A week on from Yorkshire’s Under 18s County Cup final success and Tom Craddock has described it as “just very special”.
Craddock, the Yorkshire Academy lead coach, watched his side beat Middlesex at Kibworth in Leicestershire by 36 runs, with a host of contributors led by Jack Redshaw’s superb 103 off 129 balls.
The Academy found themselves in early trouble having elected to bat on what proved a tricky pitch, slipping to 50-4, including the loss of newly signed rookie professional Noah Kelly.
But Redshaw, in his final game for the Academy, steered a revival alongside captain Jawad Akhtar, who contributed a valuable 69 off 106 balls.
The pair shared 167 for the fifth wicket to ensure a total of 247-8 from their 50 overs.
In reply, Middlesex lost regular wickets and were bowled out for 211. Bradley Sylvester took the new ball and claimed 3-28 from six overs and fellow seamer Charlie Taylor returned 3-22 from 6.1.
“It was a great day for everyone, players, coaches and, especially the families and parents who have put all the hard work in to get their kids up and down the country,” said Craddock, the former Essex and Yorkshire leg-spinner.
“There are a few lads who are transitioning out of the Academy and Pathway, and it was something they will remember.
“The knock Jack played was amazing.
“Jack received news that he wasn’t going to be signed by the club about a month ago.
“But to see him get a score in the semi-final (64 in semi-final versus Leicestershire last month) and then the final – knowing it was his last game for Yorkshire – was something very special.
“He’ll remember that for a long time.
“Before the game, the night before, we spoke about the strength of this team being that we’re a team and we can win from any position.
“We said, ‘When things don’t go our way tomorrow, we make sure we still believe’.
“Low and behold, it didn’t go well in the first 10 and we were 50-4!
“But Jawad went out with Jack and they put on 160-odd.
“They wrestled things back and gave us chance to have a bit of a launch at the end.
“It was a tricky pitch. It moved around all day off the seam and through the air, and it spun and bounced. It wasn’t a poor pitch or anything like that, just a bit more difficult than we thought it might be.
“To be able to recover from 50-4 and get up to 247 was a remarkable effort.
“Then the boys got stuck in in the field and got the job done.”
With the size of Yorkshire’s recovery, chasing that target was always likely to be a challenge for Middlesex’s fledglings.
“Middlesex were up and about in that first 20 overs, but the lads soaked it up and began to reapply in a different method to what we see normally,” reflected Craddock.
“It was back to, ‘Can we rotate spin and go at four-an-over’. Hopefully they then give you a few boundary balls to go at, which they did.
“They actually bowled quite well at the death and pegged us back. But we had the momentum at half-time.
“We all thought it was par at halfway and knew that if we bowled well up top, we’d make it difficult.
“Alex Wade bowled unbelievably well (0-41 from nine overs) alongside Bradley Sylvester, who picked up three wickets. The partnership they created up top allowed one of them to take three.
“Charlie Taylor backed it up beautifully.”
Craddock continued: “Everybody contributed.
“Josh Hen-Boisen picked up two wickets, Josh Hoyle one when it mattered, Jawad bowled his 10 overs for 42.”
Yorkshire’s performance was capped off by a brilliant direct hit run out at the striker’s from Tom Fraine in the backward point region as Middlesex’s chance passed them by at 201-9.
It broke a ninth-wicket partnership of 71 between captain Eddie Campion and Samarjeet Singh.
“That run out was amazing,” said Craddock.
“They had a partnership, started to get close and then had a mix-up. Frainey had one stump to hit and he did.
“Everybody stepped up throughout the whole competition, and it is teams who win Championships and not individuals.
“They’re a brilliant group of young men who want to compete for the county. They care deeply about Yorkshire, they love it. Whatever comes in the future, nobody knows. But it was a memory that will last a lifetime.
“We’ve been without Harvey Round and Louie Owens all season through back injuries, Matty Firbank has just picked up a back problem as well.
“That allowed for Brad and Charlie to step up and compete.
“To watch them do what they did in a national final when they’re on the Emerging Players Programme was awesome.”
And Craddock added: “We think this is a special group of cricketers with a lot of talent.
“They got to the Under 16s final last year and didn’t quite get over the line against Middlesex, they were also a part of the Under 18s T20 final last year and didn’t get over the line against Surrey.
“Now, as a group of Under 17s effectively, they’ve just got over the line in an Under 18s One-Day final.
“We have another year with them, so they’re an exciting bunch.”
