Lee Walker
24/04/2007Lee Walker: Development, Dedication and Diligence
By Russell Eggar
"My role now is predominantly to bring on a few good youngsters and educate them about the game." 41-year-old Lee Walker has been a member of Mytholmroyd Cricket Club for just over three years now but he has understood that it is a club in a period of transition. Lee has fully engaged himself in the club's development of youngsters.
An experienced cricketer who played in the Bradford League for more than 20 years, the club has decided to utilise his experience by giving him the chance to captain the Sunday XI. The Sunday team is used as the ‘next step' for the younger kids as they move up from 20-over matches to 45-over games. He clearly sees the benefit of this to the club and has a long-term aim to cement the future of young cricketers in the village. "My ultimate aim is to help Paul Watson, maybe when my kids get a bit older, and help bring some youngsters through."
Lee works as a printer at Newsquest in Bradford during the week and has a young family. Having settled in Mytholmroyd, Lee sees his position at the club as a great opportunity to help the local community.
In his early cricketing career Walker played as a wicketkeeper but a back injury has seen him put his best cricketing years behind him and he now enjoys the more relaxed nature of Sunday cricket, but that is not to say that he is not a competitive man. In a league that is predominantly filled with older cricketers, he thinks that the young squad that he leads out on a Sunday has a lot to offer and a lot to learn, but he is sure that this can only benefit the club in the long run.
Lee himself has played cricket at a considerably higher level, but the impression that he gives is that he is comfortable in his role playing and nurturing at a lower level. He gets more enjoyment out of teaching than playing - and this is only a credit to him as a person and as a member of the club. Giving way to younger cricketers, he oversees their progress and is happy to bat lower down the order with a calmer and more experienced approach.
He is highly complimentary about MCC and the way it is run; as a captain he knows that he has a role to play at the club but gives a lot of praise to those who put a considerable amount of time and effort into the running of the club and is keen to be a key part of that in the future.
For the time being, Lee is happy with the way things are going for him at the club. He feels like he is giving something to the club and the community and is confident that his young players will go on to achieve great things if they can find the balance between having fun and knowing when to take the game seriously.
Lee seems to be a relaxed guy, even with young twin sons at home and a young team to keep in order. But to be honest, it's no wonder as every weekend he can immerse himself in beautiful surroundings and play a relaxing game of cricket with his friends and feel like he has achieved something at the end of it.