The Yorkshire County Cricket Club is delighted to have regained the services of prodigious young opening batsman Will Fraine on a three-year deal.
Fraine, 22, who signed his first professional deal with Nottinghamshire in May this year, having played for the county’s Second XI and featured for Durham MCCU, is scheduled to link up with his White Rose team-mates for a full pre-season from November.
“I’m absolutely ecstatic to get started already,” said the Huddersfield-born, top-order batsman.
“To be honest it’s something I never thought I would get. I never thought I would play for Yorkshire, but I’ve always had the dream to do it. So it really is like a dream come true.
“There’s always that pull of being a Yorkie lad. All my friends speak of one day playing for Yorkshire. I never thought it would happen because I made my own way elsewhere.
“It was a difficult decision but the opportunities and the place where the club is going, was too much of a pull. Settling back in with the lads that I’ve known growing up makes me very happy with the decision I’ve made.
“Yorkshire have a rich history and, despite the supporters and club being aware of transition, with the new talent they’ve brought in and the existing quality that is already there, it could be a really exciting place to be within the next two or three years”
Fraine is a product of the long-standing MCCU system, where he has enjoyed considerable and consistent success for Durham. That, coupled with his recent Second XI successes have seen several First-Class Counties closely follow his progress. He has just completed a degree in Sport, Exercise and Physical Activity at Collingwood College and recently played in the 100-ball trial between the North and South at Trent Bridge.
“It has been one hell of a journey!” he added. “I first played for Yorkshire when I was 14 and I played age-group cricket and the Academy since I was 16-17 and then I went to boarding School down in Worcester and played for Worcestershire for three years.
“I went on to Durham UNI where I played for the MCCU and captained it last year. I had a really good start to Uni last year and got a hundred against Sussex and 60-odd not out against Durham in the First-Class stuff and I caught the eye of a couple of people. At the time Notts was the right place to go for me. Going from playing on a Saturday, Uni cricket or twos to being on Sky TV it’s been a summer of learning and a summer of real highs.
“I’m really excited to progress and give it my best go at Yorkshire now.”
The former Silcoates pupil, who plays his club cricket Honley CC in Holmfirth, Huddersfield, enjoyed a memorable May when he played for Honley on the Saturday, scored 58 for Notts 2nd XI on the Monday, trained with the Notts first team the very next day and then signed, and travelled, to Lancashire on the Thursday with a university deadline due Friday.
He added: “My car has certainly got some mileage on it. Since I’ve been sixteen I’ve spent more time away from home than I have been at home. It will be so exciting to have a base and work on my cricket this winter and be around familiar faces that I’ve known growing up. I’ve played age-group stuff with Waitey, Warner and Fisher, I know all of those guys and Harry Brook – it will be nice to integrate back into that group and fit back in to where I once was as a youngster.
“Yorkshire seem to be in a really exciting spot. They’ve made a few new signings and on top of that the youngsters are really coming out. But there’s also a lot of experience like Lythy and Gary Ballance which clearly we can pick their brains and learn a lot from.
“For me it’s all about working really hard this winter. I got a taste of first-team cricket this year; the standard and skill required to play at that level, so I’m just looking to settle well and contribute to winning games for Yorkshire.”
Martyn Moxon, the Club’s Director of Cricket added: “He’s a talented young batsman. He’s very much someone with the future in mind and hopefully he’ll develop in to an outstanding cricketer for us. He’s Yorkshire born and bred and has been in our system as a junior, so it’s good to have him back. He’s looking forward to getting back here with us and we’re looking forward to having him back with us.
“We’re trying to build a squad for now and for the future. He’s a medium to long-term signing for us. He’s going to be challenging for places for us but there’s no guarantees. We see him as someone for the future and we’re building up a group of really good young batsmen that we’ll see the best of in coming years.
“We’re trying to get that balance of giving our own a chance, but at the same time winning. We’re under pressure to win at Yorkshire and under pressure to win every game.
“We’ve known about him for a little while and this season we were interested in having a look at him but Notts signed him for the season, so we weren’t able to play him in our second team this year. Speaking to Paul Grayson who has had him at Durham University; he rates him very highly and obviously he’s played 2nd XI cricket for Notts. We see him very much as someone who is another very exciting prospect for the future.”
