FORMER Yorkshire Cricket Club captain, Phil Carrick, died in Airedale Hospital on Tuesday, at the age of 47,

Carrick, who was the last Yorkshire skipper to win a major trophy, had been suffering from leukaemia for some time.

He lived in West Morton with his wife, Ellie, and daughters Emma, 19, and Phillipa. He hoped to leave the hospital briefly on the day he died to join Phillipa's 18th birthday celebrations.

He became Yorkshire captain in 1987 and held the post for three years. In his first season in charge he led the White rose county to victory over Northamptonshire at Lords to lift the Benson and Hedges Cup.

He was born in Bramley, but played cricket in the Bradford League before being taken on to the County staff in 1970. When he retired in 1993 he had become one of Yorkshire's leading all-rounders with 1,018 first class wickets and was just six runs short of the magical 10,000, ending his career with 9,994 runs.

He was the first Yorkshire player to publicly back calls to open up the county to overseas players.

After retiring from a second career in the Bradford League last summer, he hoped to join the list of First Class umpires and was also looking forward to working as a summariser on Radio Four's cricket coverage.

Yorkshire chief executive, Chris Hassell said: "He made an enormous contribution to Yorkshire Cricket for well over 20 years and his record speaks for itself. He will be remembered for his shrewd captaincy, his fine all-round talents and his love of the game.

"All our thoughts now go to Ellie and their two daughters."

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