Pride and the passion as players set world to rights

Great days in the history of Yorkshire County Cricket Club were relived when the Players' Association held their first winter reunion lunch at Fulford Golf Club, York. Chairman Bryan Stott, pictured left with President Jimmy Binks at the 2006 inauguration, said it would become an annual event: "It was marvellous to have so many former players talking passionately over lunch about Yorkshire cricket," Bryan said.

"The Association is thriving since its official formation last year, and I hope that even more players, past and present, will attend future functions."

Guests included George Ringwood, president of Fulford Golf Club, and his wife, Margaret; John Smith, chairman, and his wife, Maggie, and Yorkshire CCC Chief Executive Stewart Regan and his wife, Nicola.

Among those present were Vic Wilson and Angela Morley, Brian and Vivien Close, Geoff and June Cope, John and Alison Hampshire, Bryan and Sheila Stott, Don Wilson, Tina Clark and Ann Nicholson, Richard and Charmaine Hutton, Barrie and Penny Leadbeater, Bill and Jane Holdsworth, Peter and Catherine Chadwick, Peter and Anne Kippax, Tony and Cheryl Clarkson, Keith and Mitzi Gillhouley, John and Jean Waring, Howard Cooper and Andrea Topliss, Colin and Maureen Johnson, Steve and Tina Silvester, Richard Stemp and Bernadette Fowley, Eric and Betty Burgin, Brian and Stella Turner, Philip Hodgson and Gillian Tutcher, Eric and Shirley Sutton, Andrew and Dellis Dalton, Tony Hatton, David and Andrea Ryder, David and Sylvia Warner, Tony Loffill.

The revised date for the association's annual meeting at Headingley Carnegie is Sunday, April 15. The summer reunion is due to take place at the ground on Sunday, June 3, when Yorkshire Phoenix play a Trophy match against Durham Dynamos.

The summer reunion will be sponsored by Philip Hodson in the name of his company, Oval Insurance, the association's first sponsor.  Philip played for Yorkshire Seconds in the early 1970s after gaining a Blue at Cambridge

The association held several notable events last year - including a special get-together at Headingley on September 17, when members talked and reminisced about their great friend and colleague, Fred Trueman (thumbnail picture) who died earlier in the summer.