Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Will Luxton is thriving in Melbourne club cricket this winter.
Gavin Hamilton has hailed run machine Will Luxton’s exploits in Australia, with the Yorkshire young gun scoring three successive centuries – as captain – for Greenvale Kangaroos in Melbourne club cricket.
Luxton, 22, took over as their first-team skipper in the Victorian Premier competition late last month and hit a superb 120 from number four in a victory over Fitzroy Doncaster.
He has since followed that up with scores of 124 and 115, playing in the same team as White Rose colleague Ben Cliff.
Luxton’s talent has long been known down at Headingley and in Yorkshire Cricket circles.
But the summer just gone, the former England Under 19s star announced himself to the wider public with a stunning 90 not out in July’s Roses Vitality Blast win over Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford.
It was televised live by Sky Sports, and he shared a rip-roaring second-wicket partnership of 167 with centurion Jonny Bairstow that night.
It was one of three fifties in his Blast campaign.
Now, Luxton is announcing himself much further afield.
Hamilton, Yorkshire’s general manager of cricket, said: “Luxy is as good a talent as I’ve seen for a long time in terms of ball-striking. There’s not many in the country who hit it as clean as he does with so little effort.
“It’s no surprise to me that he’s taken his summer form to Australia.
“I think it will do him the absolute world of good out there because grade cricket is good cricket, it’s hard cricket. What a statement he’s made. Three hundreds on the bounce. They’re outstanding returns.”
At the start of August, Luxton signed a two-year contract extension to remain at Headingley until the end of the 2027 summer at least.
Hamilton added: “He’s very much part of our plans going forward, and he’s tracking exactly how we want him to track. We’re delighted he signed that extension so we can work with him and get him to the place where we think he’ll get to.
“In terms of progression, he’s doing everything we ask of him.
“He’s just a hard-working, good lad.
“He’s the kind of person we want around for the long-term future of the club.”
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Yorkshire’s general manager of cricket, Gavin Hamilton.
