FIVE OF OUR OWN Day 2 GAVIN GRIFFITHS

Date: 27th December 2021

Ormskirk and Leicestershire

Day 2

Ask any of the current Ormskirk Cricket Club members and followers why they are so proud of their club just now and the odds are that they might mention that they are the current Lancashire KO Cup holders. They will almost certainly refer to the recent development at their club of Tom Hartley and George Lavelle together with Michael Jones up in Durham, and perhaps those who have been around Brook Lane for a little longer will, with even greater pride and satisfaction, say Gavin Griffiths.

The Leicestershire paceman made his debut in the Ormskirk 1^st Team when just aged 13, against St Helens Recs, taking 1 for 9 off 4 overs, when the current up and coming county trio were still playing with blue stumps and a soft orange ball. He remembers his first Comp victim was Simon Brown, known to many in the Comp as a scouse Chris Tavare, and still plying his trade with Rainhill. By this time Gavin was in the Lancashire system from age 11 before going on to play in all the age groups and eventually graduating from the same Academy group as Alex Davies and Mattie McKiernan. Gavin remembers well and is very thankful for, the huge support from his parents during this time.

At the same time the multi-talented young sportsman played Rugby Union for Lancashire Colts, kept goal for Liverpool’s Youth team and after being awarded the Lancashire CC’s Cedric Rhodes Trophy in 2010, represented England at U17s and U19s, “ a brilliant experience, which I will never forget” said Gavin. He hardly missed a Liverpool Comp game for Ormskirk throughout this period, as well as for the next five years or so, playing alongside the likes of Neil Wagner and Simon Kerrigan from whom he learnt a great deal. From that time and from a talented bunch to choose from, Gavin rates Ian Robinson as the best Ormskirk captain he played under.

Turning professional with Lancashire in 2013, Gavin made his 50 over debut the year after and then got a surprise call up one year later to play in the T20 finals day at Edgbaston. His exploits in the final against Hampshire that day made headlines, bowling a rare T20 maiden over followed by keeping his nerve to bowl out the 20^th over, to give Lancashire the win. He called it “beginners luck” saying that he had “nothing to lose” and doesn’t really remember a great deal about it, he was concentrating so hard. Sadly he was to play only a handful of white ball games in the years that followed and became a regular member of the 2^nd X1. He also suffered a troublesome injured finger and although disappointed with his progress, was well aware that he was somewhere in a queue behind Jimmy Anderson, Neil Wagner, Kyle Hogg, Kyle Jarvis, Wayne White and Tom Bailey during this time. He jumped at a loan spell at Hampshire which was ended when he received a phone call from Paul Horton, now at Leicestershire, and in an instant, the young man from Ormskirk became a Fox.

Gavin has not looked back since signing for Leicestershire in 2017 and is now part of a new order at Grace Road playing with former Lancashire teammates and friends Arron Lilley and Callum Parkinson, under the leadership of Paul Nixon and Colin Ackermann. “We are not the biggest county” he said “but we have lots of belief in ourselves and I can’t wait for the 2022 season. Gavin is comfortable in all formats of the game, enjoying the different challenges that the red ball and white ball bring. He has experienced the highs and lows of the game he loves and is more than ready to face up to whatever comes next.