Lifetime Achievement.
It is simply impossible to recount or measure what this man has done for cricket – from school, to club, to league, to district, to county, to country – all owe him a huge debt of gratitude for what he has done for the game.
‘Mr Bedale’ was a fine player in his own right, originally with Pickering, then Northallerton and finally moving to Bedale, who were playing in the York & District Senior League at the time. He went on to captain their league representative side on more than 30 occasions and was subsequently made a vice-president and inducted into their Hall of Fame.
Adrian was instrumental in Bedale’s decision to join the NYSD Premier League, which the club did in 2000, and he played NYSD cricket until 2010 when he retired aged 69. He captained the second team during this time passing on his vast knowledge to the younger players, a lifelong passion of his. He earned the unique distinction of being inducted into the NYSD Hall of Fame in 2015 – two league Hall of Fames is some going.
But while Adrian was undoubtedly a fine player, it is his contribution to the administrative and coaching side of the game for which he is so famous in the North of England. At club level, Adrian has held every position within the club from chairman to captain, secretary to cutting the grass. He has never missed a committee meeting or club dinner in over 45 years with the club and it is not stretching a point to suggest Bedale Cricket Club might not be there today but for this man.
As well as being known as ‘Mr Bedale’, he has earned the nickname of ‘Mr Cricket’ on the North Yorkshire schools and youth cricket circuit. He was the team manager for Hambleton and Richmond schools cricket from 1974, and despite retiring as a teacher 25 years ago, still manages a number of North Yorkshire junior sides. He is intensely proud of the huge conveyor belt of talent he has nurtured over the decades - the successful England World Cup squad of 2019 included no fewer than four players who had benefited from his skills.
Look around the NYSD Premier Division and you will see his legacy, with many of their top professional and amateur players having begun their own highly skilled love affair with the game in the Adrian Grayson school of excellence.
Quite rightly he has been awarded much recognition over the years, including a Hambleton Sports Council services to Sport award in 2010, a British Empire Medal for Services to Sport in Bedale in 2012, and a special award in 2014 when he was presented with a watch to mark 50 years of service to Schools cricket in the county by Yorkshire CEO Mark Arthur.
The one key recognition missing is the Yorkshire Lifetime Achievement award after more than 60 years dedicated to the great game – no one deserves it more.