“Oh mate, look at that. They’re cuddling up against the cold,” Jason Gillespie exclaims, the laughter curling around his words with a warmth that is missing from a deserted Headingley on an April afternoon. The Yorkshire coach, preparing his squad in pursuit of a third successive County Championship title with the domestic season starting on Sunday, keeps chuckling.
During a two-day internal match, with Gillespie and I the only spectators, the fielders have gathered like 10 penguins in an arctic huddle. They wrap their arms around each other while a batsman trudges away after being caught by the England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow. Gillespie, who played 71 times for Australia, is amused in our box high up in the stand.
“I’ve let them wear hoodies underneath the white shirts – and the odd bobble hat. I don’t mind. It’s bloody cold.”
A welcome to the English cricket season could not be warmer from the former fast bowler, who guided Yorkshire to promotion and then a runners-up slot in the First Division before the county sealed back-to-back titles. Such success helps explain why, a year ago, Gillespie seemed likely to become England’s coach. Instead, the position eventuallywent to another Australian, Trevor Bayliss.
England’s achievements under Bayliss stretch from an Ashes series win to their more startling turnaround in limited-overs cricket and a narrow defeat last Sunday in the World Twenty20 final. Such progress underpins the reason why there is now so much enthusiasm in domestic cricket.
He might still feel like an Australian to the core but Gillespie finds it easy to celebrate English cricket. He is also disarmingly philosophical about the England job. “Trevor Bayliss was the correct choice. It’s been proved 100%.”
Gillespie is such an impressive coach it is easy to imagine England might have done as well under his leadership but he denies he was disappointed. “That wasn’t the case because I had no expectations,” he says before detailing how his interaction with Andrew Strauss, England’s director of cricket, unfolded. “Straussy rang me and said could we meet for a coffee and a chat. He then said: ‘Do you mind coming down and having a bit more of a chat?’ But Straussy made it very clear he was talking to a number of people. No decisions would be made until he had spoken to everyone. Then he rang and said: ‘I’ve got someone in mind – and it’s not you.’ There were absolutely no issues. I think because I was in England, and my name was linked, people believed I was nailed on. But I never felt that. If I had been in Andrew Strauss’s shoes I would have made the same choice.”
At least, having continued at Yorkshire in seamless title-winning fashion, he could spend more time with his wife Anna and their four children – all aged under 10. “Without a doubt. We did talk about it. If an offer came from England would I accept it and how would that affect our family? We had a couple of brief conversations but I just said: ‘Let’s see what happens.’ And it didn’t happen. So I didn’t have to worry about it.”
Gillespie laughs but soon shakes his head when asked if he was surprised by England almost winning the World T20? “Not at all. England have always had the players but the difference has been picking the right ones and sticking with them. For me, as an outsider looking in the last 30 years, England have had most success when they’ve picked and sticked. Avoid chopping and changing. Just pick and stick. They did it before the 2005 Ashes. Stuck with a few players and backed them to the hilt. They’re doing that again. Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes‚ the list goes on. Chris Jordan. They’re picking them and giving these boys a bit of love. Players thrive on that. This Bayliss-Farbrace partnership is exactly what England need. They’re not just surviving and fighting for their place – they’re thriving.”
Gillespie and Bayliss both favour uncluttered views of the game in which the players, rather than their coach, drive the team forward. “Yeah, that’s right. I’ve spent a lot of time with Paul Farbrace. He says the exact same thing. Trevor has a wonderful simplicity about him and he allows players to drive things. He likes to be in the background as a support which is really important. That’s how I operate even if I have a different personality to Trev. I’m more outgoing but I have a similar mindset in wanting it to be player-driven. Like Trev, I’m big on having the captain in charge and making the players believe in themselves.
“Let’s not forget I’m at a very early stage of my coaching career but I reckon the best tool in your coaching kit is when a player feels you genuinely believe in him. If you have a player who knows you have utter faith in them, that’s powerful.”
Gillespie responds intriguingly when asked if he is a better coach now than when he began his tenure at Yorkshire in 2012. “The more you learn the more you realise how much stuff you don’t know. I’m only scratching the surface of what I can eventually learn. I’ve had a great experience being involved in the Level Four [ECB coaching] programme. I really enjoyed that even if I found it hard because I’m not an academic person. This group of coaches had come from different walks of life. Junior coaches who have completely different experiences to me – dealing with parents or younger kids. Women’s coaches too. One guy was the England coach of the vision-impaired side. Hearing his experiences was incredible.”
They must have been stunned to be alongside a famous Test cricketer who had coached Yorkshire to back-to-back championships? “Initially, maybe, but we were all on a par. We’ve all got a voice. What was really good for me was the understanding that, just because you’ve played at the highest level, it doesn’t mean you know everything about the game. I’ve learnt a lot from coaches who haven’t played the game at professional level. Ian Dews and Richard Damms on our staff have never played first-class cricket. I’ve learnt as much off them as anyone else in my whole cricketing career – player and coach.
“I’m a bit of a cricket tragic. I love talking about the game, sitting in the bar, having a few drinks, bouncing ideas about. I think that’s one of life’s true pleasures. It reminds you of some of your strengths but it also highlights things you can improve.”
Presumably Gillespie feels vindicated in maintaining his uncomplicated approach to coaching? “Absolutely. If in doubt – don’t. Don’t feel you have to say something for the sake of it. As a young coach you want to be seen to be doing things, to be seen to be coaching. You can always spot a new coach. If a parent pays for a one-to-one session, a new coach will be there, tinkering away. I’ve learnt to sit back and observe. You’ve got two eyes and two ears. You’ve only got one mouth. I like observing and I’ve learnt a really important part of coaching. Ask good questions of the players and then, simply, listen.”
Such open communication, encouraging his players to think and believe in themselves, helps explain why three of his county champions from last season in Joe Root, Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid played in last week’s T20 final. Root is an exceptional talent, with a temperament to match, but Gillespie has developed players as different as Rashid, Bairstow, Gary Ballance and Adam Lyth, who all played Test cricket last season. The latter two lost their places but Gillespie is convinced they will return – just Bairstow forced his way back into the Test side.
“Jonny is quite simple but I like the fact he’s not afraid to offer his opinion. We tell players: ‘Don’t be afraid to give us your opinion. We may not take things on board but we will listen.’ Jonny is a match-winning cricketer. With bat in hand he can change a match like that [clicks his fingers]. He just needed to go out, simply, and play. His ’keeping is improving. In the past he would just do a few drills but now it is very specific and you see the improvement.”
Ballance could follow Bairstow back into England’s Test side. “There’s a strong chance we will lose Gary to England. We hope we do because that’s our job – helping lads fulfil their dream. Gaz loves playing for Yorkshire but he loves playing for his country a little bit more. There was no doubt he was down and disappointed at being left out but he dusted himself off and scored as many runs as he could for Yorkshire. In pre-season he got two hundreds in the UAE and 70-odd retired in this practice match. He’s striking the ball really well, his movement is sharp and crisp. Gary will have a bumper year.”
Yorkshire are equally likely to have a bumper year – not only in the County Championship but in limited-overs cricket as well. Gillespie was, once more, a revelation when coaching the Adelaide Strikers this winter to the top of the Big Bash League. “We won seven out of eight and only stumbled at the last in the knockout stages. We got Usman Khawaja-ed.”
Khawaja hit an unbeaten century for Sydney to defeat Gillespie’s team. But that Big Bash experience will benefit Gillespie and Yorkshire – whose primary aim remains the County Championship. “This group of players smell a real opportunity to be part of history. You walk around and hear members talking about the great teams back in the 60s – they won three in a row, Closey’s [Brian Close’s] team. That’s the wonderful history of our club but we’re challenging the players by saying: ‘You guys can be the team the Yorkshire faithful talk about in 40 years.’ But they are very conscious this season is going to be even harder.
“You look though the First Division and there is such strength and depth in every squad. We’re going to have to play out of our skin to win the championship – because there are so many good players and fantastic teams in English cricket. We can’t afford to take the foot off the gas. We won’t. We will be even more driven this year.”
Gillespie, incredibly, is about to become a grandfather. “My daughter [from a previous relationship] in Adelaide is due this month,” he says.
Is he excited about becoming a granddad? “Well‚ yeah. It’s an interesting one. A 40-year-old granddad? I’ll be 41 on the 19th [of April] but she’s due before then. All that matters is that she and her hubby are delighted. If she’s happy I’m happy. And I am. My youngest daughter was born in Yorkshire so you could say that, technically, she’s a Yorkie. I have a real affinity with this county. It’s our fourth year living in Leeds. I’ve lived here twice before as a county pro. Always loved it so, for now, this is home. We’ll see what happens in the future. I’m not going to be in this job forever but I am loving the Yorkie ride.”
