END OF AN ERA FOR BRESNAN
Yorkshire all-rounder departs county after nearly two decades of service
FOR ALMOST two decades he has given Yorkshire cricket yeoman service.
Now Tim Bresnan – double Ashes winner, T20 World Cup winner and double County Championship winner to boot – has decided to seek pastures new.
The 35-year-old is leaving the club with immediate effect in the hope of finding another county.
Bresnan’s deal expired at the end of this season and, with the club uncertain of their playing budget going forward due to coronavirus, and unable to provide clarity to those soon-to-be out-ofcontract, he has called time on his career at Emerald Headingley in an amicable parting of the ways.
“I would like to thank Yorkshire for giving me 19 fantastic years and the opportunity when I was younger to kick-start my career,” said Bresnan, who made his first-team debut in 2001.
“Hopefully with me moving aside, the younger players will get their opportunity to kick-start their careers as well. It has given me immense pride to represent the county for the best part of two decades.
“My Yorkshire cap is one of my proudest possessions.
“I would also like to thank the members for their support during my time at Yorkshire.
“I didn’t take this decision lightly, but now is the best time to move on.
“There is still plenty of fire in my belly and I look forward to what the future brings.”
Bresnan was one of 13 players out of contract this winter including the centrally-contracted Adil Rashid and captain Steve Patterson.
Yorkshire hope to give those players – most of them rookies/ fringe first team players – greater clarity in the coming days, with a further update on this summer’s county schedule expected next week.
Yorkshire have already warned that they will have to cut their cloth due to the pandemic, estimating it will cost them “a significant seven-figure sum”, which will clearly impact on any contract discussions/negotiations.
The prevailing climate remains one of uncertainty and the club said they fully respect Bresnan’s decision.
“I’ve got huge respect for the decision Tim’s made and I think it’s probably the right thing for all parties,” said Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket.
“It enables him to hopefully get a contract elsewhere and see out his career, and by the same token it gives us clarity that the next generation of all-rounders are going to get the opportunity to play.
“Everyone at the club has huge respect for Tim for what he has achieved in his career for Yorkshire and England; he has represented the club with huge pride and distinction for 19 years.
“His contribution both on-andoff the field has been immense and we wish him every success for the future.”
Moxon had a meeting with the club’s out-of-contract players earlier this week in which he explained that Yorkshire are awaiting greater clarity on their financial position.
Much depends on whether cricket is possible from August onwards, with Plan A – regionalised County Championship and T20 cricket – still thought to be on track as discussions continue behind the scenes between the counties and the England and Wales Cricket Board.
“We had a pre-arranged meeting where I gave all the players who are out-of-contract an update on where we are with regards to being able to offer contracts or not,” added Moxon.
“At that meeting we outlined that we still don’t know the full financial impact of Covid on the club’s finances, and it’s probably going to be a couple of weeks or so before we know that, so until we get to that position we’re not going to be able to offer any contracts for next year.
“At that point, Tim said that he’d been thinking about it a lot and he feels that now is the right time to move on for the reasons that he’s given – to clear the way, if you like, for the younger allrounders that we’ve got at the club, who we need to find out more about, and by the same token, because he feels he’s still got a couple of years left in him, to go and play somewhere else and have a new challenge.
“As I say, we respect that decision completely and thank him for his outstanding contribution over the years.”
In 163 first-class matches for Yorkshire, Bresnan scored 5,594 runs at 28.39 and took 445 wickets at 30.70.
He scored 2,124 runs and took 196 wickets in 181 one-day appearances, and 1,208 runs and 118 wickets in 118 T20 games.