Steve Patterson has admitted his delight at Matthew Fisher’s England Test call for the ongoing tour of the West Indies.
The Yorkshire captain is hoping a place in the squad develops into a debut cap for his fellow seamer across the three-match series, which starts on Tuesday.
Patterson and his county colleagues will be watching on with interest from Dubai, where they head to on pre-season tour on Sunday.
“It’s fantastic for Fish,” said Patterson. “For me, at this stage of my career, I get more pleasure out of seeing young lads gain success than I do my own achievements.
“This winter, to see Fish get picked on that tour has been brilliant. Hopefully he gets an opportunity to play.
“We’ve also had Harry Brook making his England debut, and him and Jordan Thompson have played in the Big Bash and the PSL. Dave Willey obviously got picked up in the IPL as well as playing in the PSL.
“It’s just really nice to see these guys get opportunities.”
Fisher, aged 24, initially earned his place in the England Lions squad for their pre-Christmas tour, where he impressed.
He then earned a call-up for this tour ahead of legends Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, and joins Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow in the Caribbean.
This has all come on the back of a superb end to last season when he claimed 18 wickets in the final four LV= Insurance County Championship matches, including a career best nine wickets in the win over Somerset at Scarborough.
“That was the first time he’d played three or four Championship games on the trot in his career,” said Patterson.
“Despite his age, he’s been around for a good few years, debuting in the first team at 15. So it was a significant moment for him.
“That performance against Somerset at Scarborough shows what he’s capable of.
“Whatever happens in the West Indies, I hope this year proves to be another step forward in his career. If we can see him grow into a senior player in that Championship side, he’s going to be a huge asset for us.”
Patterson and new coach Ottis Gibson will lead Yorkshire on a 10-day tour to Dubai this weekend.
“It will be good for the lads to get outside and get in the sunshine,” he said. “We’ve trained really hard throughout the winter, and we are all looking forward to focusing on the season.
“There are a lot of new staff in place, and it will be an opportunity to spend some time with them, get to know them and to build some relationships.
“The tour is going to be red ball dominated.
“The fact we have seven or eight rounds of Championship cricket before any of the T20 kicks in lends itself to that.
“It looks like we’re going to have slightly more availability in terms of our internationals than we’ve had historically. So come April 14 (opening Championship match – Gloucestershire at Bristol), we should be in a good place.
“We have a very talented and, in some areas, experienced squad.
“The challenge for us has always been availability and having our best players with us when we need them.
“Last year, we did reasonably well in all competitions without going on to win a trophy. If we can just improve on a couple of specific areas, we should have a really good chance of winning something this year.”
