RYAN Sidebottom has spoken of his pride at being awarded a two-month testimonial by Yorkshire next summer, hinting that 2017 could be his last year as a player.

The veteran seamer will be honoured by the club during his 20th year as a player, with events taking place during August and September.

Sidebottom’s fellow seamer Steve Patterson will enjoy his own testimonial through the rest of the year.

Sidebottom recently signed a new one-year contract at Headingley.

And, during Thursday evening’s End of Season awards dinner, he was handed a special memento for taking his 1,000th wicket in all forms of county cricket back in April.

“I’m very honoured and privileged to have been awarded that testimonial,” said the left-armer, who will be 39 in January.

“For the club to honour my achievements in the game, I’m really happy.

“It’s my 20th year as a pro next year, and I don’t know whether I’ll go on any longer than that.

“I still love turning up every day, competing, performing and taking wickets for Yorkshire.

“The club is steeped in history. I’m the 150th capped player, and there’s not many who have that.

“To be part of the history, the players that have been and gone, it means the world to me.

“All the hard work has paid off, and to be part of it all, winning trophies, is amazing.”

Tim Bresnan was the main award winner on Thursday, taking home the Players’ and Members’ Player of the Year awards at an event which doubled as coach Jason Gillespie’s farewell bash.

The Australian flew home to Adelaide yesterday after five years in charge of the county.

The search for his replacement is well underway, with names from home and abroad linked to a post which Gillespie took on ahead of 2012 after relegation from Division One of the County Championship.

And Bresnan says whoever takes over has a tough act to follow.

“He’s going to be irreplaceable, really,” said the all-rounder.

“Dizzy’s been absolutely fantastic for me in my career. I grew up playing with him and then he came to coach us at a time when we were in a transition.

“He gave us that freedom to go out and express ourselves.

“He gave us a lot of clarity and brought a simplicity to everything we did.

“Ruthless simplicity was his mantra - we’ve stuck to that. It’s served us really well.

“He’s going to be massively missed by all the players and the support staff, and it’s going to be difficult for whoever comes in to fill his shoes.

“We wish him all the best in whatever he does going forward. I’m sure he’ll give it a good crack.”