Yorkshire’s Will Fraine praised York Cricket Club for producing a pitch ideal for County Championship cricket.
Fraine’s 42 was one of a quartet of useful contributions in the White Rose’s 208-8 from 66.4 overs on a rain-affected opening day against Warwickshire at Clifton Park.
The 23-year-old has made an encouraging start to life as the county’s new opener in three games since replacing Harry Brook, but he is keen to push on.
A significantly rain-affected day saw 29 overs lost, with Fraine insisting Yorkshire are still very much in the game, despite an afternoon loss of 5-8 from 10.1 overs.
“Credit to York, they’ve produced a pretty good cricket wicket,” said the Huddersfield-born right-hander.
“If the bad ball’s there, it will go for four. If the bowler gets it right, it will offer a bit.
“The pitch is playing nicely, and we’re all happy with it. There’s a bit of bounce and carry, and the bowlers will be licking their lips for the next couple of days.”
Fraine shared in the day’s highest partnership, 85 for the second wicket either side of lunch with Gary Ballance – he posted a top-score of 54 – to recover from 8-1 early in the day.
“It was a rollercoaster day wasn’t it,” he said.
“Myself and Gary (Ballance) were happy up front. They bowled pretty well. We had a plan to get through Jeetan Patel and take advantage of any bad balls.
“Then mine was a soft dismissal. I don’t know how I’ve hit it there (mid-wicket).
“Then we had a bad 10 overs. But credit to them, they bowled well.
“Patto (Steve Patterson) and Dave (Willey) have played well to get us into a position where we’re not behind the game. We would like a few more runs, but we’ve still got some batting to go. We’ll take it how we can.
“We’re just disappointed with that little phase, but we’ll address that.”
This 42 off 80 balls was Fraine’s career best in his eighth first-class game.
“I keep forgetting I’ve got a 65 not out which doesn’t class as first-class because it was a Uni game,” he added. “But it’s promising for me. I’m feeling good in the nets and in the middle. It’s just about getting that big score and pushing on.
“I’ve had a couple of 40s, a 20-odd and a low score. It’s just about being a bit more ruthless and making sure that when I do get through the hard spell early on with the new ball I cash in, get the team in a good spot and get my name out there.”
