I WOULD like to start by talking about another Alex, who finds himself recovering from horrendous facial injuries following a recent cricketing accident.

You may already know about the story of Alex Tait from Bradford League club Lightcliffe. If not, let me explain. Alex was hit in the face by a ball in his follow-through while bowling in the winter nets approximately a fortnight ago.

He was forced to have an operation at the back end of last week, where they had to peel his face back from ear to ear and try to reconstruct his face after a number of broken bones.

Alex also had badly blurred vision in his right eye. Thankfully, the good news is that the surgeon has said he should regain full sight in time.

Myself and my missus and Alex and his see each other quite a lot, including spending the last two or three new year's eves together, and it was scary when the seriousness of his injuries became clear.

But Alex is a pretty positive guy and has been overwhelmed by the support he has received, a lot of which has come from everyday people through messages and donations to his JustGiving page.

All of this hasn't come at the best of times for him. Katie is expecting their second child in a couple of months, while Alex is not entitled to full sick pay, given he hasn't been working at his company for very long.

It was, therefore, a really nice touch from Joe Root and Ben Stokes to donate so generously to someone they may not ever meet and finds himself in a tough situation. It shows the real character of those guys.

His JustGiving page is up to approximately £15,000, via the web link https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Alex-Tait-Injury.

You would expect that kind of injury to happen a bit more often – but it's a gruesome reminder to clubs and schools, anywhere where there's nets, to make sure their facilities are up to spec to enable kids and adults to practice safely.

Meanwhile, I am coming to the end of my time in New Zealand with the Bay of Plenty. I have a two-day game to play at the weekend before flying home early next week.

It has been an experience I would definitely do again. Since I got here, the infrastructure, the facilities, the people, everything that goes with it, has been perfect.

It's allowed me to play some two- and three-day cricket, which you don't get in many other places around the world unless you're playing first-class cricket.

The biggest things for me before coming out here were to come into the Bay team and make an impact, to make sure they felt they had made a good decision getting me over here, and also to try and get myself into a decent place to start the season back home. I feel I have achieved both, which is very satisfying.

The Bay have one more defence of their three-day Hawke Cup title to come, although I will be home by the time that is played. I was obviously delighted to score 223 on debut and it is nice to know it is a competition record for them.

It's a decent score but I think I have a bigger score in me for the Bay some time in the future, although it's too early to say when yet. There are too many variables in a county season that dictate what you do and don't do in a winter, so we'll see.

On to Yorkshire matters and I definitely agree with the view that Ryan Sidebottom's retirement at the end of the season will give the lads that bit extra to make sure we send him out with a fairytale ending.

We want to put right the wrongs of last year and we still have the squad to win championships. We want to show we have the strength of character.

Certainly in the last few years for us, Ryan has been unplayable. Particularly for left-handers, he's horrendous to face because he swings it loads and is there or thereabouts every ball. He's just relentless.

Finally, I was recently given a personal development award by the Professional Cricketers' Association as recognition for my efforts in trying to develop myself away from the game. Over the last 18 months to two years, I've been trying to put plans in place for when cricket isn't there.

I am currently studying for a business management diploma and have been doing some work with local businesses, so to be recognised for something outside of cricket is something I am very proud of.

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