I had 15 seasons after car crash had threatened to end my career

Despite breaking my leg at 21 and being out of the game for 18 months, there was never any doubt I would be back playing professional cricket.

I was in South Africa and had a car accident where my leg snapped and the dashboard was on my lap. People took one look at me and thought that was it, but I always had the faith, and I was very lucky to play for 15 years for Leicestershire. My determination certainly helped.

Cricket started with my local club, Warmsworth. There was an old boy who told me to run home and get my kit, the team were one short so I cycled home as fast as I could and that was my match preparation, batting at 11, in a moment of disbelief. I was just 12 at the time and made a glorious two not out!

From there I developed through Yorkshire age groups and made lifelong friends with Martyn Moxon, Neil Mallender and Steve O’Shaughnessy – guys all still in the game.

I was fortunate to play and captain England U19s before playing for Leicestershire, and I had, and still have, such a passion that I almost remember it all.

My first century came against Warwickshire in 1984, at Grace Road, and that started what was a really good season for me, scoring four first-class hundreds in the summer before breaking my leg.

But from there that enjoyment never wavered, I relished the challenge of trying to be the best I could be and got a fantastic playing career out of it.

Arguably, just as much happiness came after hanging up my boots, and even now I’m still heavily involved as a Cricket Liaison Officer for this season which should be fantastic.

Before that, I sat down with Micky Stewart – former England player and administrator – and after the most nerve-wracking interview of all time, was given the U19 coaching job with the national side in the late Nineties.

From there Duncan Fletcher gave me the opportunity to go to Zimbabwe on a development tour in 2001 – five years later; I was still there, going from one tour to another!

The pinnacle of that was as video analyst in the 2005 Ashes, being part of something special but being detached at the same time, watching everyone enjoy it and learning a huge amount.

That gave me the inclination to do it myself and I became head coach at Leicestershire, a really enjoyable journey with lots of learning and transforming the development.

We had seven lads out of 22 that were English so it was important to develop the youngsters, one of those being James Taylor, and we saw just how much he developed before his sad retirement.

But the proudest moment of that was Josh Cobb, 18 at the time, scoring a magnificent century at Lord’s. It’s fantastic to see those who you develop, either with county or England youth, making it and I’m delighted to reflect on that. It’s not about where you are now, it’s about where you can get to, and that’s what I’ve always done to help people.