Tom Kohler-Cadmore is heading home after the Pakistan Super League was aborted following the confirmation of seven Coronavirus cases.
Six players have tested positive, leading to the Pakistan Cricket Board to cut short a competition which was due to run until March 22.
The PCB say the decision was taken “following a meeting with team owners and considering the health and well-being of all participants”.
It was a similar case last year at the start of Covid, with the competition completed just before Christmas. It may be that something similar happens with this edition later this year.
Kohler-Cadmore had posted scores of 53 and 46 in four innings for Peshawar Zalmi. His 53 came on debut against Multan Sultans last month whilst batting at three.
He was then elevated to open alongside former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal, with Zalmi winning three of their five matches.
It is now likely Kohler-Cadmore will be available for Yorkshire’s pre-season friendly programme later this month.
Adam Lyth was also taking part in the PSL, but he had been forced to cut short his commitments earlier than yesterday’s postponement following a calf injury.
The opening batsman did not play a game for the Multan and returned to Emerald Headingley to recuperate.
Yorkshire are confident of Lyth’s availability for the opening LV= Insurance County Championship match of the season on April 8, against Glamorgan at Headingley.
All-rounder Jordan Thompson, meanwhile, is also nursing a calf injury, but his participation against Glamorgan would seem to be less certain.
Thompson suffered a grade two tear in his left calf whilst in the gym at Headingley late last month, and the man himself believes Glamorgan could come slightly too soon for him.
He said: “I should be fit around a week or two before the season, but it’s just about whether or not I get enough overs in leading up to that first game.”
Rich Pyrah is set to assume the lead coaching responsibilities during Yorkshire’s Royal London one-day Cup campaign later this summer whilst Andrew Gale takes up an assistant’s position in the Northern Superchargers coaching team for the inaugural Hundred.
Gale will work alongside Darren Lehmann with the Superchargers men throughout the Hundred in late July and August.
It is a replica of the plan which was due to happen last summer before both the Hundred and RL50 competitions were cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
“Rich is an excellent bowling coach,” said Gale. “I can’t speak highly enough of the work he does with our seamers. He’s really grown into that role.
“It will be a different experience for him being a head coach. But it will good for his development.
“All new experiences are. We’ve both spent time in the Big Bash in the past and have worked with the England Under 19s this winter.
“No classroom sessions can teach you that. It will be great for Rich to learn on the job and see the other side of it.”
New Zealand are hoping Lockie Ferguson, Yorkshire’s new overseas Blast signing, will be fit to return to action following a back stress fracture at the end of this month.
Fast bowler Ferguson signed on to play for Yorkshire in this summer’s Vitality Blast earlier this week.
But the 29-year-old has not played any international or domestic cricket since November 30.
However, the Black Caps are planning to have him available for the start of their home T20 series against Bangladesh, starting on March 28.
They play a trio of one-day internationals beforehand.
New Zealand coach Gary Stead said: ”At this stage, he will meet up with the team around the time of the one-day series to put the finishing touches on things and make sure the intensity is where we want it to be.
“Then, if all goes well, he’ll be available for the Bangladesh T20 series.
“You never know how people react to it (the injury). But, in Lockie’s advantage, he’s strong, he’s fit and works very hard at that S&C (strength and conditioning) area. Hopefully all those things will have helped him in a quick recovery.”
Ferguson is then due to return to play in the Indian Premier League with Kolkata Knight Riders through April and May.
England’s women will conclude their six-match limited overs tours of New Zealand on Sunday, and they have already secured a double series win.
Yorkshire duo Katherine Brunt and Lauren Winfield-Hill, plus Northern Diamonds team-mate Nat Sciver, have all contributed to one-day and T20 success against the White Ferns.
England won the ODI series 2-1, with Brunt taking three wickets in two appearances. She then played in the opening T20 – England currently lead 2-0 with one to play – and claimed two cheap wickets.
Winfield-Hill has only played in the final ODI so far, scoring 11.
Sciver, meanwhile, has been an ever-present and has performed impressively.
She took five wickets in the ODI series, including 3-26 in the second ODI at Dunedin when she also hit 63 in the same game.
The all-rounder has so far taken two wickets in each of the two T20s at Wellington, also hitting 26 not out in the opening fixture.
The third and final T20 will also take place at Sky Stadium, Wellington on Sunday at 3am UK.
Not Yorkshire related, but certainly worthy of note. Kieran Pollard became only the eighth batsman to hit six sixes in a over during West Indies T20 international win over Sri Lanka on Wednesday.
The WIndies captain smashed spinner Akila Dananjaya at the Coolidge ground in Antigua in a resounding win, chasing 132 inside 14 overs with four wickets to spare.
Pollard follows Sir Garfield Sobers, Ravi Shastri, Herschelle Gibbs, Yuvraj Singh, Ross Whiteley, Hazratullah Zazai and Leo Carter in achieving the feat in international or first-team domestic cricket.
Amazingly, in his previous over on Wednesday, Dananjaya had taken a hat-trick, removing Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran.
On the above list, Whiteley did it for Worcestershire against Yorkshire in a Vitality Blast fixture at Emerald Headingley in 2017, hoisting Karl Carver over the ropes in a game Yorkshire won.
In 2013, former Lancashire batsman Jordan Clark hit Gurman Randhawa for six sixes at Scarborough in a Roses second-team fixture.
