Matthew Waite is loving life in Yorkshire colours at present, highlighted by his role as an entertainer with the bat in their Royal London Cup batting line-up.
Waite, aged 25, has had some tough times in recent years as injuries have forced him onto the sidelines for lengthy periods.
So it is heartening to see the all-rounder, first of all, performing well and also speaking about that progression with such enthusiasm.
Waite has taken nine wickets in five Group B matches so far, including 5-59 in the victory over Leicestershire at Grace Road. He also claimed two with the new ball in Tuesday’s win over Warwickshire at York.
But it was his performance with the bat against the Bears at Clifton Park which got tongues wagging.
He came in and smashed 42 not out off 16 balls, including 30 runs in a final over of the innings which included three fours and as many sixes.
It boosted the total up to a commanding 320 and, in the end, proved vital as Yorkshire won by 39 runs.
Waite returns to York tomorrow to face Nottinghamshire (11am), with the Vikings searching for a third win in six games and one which should see them move into the top three places in the Group B table.
“Basically, going in and trying to clear the rope from ball one is what I worked on all winter,” he said.
“That’s going to be my role, and it’s pleasing that it came off. To do that was really pleasing.
“I used to be quite good hitting sixes against spin and not so much against seam. But that’s what I’ve tried to do in the winter, work on hitting sixes against seam.
“It came off against Warwickshire, and a couple of times earlier in the season I managed to do it as well.”
Ironically, before his blitz on Tuesday, Waite watched a short feature Sky Sports did with Liam Livingstone and Kevin Pietersen about the key to six-hitting.
“I watched that on Monday night,” he said.
“What I’ve been working on is trying to snap my back hip through when I hit the ball, and that’s exactly what Liam Livingstone was on about.
“Watching that documentary, it just backed up that that is what all the big hitters in the game try to do.”
Last month, Livingstone famously cleared the Emerald Stand with a monster strike in England’s T20 international against Pakistan at Headingley.
So, does Waite think he could follow suit?
“I can’t believe Livingstone did that!” he said.
“Jordan Thompson hit a couple (in the Vitality Blast) which were massive and got nowhere near.
“No, I don’t think I’ll get close.”
Yorkshire are set for an exciting end to the RL50 competition.
An inexperienced side missing 10 players to the Hundred and playing with no pressure on them, the Vikings are firmly in the hunt for knockout cricket.
But coach Rich Pyrah said: “I’m purposefully not looking at the table.
“I don’t even know where we are because it’s not about the results.
“This competition is about watching these young lads develop.
“If we’re in a better place at the end than we were at the start, we’ll be happy.
“We’ve said that we’ll be inconsistent, but we are seeing improvement.
“Their challenge is now to go and beat a strong Nottinghamshire team who are near the top of the table I think. It will be a great challenge.”
A win tomorrow will take Yorkshire to seven points with two games remaining, leapfrogging Notts in the process. They currently hold third place, though Surrey could take that spot by tomorrow morning as they face Somerset today.
Duanne Olivier will miss the game after suffering a recurrence of the back pain which sidelined him for a month before playing in Tuesday’s win over Warwickshire.
