Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com Steve Patterson presents Matthew Revis with his county cap in April.
“For me, as a Yorkshire player, getting presented with your Yorkshire cap is one of the proudest things you can achieve in the game.”
Earlier this summer, former White Rose captain Steve Patterson presented Matthew Revis with his county cap in a presentation in the Hawke Suite at Headingley. It came after day one of the opening home Championship match against Hampshire at Headingley, with James Wharton also presented his by Jonny Bairstow.
Revis and Wharton will remember those moments for the rest of their days. But so too will Patterson, who admitted being asked to be involved in the presentation left him feeling “very honoured”, with the quote at the top of this piece indicating just why.
Seam bowler Patterson, now aged 42, has been retired for three-and-a-half-years. He played his last game for Yorkshire in September 2022.
But, as the old cliche goes, ‘You can take the boy out of Yorkshire, but you can never take Yorkshire out of the boy’.
That will be the same for countless former Yorkshire cricketers, including Paul Hutchinson and Craig White, who were at Headingley during the Surrey game and were presented in front of and spoke to spectators about their time with the club. Patterson joined them on the outfield during one of the tea breaks.
Yorkshire are currently working hard to strengthen ties with their ex-players. Gill Smith was one of those who became a vice president at the recent AGM, Ashley Metcalfe is the new president.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Matthew Revis and James Wharton after receiving their county caps, alongside Anthony McGrath and Gavin Hamilton.
As for Patterson, speaking about capping Revis, he said: “Look, you’ve got less than 200 players who have been capped across a 160-odd year history. It just shows how special it is to be awarded one.
“I’ve always seen a first-team cap as almost an acceptance of being a Yorkshire player. And by that I mean, a Yorkshire first-team player who can be relied on to go out there and win games consistently for the club.
“That’s what I believe a first-team player stands for, someone who can be relied upon and takes responsibility.
“It’s lovely for me, having played with a lot of those lads. A lot of the lads playing now made their debut while I was captain. I gave Rev his debut at the end of 2019. So I’ve seen him and Wharts at the very start of their careers.
“For Rev, I genuinely think he’s got such a high ceiling for what he could achieve.
“He only really started bowling seriously when he was 17 or 18. It’s perhaps a little bit hit and miss at the moment, but it will get better and better. I think he could be a cracking bowler. And he averages not far off 40 with the bat in first-class cricket.
“Him and Wharts have both been picked for the Lions, which is brilliant for them and a testament to their ability.”
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Jonny Bairstow presents James Wharton with his county cap.
Patterson is back working at Yorkshire on a part-time basis as a Hawke Suite host.
“That was actually my first day back when I gave Rev his cap,” he laughed. “It might have looked to the outside world that I’d been there for ages, but it was my first day back in three-and-a-half-years at the club.
“It was a lovely day, it really was.”