Harry Brook has described England’s T20 World Cup success in Australia late last year as the highlight of his career so far.
Yorkshire star Brook has enjoyed a dream winter, helping England to white ball success Down Under, scoring his first three Test centuries in Pakistan just before Christmas in a rampant 3-0 series win and earning a £1.3m Indian Premier League deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The 23-year-old has been spending some valuable time at home ahead of a busy few months, and has been training at Headingley with his Yorkshire team-mates.
“I don’t know if I could have said that in the first ever T20 World Cup that I’d play, I would end on winning it,” he said.
“That’s got to be the highlight of my career so far, and hopefully I can get another one or two World Cup medals to go alongside it. That month, especially, was unbelievable. I’m so glad I came away with that medal and nobody can ever take it away from me.”
Brook is part of England’s squad for a three-match ODI series in South Africa, starting next Friday, alongside county colleagues Dawid Malan and Adil Rashid.
The Burley-in-Wharfedale star is yet to play a one-day game for his country having excelled in the other two formats.
Early next week, we will be publishing a feature with Brook, who has been reflecting on his winter and looking ahead at what is to come for him in 2023.
Matthew Fisher is another Yorkshire player who will be representing England in the coming weeks, the fast bowler in Lions colours on their tour of Sri Lanka.
Fisher is in both 16-player squads for Test and one-day games against Sri Lanka A in Colombo and Galle.
The Lions play two four-day Tests and three ODIs between January 31 and February 21.
The tour begins on Wednesday with a three-day warm-up match against a Sri Lanka Cricket Board XI.
In keeping with England representation, Northern Diamonds duo Emma Marlow and Lizzie Scott are with the women’s Under 19s squad playing in the T20 World Cup in South Africa, the pair helping the Three Lions make a winning start to their title bid.
Both players have played two out of the first three games, all of which England have won against Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Rwanda at a canter to sail through to the Super Six stage.
The top three teams in each of the four groups qualify for the Super Six stage, where each side plays two further fixtures added to points carried forward from the initial group phase. The top two teams in each of the two Super Six groups then qualifies for the semi-finals next Friday in Potchefstroom.
The final is also in Potch a week on Sunday.
Both Harrogate-born off-spinner Marlow and Hexham new ball seamer Scott have had almost identical campaigns, both being miserly but going wicketless so far.
England face Ireland at 8am UK tomorrow to start the Super Six stage before tackling the West Indies at 11.45am on Wednesday. Matches are streamed on icc.tv.
Yorkshire Cricket Foundation (YCF) – the county club’s official charity – have announced a number of new cricket kit recycling hubs in the region to continue to help support accessibility in the game.
New Cric-Kit recycling hubs will open at Headingley, Park Avenue in Bradford and the Sheffield Caribbean Sports Club – where people can donate and receive cricket kit for free.
The Cric-Kit recycling programme, launched last September in partnership with Zero Waste Leeds, who run the Together for Sport initiative, aims to create awareness and a culture across Yorkshire and the UK whereby donating, recycling and reusing sports clothing is done more frequently to help break down barriers in communities to participation.
First-team players Jonny Tattersall and Dom Leech were present at the launch event at Headingley on Tuesday and donated some kit, as did Harry Brook.
For further information, visit: www.yorkshirecricketfoundation.com
Adil Rashid has helped the Pretoria Capitals make a flying start to the ongoing SAT20 competition, with the Centurion based side winning three of their opening four matches.
Yorkshire leg-spinner Rashid has taken five wickets in four matches for a side featuring compatriots Phil Salt and Will Jacks. Director of cricket Darren Gough is in South Africa commentating on the event for host broadcaster SuperSport.
Over in the UAE, there is a greater Yorkshire presence in the ILT20 League, where the Gulf Giants lead the early ladder with three wins from three. Ottis Gibson is with that franchise as an assistant coach to Andy Flower.
Adam Lyth (Desert Vipers) and Jordan Thompson (MI Emirates) have yet to play a game, but Dawid Malan (Sharjah Warriors) and Joe Root (Dubai Capitals) have been regulars for their respective teams.
Malan has scored 32 runs in three innings so far, while Root has scored 52 in three.
Matches are televised daily from South Africa by Sky Sports and from the UAE by BT Sport respectively.
Shadab Khan, who was part of Yorkshire’s run to the final of last season’s Vitality Blast Finals Day as an overseas player, has signed for Sussex.
The Pakistani leg-spinner all-rounder will spend his second campaign in county cricket at Hove.
Khan, the 24-year-old Pakistan vice captain in limited overs cricket, scored 134 runs in 12 matches for the Vikings added to nine wickets.
“I love playing cricket in England,” he said. “I know Mushtaq Ahmed is a legend at Sussex, and it is an honour to follow in his footsteps.
“Sussex has a proud history, and I hope that my skillset will help the team achieve great things in the Blast this year.”
