SKELTON’S Lee Hodgson will return home this summer, after three years down south, where he made his name as a 12th man. He recently met D&S Times cricket writer Chris West and spoke of his rise to the top.

WHEN Lee Hodgson signed a contract with Yorkshire County Cricket Club last November it not only marked the beginning of an exciting new opportunity, but also the end of a remarkable threeyear chapter in the youngster’s blossoming cricketing career.

The extraordinary journey began in earnest in 2006 and took the 22-year-old via Lord’s, Australia, the Oval, and two 12th man appearances for England in Test matches, before Headingley finally beckoned the allrounder back to his home county to fulfil the dream of every cricket-mad Yorkshireman.

A native of Skelton, Hodgson followed family tradition when he made his first appearance for Saltburn Cricket Club’s junior sides at the tender age of nine.

In doing so, he became the fourth generation of the family to be involved with the Seasiders, the 60-year dynasty stretching back to when his great grandfather, Arnold Davison, joined the club from the Bradford League in the 1950s as their professional.

Father Chris, who played for 35 years and is still the club secretary, gave his son plenty of support and encouragement as Hodgson quickly made his mark in the junior ranks, generally punching well above his weight at all levels, and regularly outshining his often bigger and older peers.

Apart from a brief spell at Marske, in his early teens when his home club couldn’t provide the age group competition necessary to stretch his talents, Hodgson has played the majority of his club cricket for Saltburn, making his senior debut at the age of 11 at Barnard Castle.

His rapid progress meant that, by the age of 15, he was playing regularly in the demanding NYSD Premier Division, and such was the faith shown in him, he was soon opening the batting. But the major breakthrough at this level came in the 2005 season when Saltburn broke the four-year domination of Guisborough to pick up the coveted Premier Division championship.

Despite being the baby of that team, Hodgson enjoyed outstanding personal success, winning the league bowling award with 48 victims at a cost of just 11.77 runs each – a record that saw him finish with a better average than all other bowlers in the Division, including the professionals.

The staggering achievement earned him the prestigious Chris Old Salver as the 2005 NYSD Young Cricketer of the Year.

Having proved his ability at the highest level of club cricket, and regular appearances for NYSD representative sides, his undoubted talents surprisingly went largely unrecognised at county level, a couple of appearances for Durham Under- 19s being the sum total of interest from the two major counties.

It was the then Guisborough professional, David Towse, who recommended Hodgson for a two-game trial with MCC Young Cricketers, based at Lords, and that led to him being offered terms for the 2006 season.

A move to London followed with his base for the next two years being a hostel in Hampstead as he strove to impress for the MCC youngsters in matches primarily against county second teams.

And it was in his second year at Lord’s that Hodgson got a taste of life at the very top when he was nominated by his coach, ex-Middlesex star Clive Radley, to be England’s 12th man for the Lord’s Test match against the West Indies, an occasion he remembers vividly: “Obviously it was quite nerve-wracking knowing that I would almost certainly be called upon at some point during the Test to sub field, but when the actual time came I didn’t get the chance to think too much about it – I’d just carried the drinks on to the field for the team when I was told - you’re on now.”

“I fielded a few overs that night, and then all the following morning in front of a full house – and fortunately clung on to a catch off Steve Harmison’s bowling. I could literally feel my heart thumping as the chance came to me in what seemed like slow motion – and it was just the most marvellous feeling when it stuck.”

And he also rated his dressing room experience highly. “As a virtual unknown to the England players I was a little worried what it would be like in the dressing room – but it was absolutely brilliant, the banter was different class.”

England must have liked what they had seen because his services as 12th man were then requested for the second Lord’s Test of the summer against India.

In the autumn of 2007, Hodgson decided to further his cricketing education in Australia, playing as a professional in top level club cricket in Melbourne for a team called Oakleigh. He enjoyed a flying start to the Aussie season and by the midsummer Christmas break had taken 27 wickets at nine runs apiece.

But it was then that a worrying run of niggling injuries cast a cloud over his career – a thigh strain cut short his stay down under, an ankle problem cost him six weeks of pre-season, and then a shoulder injury robbed him of two months at the beginning of the 2008 campaign.

When he was eventually ready to go again MCC decided to test him with a make or break six-week trial to prove his fitness, and this led to Surrey taking him on board for the remainder of the season.

Fully fit at last, Hodgson grabbed the opportunity with both hands, turning in some impressive displays for Surrey’s second team, including a fine all-round effort against Yorkshire when he took 4-44 and scored 85 in a game played at York in August.

A couple of first team appearances in the Nat West Pro40 followed, against Leicestershire at the Brit Oval and Warwickshire at Edgbaston, both games being won by Surrey. But the icing on the cake came in September when he was called up for his LV County Championship debut at the Oval against Nottinghamshire.

Hodgson grabbed the chance with both hands, earning national media plaudits as he top scored in Surrey’s first innings with an impressive 63.

Hodgson’s efforts at York, and his scintillating first-class debut, obviously impressed the Yorkshire hierarchy, and the offer of a two-year contract followed.

Unsurprisingly, given his nature, Hodgson is fully appreciative of the part others have played in his development: “I obviously owe my dad a lot - he was the one running me around for years – and people like Tony Bell at Saltburn, and Clive Radley at MCC have been great mentors.”

A modest and unassuming young man, Hodgson is determined to make the most of the opportunity that his home county have given him: “I know that Yorkshire see me as an investment for the future and I will probably have to continue my cricketing education initially with the second team.

“But I have an immediate chance to impress on the club’s pre-season tour to Abu Dhabi in March. After a quiet winter I’m raring to go.”

And if first team county cricket doesn’t come along straight away then Hodgson will once again be seen on his old NYSD stomping grounds, as he has signed to play for Marton as one of their professionals this summer when not required by the county.

But after demonstrating such self-belief and determination over the last three years, who would bet against Marton’s supporters having to reconcile themselves to seeing more of Lee Hodgson at Headingley than they do at their Stokesley Road headquarters.