David Byas

The most memorable - a skier from Glamorgan's Steve Jones at his Scarborough home ground in 2001 - sealed the White Rose county's first County Championship triumph since 1968.

So when 44-year-old Byas says he wants to put something back into the game that he graced as the most professional of professionals, you know the future of junior cricket will be in safe hands.

Byas, a farmer at Kilham in East Yorkshire throughout his playing days, has recently taken up the full-time post of director of coaching and development at Pocklington School.

He has also returned to Scarborough Cricket Club, where his considerable batting talents first came to the fore in the late seventies, in a part-time capacity as cricket manager with the aim of starting a cricket academy.

"I want to see the development of some young players in the local area who can come through to emulate what I have done," he said.

"I want to try and pass on what I have learned in the professional game to the juniors. Hopefully, that will bring more players through to county standard.

"I've had 20 years as a player, captain and coach, and if I can look back and say I helped somebody achieve greater things than I did, I would say that will do for me'."

Byas, who has spent the summer coaching umpires with the England and Wales Cricket Board, is quick to acknowledge the role Scarborough played in his development.

"I started my career at Scarborough in 1978/79 as a second team player and came through," he said.

"I was very lucky to be involved in a good, mature side where you couldn't help but learn, improve and develop.

"I enjoyed that and prospered into the pro game and, with this new role at the club, it feels as though I've gone full circle."

During the seventies and eighties, North Marine Road-based Scarborough were one of the leading forces in the game below county level.

A record five National Knockout Cups were added to the trophy cabinet - two in Byas' era. Now he is keen to help restore those glory days.

He said: "They are putting together a structure which, at a cricketing level, will restore them to the level that many people - myself included - had the pleasure of being involved at many years ago.

"It's very exciting for me to have the opportunity of assisting in that.

"When I started off there, I could not have played at a better club anywhere in the country to give me a stepping stone."

Byas initially repaid Scarborough in runs, memorably scoring a then Yorkshire League record 1,349 in the 1984 season - a mark which stood for 19 years.

He amassed more than 15,000 runs in the first-class game, including 29 centuries and a career best 213 - at Scarborough (where else), making him one of only five Yorkshire players to achieve the feat at North Marine Road.

After a surprise season-long stint as a player at Lancashire in 2002, Byas was installed as Yorkshire coach in 2004. His 20-year association with the Tykes ended in January.

One piece of memorabilia will forever be absent from Byas' collection - an England Test cap.

In 1995, a year in which he was first to 1,000 runs and totalled 1,913 in all, Byas came as close as any player can.

With Graeme Hick and Michael Atherton doubtful starters against the West Indies at The Oval, Byas was summoned as 12th man.

However, the pair miraculously recovered, Byas' window of opportunity closed and the following year he opted to dedicate himself to his new role as Tykes skipper.

"I look back on my career with a lot of pride, but I would have loved a crack at the highest level," he said.

"I got very close in 1995. In the end, they went with Hick and Atherton. So I got as close as being in the team hotel the night before! That's life.

"It wasn't for the lack of trying. I wouldn't have done anything differently. I worked hard at it and used the ability that I had.

"After that, I took on the captaincy at Yorkshire and put everything I had into the team. I loved the challenge of that."

The opener's unwavering dedication to the Headingley cause was finally rewarded with the long-awaited title in 2001, sealed with his famous catch.

"What happened in 2001 was an amazing script," he said. "It was at my home ground where it all started and I took the final catch.

"It was a wonderful day and to have won the title for the first time in 30-odd years was very special. Words cannot describe how that felt.

"It was the result of a lot of hard work and commitment from a lot of people. We kept faith with each other and it bore fruit on that day."

Yorkshire are on the verge of emulating Byas' title-winning achievements.

As his former county prepared to take on Sussex at Hove today in a top of the table tussle, Byas' opinion on the title race was typically to the point.

"It is theirs to lose," he said.