George Hill admitted to a sense of relief after posting his career best 71 during the opening day of Yorkshire’s clash with Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.
The 20-year-old all-rounder was elevated to open the batting to help cover the losses of injured pair Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Will Fraine.
Hill has previously played 12 first-team games – three four-day games and nine T20s – with a best score of 29.
Here, the former Sedbergh School pupil was the White Rose’s standout player during an otherwise disappointing day as they were bowled out for 158 before seeing the hosts respond with 61-2.
“I’ve played a couple of games in the past and didn’t really feel like I did a huge amount,” he said. “So it’s nice to contribute to the team. It’s a bit of a relief to be honest.
“Galey and Patto had a chat to me the other day (about opening).
“I wasn’t that nervous going out to bat because I thought, ‘I haven’t got a huge amount to lose’.
“I haven’t really opened before, so I thought I would go out there, give it my all and dig in.
“I don’t know when I’ve opened before – maybe schools cricket in a T20! But it was good. I enjoyed it.”
On the state of the game, which is being played on a used pitch for recent Vitality Blast games, Hill said: “It’s not the easiest pitch to bat on with it being a bit up and down and starting to spin. But I still reckon 260 or 270 would have been a really good score on that.
“We can’t do a huge amount about that now. It’s about coming out tomorrow with the ball and trying to claw our way back into the game.
“Those wickets at the end were a huge boost.”
