Will Luxton and Ben Cliff remain on course to return to Headingley as World Cup winners as England Under 19s march on in the Caribbean.
England are through to next week’s semi-finals after chasing down 210 to beat South Africa in Antigua yesterday, including an unbeaten 47 from 18-year-old Luxton.
They will now play either Sri Lanka or Afghanistan next Tuesday in the last four.
England’s victory over South Africa was also thanks to four wickets for Leicestershire leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, who made his first-team debut against Yorkshire in last July’s Royal London Cup, and Jacob Bethell’s stunning 88 off 42 balls at the top of the order.
Left-handed Bethell made 66 against Yorkshire in Warwickshire’s Royal London defeat at York in August and made his first-class debut in the September Championship match at Headingley.
While Yorkshire seamer Cliff is yet to play having been elevated into the squad as a replacement player, Luxton has been an ever-present, scoring 141 runs in four matches with three scores in the forties.
England last won the Under 19s World Cup in 1998 when a squad captained by Owais Shah also included the likes of Rob Key, Graeme Swann and Michael Gough.
Former England Under 19s captain Harry Brook made his senior international debut in game three of the T20 series against the West Indies in Barbados last night – and the occasion was marked with a little taste of home.
Brook was handed his maiden England cap by former Yorkshire captain Anthony McGrath, who is with England as a consultant batting coach.
Essex coach McGrath, linked in the media very early on to the Headingley role Ottis Gibson has just filled, has been rewarded at international level for the excellent job he has done at Chelmsford.
Since moving up from Chris Silverwood’s assistant at the end of 2017, Bradfordian McGrath has won the County Championship and Vitality Blast double in 2019 and the Bob Willis Trophy in 2020.
Will Fraine has travelled out to Zimbabwe to fill the second half of his winter with some first-class cricket with the Mashonaland Eagles, scoring 14 on debut earlier this week.
Fraine is playing for the Eagles in the Logan Cup and faced Hampshire’s Nick Gubbins in a draw with Matabeleland Tuskers.
The Huddersfield-born batter is likely to play at least three more first-class games through February, added to the possibility of some white ball cricket, before returning to Headingley.
Fraine scored 658 runs in 24 appearances for Yorkshire last summer, including friendlies, with a best of 146 not against Northumberland in a one-day game at Scarborough.
He also hit a stunning 69 off 32 in a shortened Royal London Cup win over Derbyshire at Chesterfield.
Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid and David Willey are amongst the 30 English players who have put their names into next month’s Indian Premier League auction.
The Yorkshire quartet, all amongst the top two price brackets for players, will be offered to the 10 franchises, including new sides from Ahmedabad and Lucknow.
All four have previously played in the competition.
The auction takes place on February 12 and 13, with the competition itself expected to run from mid-April through to early June.
Northern Diamonds bowler Beth Langston played in two of the three A T20 friendlies between England and Australia in Adelaide last week, though was only offered one opportunity to bowl.
Langston bowled two overs for 17 in the second T20 clash, with the Australians won by 10 wickets chasing 151.
Having also lost the series opener, England were not afforded the chance to claim a consolatory win in game three when it was washed out with the hosts at 3-0 after five balls chasing 159.
The two teams start a three-match one-day series in Canberra tomorrow when Langston will hope for more chances to shine.
Former Yorkshire leg-spinner Josh Poysden has started his post playing career by taking on a role in talent management with global sports management and marketing agency TLA Worldwide.
Poysden was released from Headingley at the end of last season alongside fast bowler Mat Pillans, and he is working for an agency who represents a host of cricketers and global sports stars.
Last night, they tweeted their congratulations to ‘Team TLA’ representative Harry Brook on his senior England debut, while the Australian and English based company also list Aaron Finch, Adam Peaty and Sir Chris Hoy amongst their talent.
Poysden said on social media that he was “really excited” to be starting his new role.
