‘Leek sold me their vision. I’ve
GREG WILLOTT has seen it all during his long cricket career – but even he got more than he bargained for in the formative stages of the 2011 season.
Willott was starting his second campaign with Leek, having celebrating his debut year at Highfield by helping the Moorlanders reclaim their NSSCL Premier Division place at the first attempt.
Their top-flight return had started promisingly with victory over Little Stoke, but a second game six-wicket defeat at Knypersley inspired an unusual reaction in the away dressing room.
“We’d come through the 2010 season unscathed and hadn’t been put under much pressure,” said leftarm seamer Willott, who took 102 wickets in that promotion summer.
“Then we went to Knypersley in the Premier Division, there’s that local rivalry and they beat us pretty easily. We had a young side at the time, and they schooled us.
“I’d not seen this before, but at the end of the game, the captain at the time decided to give us a telling off. He was on his way to the showers and was completely naked and had his foot perched on a bench when he started speaking. It was quite impromptu.
“He was saying ‘if we play like that every week, we’re going to struggle.’ As a senior player I’m stood near him and just trying to nod along and keep eye contact.
“It all finished and the players just burst out laughing. It worked, though, because we went on a run after that.”
Leek were indeed laughing all the way through the summer as they marked their Premier Division return with a runners-up finish.
For all-rounder Willott that justified his decision to take a leap of faith and leave behind the comfort blanket of former club Norton to test himself at one of the premier clubs in the area.
Aside from a couple of seasons at Wood Lane, Willott and Norton had become happy bed fellows, but the call from Leek’s hierarchy to help to mastermind their Division One push proved to be a challenge which was too tempting to resist.
“It was a tough decision to leave Norton, but I felt ready for a new challenge,” added Willott. “I felt I had learnt my game and I always wanted to put myself under pressure and have to contribute with both bat and ball.
“I’d been at Norton for all but two seasons and it was my club and I enjoyed it so much. In cricket terms I should have left before I did.
“I was 28 and needed to be somewhere I could make a big impact. Leek were a big club and had just dropped down, and they came calling.
“I met with Brian Mellor and Paul Ogden and they sold the move to me. Leek had lost players, so there was probably Brian, myself and Colin Dearden as seniors.
“Most of the others were juniors, the likes of Alex Mellor and Alex Thomson. Brian and Oggy told me they wanted to get back to the Premier, but to do it the right way.
“They wanted to promote the juniors and not just throw money at it. It paid dividends in the end because a couple of the lads (Mellor and Thomson) went on to play firstclass.”
There were still some doubts, though, about whether Leek could be among the frontrunners when the players convened for winter practice ahead of the 2010 action.
That was a situation which was soon remedied, however, as the Moorlanders found the final pieces of the jigsaw to help their bid.
“The aim was to get back to the top division in three years,” explained Willott. “At winter nets we looked at the best way to tackle Division One – and I had a decent amount of experience at that level. We realised we didn’t have enough, so we signed Mo Hussain, who was a superstar for us. Then it was felt another bit of experience was required, so Alex Hales joined.”
Nottinghamshire – and now England – batsman Hales played half-a-dozen matches for Leek, although things didn’t always turn out as planned.
But there is one innings which Willott will never forget.
“We played Blythe and they had Imran Arif bowling for them. Halesy said to me ‘this guy always gets me when we play. In fact, he’d probably get me out with an apple.’
“Sure enough, Immy got him for a duck.
“The game against Rode Park showed how good Alex was, though. Alex Mellor and Mo Hussain had both scored hundreds and Halesy went in with about 12 overs to go. He scored 112 not out off 40 deliveries. Balls were flying everywhere.”
Leek kept Sandyford and Meir Heath at arm’s length in that 2010 season to be crowned Division One champions.
And after impressing on their Premier Division return, Willott took the helm ahead of the 2012 season. It proved to be a masterstroke.
Leek won back-to-back titles and also added the Staffordshire Cup crown to their cabinet in 2014.
“In 2012 we only had our pro, Steffan Jones, for three games before he got a new job and couldn’t play,” said Willott.
“And in 2013 we had Nadeem Malik leading our attack. The young players stepped up and developed, plus Chris Beech joined us after the first season in the Prem and he was exceptional for us.
“If you speak to Brian Mellor he will say he reignited my career. That move did feel right and I still love