In at the Death…
Gurney offers his expertise
“Yorkers!” That was the one-word answer from former Notts, Leicestershire and England fast bowler Harry Gurney when he was asked what has gone wrong with England’s white-ball bowling.
Speaking to the latest meeting of the Nottingham Cricket Lovers Society (NCLS), Harry said that he believed the current crop of England quicks are ‘nervous’ about using Yorkers when bowling the crucial last few overs – what the game calls ‘death bowling’.
Gurney certainly has the credentials to comment on the present situation. Described by Notts Outlaws Aussie skipper Dan Christian as ‘the best death bowler in the world’, he took almost 250 white-ball wickets for England and his counties, many of them in those tight closing overs.
“I used to practice Yorkers, cutters and slower balls for hours and hours”, he said, “until I knew that I could deliver when the pressure was on.
“To see someone like Jofra [Archer] banging the ball in short when he was as good a Yorker bowler as you could find makes me ask if they’re too anxious – aware that if it goes wrong, they will get clattered to all parts”.
His skills helped Leicestershire and Notts win One Day trophies. Harry’s first taste of silverware came in domestic T20 cricket with Leicestershire in 2011, and three further trophies were to come his way after joining Nottinghamshire.
The 2013 Yorkshire Bank 40 was followed by further success at Lord’s in 2017; combined figures of 7-36 brought Blast Finals Day glory to Notts later that year and the left-armer also went on to win titles in Australia, Pakistan, the West Indies and the UAE.
Harry’s Finals Day performance in the T20 Blast of 2017 is a highlight of his long and successful career. Three wickets for no runs in the eighteenth over put paid to Hampshire’s pursuit of 170 for a semi-final win, but the best was yet to come.
Defending 191 to claim the crown, the former England international’s standout figures of 4-17 ripped the engine room from the Bears’ middle order.
He recalled that day with pleasure but it was another Blast match that cemented his reputation as a match winner.
“We were playing Yorkshire at Headingley. Dan Christian, the Notts captain, said at the toss that I was the best death bowler in the world. The game was televised and a lot of people probably sat at home and laughed. But, rightly or wrongly, it drew attention to me.
"I bowled the last over of the innings at Kane Williamson and Tim Bresnan. It only went for one run off the bat and that night my social media really began to take off.
"Within a few weeks I had a Big Bash contract, a PSL contract, an IPL contract and a T10 contract. I'd gone from nothing to all of them."
Gurney added overseas trophies to his home collection, featuring in eight competition wins, but was keen to stress that he didn’t see himself as a white-ball specialist.
“I loved the red ball game”, he told NCLS, “and one of my proudest moments was helping to secure promotion to Division One in 2017.
“I took more than forty wickets in five seasons out of six while with Notts and it was their plans for me to play more county cricket that persuaded me to move to Trent Bridge”.
Harry was determined to dispel the notion that his move from Leicestershire was ‘just about the money’.
“I could have stayed at Leicester and probably got a very similar contract”, he said, “but Mick [Newell] really sold me on coming to Notts; his plans for the team and how they thought they might use me was what clinched the move.
“And, much as I enjoyed my time at Grace Road, Trent Bridge is somewhere very special”.
He got the cricket bug aged ten when a friend encouraged him to go to Loughborough Town CC. “Straight away, I loved it”, he said, “and quickly cricket was my main obsession”.
So quick was he to pick up the game that two years later he was in the Leicestershire Under 12s eleven, remarkably – as he smilingly admits – batting at number three. By the time he graduated up to the county squad, his place in the batting order was more settled. “I’m a proper number eleven”, he said, “a career top score of 42 tells its own story”.
Gurney also told the tale of how he moved from delivering Yorkers to delivering quality pub grub.
“I had to think about life after cricket when I developed a shoulder injury. It got to the point of an operation and it became clear that bowling in the professional game was no longer an option.
“I got the opportunity to buy into the Three Crowns pub in Wymeswold, in partnership with Stuart Broad and though that pub is no longer in our company, we have two gastro pubs.”
The Tap and Run in Upper Broughton has had a chequered life in the few years that Broad and Gurney have run it. No sooner had they got the new name established (it used to be the Golden Fleece) than the Covid lockdowns hit…and then the pub was burned to the ground!
It is now re-built and building a reputation for good food and ales, even if customers are occasionally disappointed to find that Gurney and Broad aren’t actually pulling the pints.
“Stuart is the face of our brand”, said Gurney, “he lives in London now but he comes up for director’s meetings and planning and having his name is a great bonus”.
They have recently added the Griffin Inn in Swithland to their profile and Gurney hopes that there may be others.
It is not surprising that Harry Gurney enjoys the business side of the pub game as he revealed that he had an economics degree.
The patience and determination that brought him that accolade of ‘the best death bowler’ will surely stand him and his business partner Broad in good stead for the future.
Membership of NCLS is £15pa, or entry on the night for £5 per session.
The final meeting of the 2024/25 programme will take place on 20 March at 7pm. It will feature the AGM of the Society and the speaker will be Wayne Madsen (Kwazulu-Natal, Dolphins, Derbyshire and Italy) who has played many fine innings against Notts in his long career,
Details of the 2025/26 programme will appear on the NCLS website: here
March 2025