MY TIME with the Yorkshire Academy has come to an end and next year I will be playing my league cricket on a Saturday for my home club Sheriff Hutton Bridge.

It's been a long stint with the Academy, something I've loved and believe has been very beneficial to my development. I made my debut aged 13 back in 2011 and progressed with more and more games for them over the next few years.

I remember having a good week in Taunton with Yorkshire Schools and Tony Pickersgill was our coach. A week or two later, I was playing on a Saturday for the Academy and settled in pretty quickly.

Being involved in the winter with the Academy was massive. It brought me on leaps and bounds being around older and better players. I think that's why I made my first-team debut so young.

The Academy being able to play Premier League cricket is so important. A lot of club teams get frustrated about their younger players leaving and playing Academy and maybe not getting the go they'd get for them. 'Why's he only bowling five overs or why's he batting down there?' That kind of thing.

But one of the most important things is getting them into that environment, where Ian Dews and Richard Damms as coaches can recreate what goes on in the first team.

You may not get the overs or time in the middle you would for a club team but it's all about learning off the coaches or more experienced players involved.

When I was young, it was Alex Lees or Adil Rashid or Steve Patterson, who I remember played the odd game. From learning that myself, I've been able to pass that on recently.

It's great for young lads to be playing against adults. Some days you'll get stick on the field and be put under pressure. You have to deal with that.

There are days when club teams get the better of us, not because of being better cricketers but because they are a bit more streetwise. It's all part of developing as a player.

The primary goal for the Academy team is to help develop players and look at players who Yorkshire believe have something to offer. That is probably why Dewsy and Dammsy sometimes say 'if we win the league, we're not doing our job properly'.

But it all came together for us in 2014 when we won the league and cup double. That was the group who progressed to win the second-team one-day Trophy this summer.

As I said in a column then, fingers crossed that will be the group of lads winning trophies in the firsts in a few years.

The likes of Will Rhodes, Jonny Tattersall, Josh Shaw and myself have all left the Academy, along with Jonathan Read, Jack Shutt, James Logan and Jordan Thompson. Next year it will be a younger age-group led by players like Harry Brook and Ed Barnes.

On Saturday, for example, we had four 16-years-olds playing. That was good to see. They might struggle for the first year or so but I'd expect them to push on after that.

Dewsy and Dammsy are the perfect double act in charge of that set-up and deserve huge credit.

In my younger career with the Academy, when I was just starting to break through into the seconds and then the firsts, Dewsy would always be the one to tell you that you were going up a level.

Jason Gillespie or Paul Farbrace would pick you but it would always be Dewsy who told you. Coming from him, that was always a great feeling.

He has a quote that will always stick with me: "Come into my office." It's as if you're in trouble but it's always positive news.

He knows a lot of the lads inside out and I know a lot of the first-team lads still use him because he knows their games.

Dammsy is just a breathe of fresh air. He's got the energy and enthusiasm. Whatever you want, throw-downs or just a chat, he'll always be there.

I had a bit of a joke on Twitter at the weekend saying I was available to be signed – but I'll definitely be playing for Sheriff Hutton Bridge next season.

There seems to be a lot of money in league cricket at the minute and I'm not sure how I feel about it all. For me, if you can play at your local club and give something back, that's the ideal scenario.

I realise I'm talking as someone who is lucky to get a salary from Yorkshire and other lads may need a bit of extra money.

But I don't think any money would entice me away from Bridge, where I want to be playing with my brothers and for a club who have helped to get me where I am today.