jack bannister

david leatherdale
So the Association has moved on
enormously since I first became a
member and that is through the hard
work and dedication of the staff,
some of whom have worked for the
organisation for a long time.
Q. What jobs did you do during the
winter months when you were playing?
I did many different things. Like
many youngsters I had a couple of
winters playing abroad when I first
joined the staff.
After that I worked in a metalwork
yard, for the city council, before
working in Worcestershire’s commercial
department after the club advertised a
role for a player, seven players applied
and I got the job.
I worked for Radio Wyvern on their
charity Snowball appeal which raised
£36,000 in the first year and just short
of £100,000 in the second year.
I did some work for Goodform, a
CRM company that the PCA still use,
worked as commercial manager for
Crusader Sport and Leisure, who were
kit suppliers for five counties at one
stage, and for an accountancy firm in
Halesowen for a year.
I was never going to be an accountant
because there were 21 year-olds there
who were getting three months off to
study while I was combining the job
with cricket. It would have probably
taken me 10 years to get qualified. But
going out and doing audits gave me
an understanding of the numbers and
figures which came in useful when I
worked for Crusader and then went
into the commercial department at
Worcestershire and has been vital in my
role as CEO at New Road.
It’s important that players put
themselves out there and do other
things. They might not always find
the job that they want to do in 20 or
30 years’ time but they will probably
find out things that they don’t want
to do and also find out a great deal
about themselves. It also makes you
appreciate how lucky you are to be a
professional cricketer no matter how
long you are one for.
Q. If you hadn’t been a cricketer
what would you have done?
I got offered a place at Newcastle
University to study geography and
geology. Cricket was not fully on
the radar at that time and we had
spent a lot of time on holiday in the
Lake District where we used to go
caravanning and walking. I had this
vision that after university I would go
and work for the Forestry Commission
in the Lake District.
But I played cricket for Yorkshire
Schools and was batsman of the Festival
at Oxford when I was 17. Yorkshire
then asked me to sign registration forms
but they wouldn’t commit to offering
me a couple of second team matches.
At that time Steve Rhodes and
Richard Illingworth, who were from
Bradford, had joined Worcestershire
and it was Richard’s dad, Keith, who
suggested that I write to them for a trial.
I played one second team match for
them in 1985 against Leicestershire
at Ombersley and I played half of the
1986 season while I was finishing my
A Levels before I was offered my first
contract. I used to catch the 6am train
from Leeds on a Monday morning, got
into Worcester at about 9am and was
then picked up and driven to wherever
we were playing. On Friday evening
I would catch the train back to Leeds
and play in the Bradford League on a
Saturday.
Q. You say the PCA has changed
significantly since you signed your
first contract, what shape do you
think it is in?
I think it is in pretty good nick.
Angus came in five years ago at a
difficult time, a similar base to where I
was at Worcester. The club was going
through quite a transition and the PCA
New Road was
Leatherdale’s
home ground for
30 years, 20 of
them as a player
was going through a transitional period.
Financially it’s in a sound place. The
feeling is it’s in a very good position, the
question is how does it go from good to
the next level?
We also have to be aware of the big
items that are going to be drop on our
doorstep and there is no doubt that
domestic structure is a major issue but
there a many other issues facing today’s
new group of young cricketers as well as
many of our past cricketers too who are
a major part of the work the PCA does.
Q. What are the challenges with
domestic structure?
The game across the world is
changing very quickly. When you see
81,000 people watching a domestic
game at the MCG it’s difficult to argue
with that.
16 BtB issue 18 / thepca.co.uk