As our Christmas Lunch guest speaker, Gavin was of particular interest to members interested, not only in his playing and coaching career, but also his key current role. That became apparent in the closing Q & A session which was longer than normal and spiced up by a passionate question from one disgruntled member!
It was dealt with in satisfactory and professional fashion by the affable Hamilton who was appointed in September 2024, just two days before Yorkshire won promotion. He became another part of the county’s vital staff restructure as it strives to recover from a difficult period on both sides of the boundary rope.
Reunited with former team-mate and Yorkshire skipper Anthony McGrath, now Yorkshire coach, there is genuine optimism that the pair can see the team deliver success across the formats. That is lent credence by Gavin’s assessment of the team strength and development which carries echoes of his own playing days: “Michael Vaughan and I started with Yorkshire in the 90s and he says it was the time he most enjoyed playing. We were probably the most underachieving county considering the players we had, but it helped lay the foundations for future success.
“A lot of promising players were coming through under a decent captain and Darren Lehman as coach. There was a good feeling about how we were developing, very similar to how I thought we were getting very close to being a good side last season.”