Media and Communications Manager Matt Halfpenny examines the far-reaching contribution of club captain Chris Read, who retired following the conclusion of today's promotion-clinching draw against Sussex at Hove.
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The word ‘legend’ is frequently over-used to describe the status of sports stars across the globe, but when it’s comes to summing up the regard in which Chris Read is held at Trent Bridge following his distinguished 20-year career at Nottinghamshire, it’s simply the only term that does him justice.
When the retiring Notts captain walked through the Dixon Gates on Bridgford Road and up the Pavilion steps for the first time some two decades ago, little could he have known what was in store for both county Club and country.
The only thing he could guarantee was that he would give his all to improve himself, apply himself diligently in every net and training session and demonstrate an unquenchable thirst to succeed that is now well recognised by those who know him best.
All these years later, and little has change in the 39-year-old’s thinking and approach to the game he loves, even if the limbs have creaked that little bit more each time he has put his body through its paces.
Above all, it is that dedication, professionalism and desire to better himself, allied to undoubted natural skill and talent, that has made him such a favourite with the Trent Bridge Members, players, staff and management, both past and present.
The oft-repeated saying goes that ‘hard work beats talent, if talent doesn’t work hard’, but no-one could ever accuse Read of not doing his level best to make the most of the abilities he was born with.
Of course, there have been highs and lows, the kind of which punctuate every player’s career who stays in the game for any length of time. In terms of a nadir, he’s often spoken in interviews about his disappointment that he did not achieve more in the international game playing for England.
To his eternal credit, though, Read never let any such setbacks get him down for long, quickly throwing himself into the next challenge whenever things did not go his way.
It means that all of the superlatives and accolades that have come his way, particularly in this, his final season, have been thoroughly deserved and none, unlike the way a television pundit might describe a non-league footballer as a ‘great player’, expressed with even the merest hint of hyperbole.
In statistical terms, Read will go down as the greatest Nottinghamshire wicket-keeper that has ever lived. He eclipsed Thomas Oates’ county record by claiming his 968th dismissal, Gary Wilson, during the match against neighbours Derbyshire in August.
You can also add to that the mere matter of 16,237 runs with the bat, many of which have been scored with his teams in peril and requiring the kind of obduracy that reminds you of another great servant of the game who has retired from the first-class game today (Friday) in the form of Kumar Sangakkara.
Read’s gritty determination was no better highlighted than in his final match at Hove this week, where he dug Notts out of a sizeable hole to help confirm their immediate promotion back to Specsavers County Championship Division One at the first attempt.
With his side having lost their previous two games to fellow promotion hopefuls Worcestershire and Northamptonshire, a third defeat at Sussex would have derailed the securing of a place in the top two – and that looked highly likely when the visitors slumped to 65-5 in their first innings, replying to 565 all out.
Step forward Read who, along with the equally-inspired Billy Root, transformed the game from a Nottinghamshire perspective. Both scored brilliant centuries – the skipper’s was his 26th in first-class cricket – in a sixth-wicket stand of 242.
Read’s counter-attacking contribution of 124 from 152 balls, which contained 16 fours and one six, was not without alarm, as he was dropped by Tom Haines on 70, but he showed the trademark presence of mind to quickly put it behind him and push on past three figures with a maximum from the bowling of Stuart Whittingham.
It was the kind of fairytale script – he also passed 15,000 first-class career runs for Notts during his stay at the crease – that he could only have dreamed of when going to bed on Sunday night, and it followed an equally worthy curtain call to his List A career back in July.
Back then, he scored 58 in partnership with Alex Hales, who hit a majestic 187 not out, to help the Notts Outlaws beat Surrey in the Royal London One-Day Cup final at Lord’s. Here’s a man who knows how to conduct a finalé.
The standing ovation Read received from everyone in the ground upon his final dismissal was testament to the high regard in which he is held, not just in our county, but around the rest of the country’s cricketing fraternity.
The same could be said of the heartfelt send-off he was given at Trent Bridge in his final appearance on home soil where players from both sides, staff and officials joined together for a guard of honour that was as well-merited as it was, no doubt, appreciated.
With Division One status now reacquired and two white ball trophies also won in 2017 – the NatWest T20 Blast with him as part of the coaching team – Read could hardly have gone out on a bigger high.
Thankfully for all concerned, he will not be lost to Trent Bridge completely, despite his decision to take up a teaching position at Uppingham School in the near future.
The good news is that the Devonian plans to be part of the Nottinghamshire coaching team in some capacity in the 2018 season as well, when time allows – and with such vast experience, his input will be invaluable.
Yet there’s no doubting that his on-field efforts will be greatly missed by a county who have forgotten what it is like to have anyone but him lead them out in four-day cricket.
Cricket, like life, goes on, and others will, in time, step forward to take on the responsibility he has burdened for so long.
But any true legend is hard to replace – and you’ll be hard fetched to find anyone who disagrees that Chris Read is one of those.
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