Sussex Head Coach/former pro cricketer
This Supper Evening opened with the presentation of the new ‘Sir Michael Parkinson Lifetime Achievement Award’ to life-member Tom Pearson by Mike Parkinson whose short speech was much appreciated.
‘Farby’ began by reminding us that we were all there ‘for the love of cricket’ and what it encompassed. His belief in that was demonstrated by an absorbing account of his career that featured so many elements, including good humour.
That humour quickly surfaced during his early goalkeeping ambitions with Coventry City when,”The manager, Bobby Gould, said I only lacked two things … height and ability!” And Paul’s own summing up of his County wicket-keeping career was equally low key; “I was very average and not a great player, but I never broke a finger … just eighteen ribs!”
It would be understandable to conclude that such sobering experiences contributed to how he built a successful coaching career at County and International level. His belief that understanding how players’ minds can negatively affect their game and how that can be addressed has been key.
To him, man management is often the secret to it, rather than incessant attention to technique as the first resort, particularly with already established Test players. And he had ammunition to back it up.
The references to how he helped Joss Butler and Stuart Broad with support and advice at times were illuminating, as was his line that, “Players often need love to make them feel wanted and valued.”
Pictured (l to r): Don Root, Mike Parkinson and Paul Farbrace