It was a funny old season in 2013 for Yorkshire batsman Joe Sayers.

On the field, there were a number of low points. He played only five LV= County Championship matches, yielding 57 runs, for example.

As his team-mates were going for gold in the Championship, this experienced left-hander was doing the hard yards on the second XI circuit at cricketing outposts such as Northop Hall and Barnt Green.

Since returning from a career threatening illness – Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome – ahead of the 2010 season, nailing down his place in all forms of first-team cricket has been tough for the affable left-handed opener.

He was also involved in that hard to forget Roses Twenty20 hammering at Emirates Old Trafford in July when Lancashire won by eight wickets with nine overs to spare as they chased just 125.

It was a bittersweet evening for Sayers – more bitter than sweet!

It may have been a proud moment as it was his first direct involvement in a Roses Twenty20 tie but added to defeat he suffered a thigh injury which would severely disrupt the rest of his summer.

Off the field, there was something to be proud of. He became an author last month after publishing ‘Rose-Tinted Summer – The Dressing Room Diary’.

Sayers, an Oxford Univer-sity graduate with a BA in Physics, chose to write a behind-the-scenes account of the White Rose county’s quest for silverware in their 150th year.

He provides an honest view of a county cricketer’s life throughout the year, starting at the club’s Sesquicentennial Soiree at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield back in January, to their pre-season tour of Barbados and through the hectic nature of the county campaign.

He provides deep analyses of the highs and lows of his form while mixing it with snippets of dressing room humour. Adam Lyth is often the butt of the mickey taking!

Sayers also reveals plenty of things of interest through-out this insightful book.

In a pre-season chat with Rich Pyrah, readers learn that the all-rounder may never again get full feeling back into the two outermost fingers on his left hand after a fielding accident in early 2012.

He also sat down and chatted at length with Joe Root in September about the whirlwind 12 months that had propelled his career in the right direction.

Sayers enjoyed some encouragement with the willow in Twenty20 cricket prior to his injury, demonstrating good form in small doses.

All Yorkshire fans will hope he can build on that through the winter and get back in the runs in 2014.

* Rose-tinted Summer – The Dressing Room Diary is published by Great Northern Books. It is available at £17.99.