FORMER England international cricketer Paul Grayson has returned to his roots after 25 years spent playing and coaching first class cricket with Yorkshire and Essex.

The 44-year-old Grayson is back in his home town of Bedale after eight years as head coach at Essex came to an end last August. He decided to make the break from the professional game when he saw the position of head of cricket at Durham University advertised.

He successfully applied for the role and says he is enjoying working with some talented students. His long-term goal at the university is to improve the players and hopefully win a first class game within the next three years.

Grayson said: "I have made a life-changing decision, but I'm really happy to be back in Bedale. I am currently staying with my dad Adrian, but the biggest bonus is I can see more of my mum, Carol. She has had MS for over 30 years and is in residential care in the town.

"One of the biggest changes I will encounter is having some time off over the summer. Term time finishes at the end of June and doesn’t start again until October, so I'm hoping we can have a summer family holiday for the first time.

"I also intend to run a cricket camp in the summer holidays, but no dates have been confirmed yet. Part of my job is also to recruit new students to Durham University, so I will be watching lots of cricket this summer."

Grayson's wife Alison, who has been a great support during his playing and coaching career, is a nurse and has been in charge of the medical centre at a private school in Essex. She is hoping to find a similar job in the Bedale area.

Son Ollie is currently in Adelaide on a gap year, playing cricket and travelling, and starts at Leeds University in September. Daughter Beth has just started her A-levels.

Thirsk Cricket Club has received a cash boost from homebuilder, Taylor Wimpey North Yorkshire, towards purchasing a set of much-needed mobile wicket covers.

The club, which is based at Thirsk Racecourse, has received £500 from the homebuilder to upgrade its covers and protect its wickets from future bad weather.

Mark Cook, honorary treasurer at Thirsk Cricket Club, comments: “Our primary focus at the Club is to invest into our junior division as much as possible, which as you can imagine can be incredibly expensive.

“In addition to kit and the upkeep of the grounds, we have to regularly upgrade equipment, and thanks to the support of Taylor Wimpey we have been able to meet our target and purchase the wicket covers.”

Thirsk Cricket Club has three senior teams as well as three junior teams, and in excess of 150 members. The junior players range from five to fifteen years old, and train four nights a week.

Debbie Whittingham, sales and marketing director at Taylor Wimpey North Yorkshire, explains: “Thirsk Cricket Club is an organisation at the heart of the Thirsk community, so as soon as we heard they were in need of new wicket covers, we were keen to help out.

“The weather can be terrible in North Yorkshire so protecting expensive equipment is a primary focus for many organisations, and we’re glad to have been of assistance to the club.”

Taylor Wimpey is due to start building at Sowerby Gateway, in Thirsk, later this year. The development will feature 44 brand-new homes.

Mark concludes: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank Taylor Wimpey for this support on behalf of the whole club.”

For further information on Taylor Wimpey’s homes in the region, please visit www.taylorwimpey.co.uk.

Teesside High School were delighted to find out this week that 6 of its pupils have been selected to play for Cleveland County in Cricket. Year 6 student George Knaggs, Year 7 students Rhys Ditta (captain), Yash Vagadia, Craig Baptist and Ben Peacock, and Year 8 pupil Alfie Taylor-Clarke have all been selected.

It is a fantastic achievement for a small independent school such as Teesside High School, to have 6 such incredibly talented cricketers.