“Stretching, ice baths, massage and yoga are an increasingly important part of my game now, which is a bit of a change from when I started out,” he said. “Bowling is not easy on the body and I do feel it.

“But I look after myself better now than I did when I was in my 20s. I’m fitter and stronger than I’ve ever been.”

Sidebottom’s decision to call it a day at the end of this season is not unexpected.

“I would love to continue playing for another five years but there are other things I want to do,” he said.

“When it’s all over I want to stay at Yorkshire and pass on my knowledge coach.”

The wish to go out with his numbers still stacking up is entirely in keeping with a career which started at Headingley in 1997.

Despite playing just nine matches last season he took 31 wickets at 21.19 apiece as Yorkshire went agonisingly close to the hat-trick following their titles in 2014 and 2015, denied on the final evening after a thriller at Lord’s.

Since that day it has been all change in Leeds with Gary Ballance taking over the captaincy from Andrew Gale and the latter succeeding Jason Gillespie as coach. It is a young partnership which Sidebottom hopes he can help both on and off the field.

“Given all the coaches around the world who would have wanted this job, it was a pleasant surprise,” he said of Gale’s appointment.

“He is young and inexperienced but he has a lot of senior pros as a bowling around him and he is Yorkshire through and through. He wants the club to do well more than anything.”

A transitional then?

“We didn’t play that well last year but we showed the other side of our character to take it to the last day, getting into a position we had no right to be in. That bodes well,” he said.

Sidebottom aims to play around half-adozen matches this season – he managed 12, 10 and nine in the previous three campaigns but looks sure to prove a crucial piece of Yokshire’s title challenge.

Another pennant would be the perfect finale, capped only by an invite to appear on Strictly Come Dancing.

“There hasn’t been a cricketer on it for a while,” he said. “Darren Gough won it. Michael Vaughan was on but he had two right feet. I’d be great.”

No better way for swinger to check out. year beckons an old