Tim Bresnan, the Yorkshire and England all-rounder, has proved his versatility by training as a plasterer and plumber. Bresnan, along with his Yorkshire team-mates Richard Pyrah and Andrew Hodd, spent part of the winter on a weekly course at the YTA centre in Bradford. The sessions were arranged by Bresnan’s former Yorkshire team-mate Matthew Wood, who now works as one of the Professional Cricketers’ Association’s six-strong team of Personal Development and Welfare Managers, and taught the County Championship-winning trio new and valuable skills. ” It was quite intensive, nine to four with an hour for lunch, but very useful,” Bresnan said. ” We all had a bit of a bash at plastering and plumbing. With plastering, once you have got the basic principles it’s a case of practice and practice. Once I had the techniques I could practice anywhere really. The finer points of the trade craft of plastering are quite difficult. ” Once I knew the simple techniques of plastering I went on to plumbing. There is quite a lot of theory and technical stuff in plumbing but I managed to get my equivalent of a Level One qualification. ” I don’t think it would get me a job at the Plumb Centre or anything like that but it will be useful in doing jobs around the house and in the little portfolio of property rentals we have built up. ” When the tenants ring up and say we have got this that and the other wrong I can sort things out for myself instead of paying an £ 80 call-out charge and another £ 20 to change a tap.” Bresnan previously went on a property course before his international career took off but used a quieter winter, which included a stint with Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash and two weeks with England Lions in South Africa, to expand his Personal Development programme. ” I’ve not really thought about retirement but I have definitely thought about my life after cricket,” Bresnan said. ” You can always improve yourself. You are always learning and if you can learn a new skill that can potentially earn you a bit of money when you finish then why not? ” You need to be learning right now if you do need a career after cricket. I suppose we are not at the first rung on the ladder yet but we are half-way there towards something that I could potentially do after cricket. ” This winter I have spent a lot of time at home which I have enjoyed. I have loved it actually. It has given me the chance to do something different like this. ” It’s given me the chance to explore other options outside of international cricket which has been great. I played a bit of Big Bash, I went on the Lions tour for a couple of weeks which was nice as well but otherwise I have spent a lot of time at home.” Wood, who showed an interest in construction during his own playing career, hopes that the success of Bresnan, Pyrah and Hodd will encourage other Yorkshire players to enrol on similar courses at YTA next winter. ” This was very much player-led,” Wood said. ” Tim, Rich and Andrew wanted to get something going and I teed it up for them with contacts I already had at YTA. ” But the players embraced it, they committed to going on a weekly course. We have already had interest from some of the younger players at Yorkshire in doing something similar so we will be looking to run another course before Christmas this year.” {{ak_sharing}}
