Yorkshire are Finals Day bound in the ongoing Second XI T20 competition after a stunning run of eight wins from eight group matches.
And more impressive than that, they are on course for a second title in as many seasons.
Coach Tom Smith’s side are already the reigning champions in the four-day Championship competition, winning that title last year.
Now, they are just two games away from securing some more silverware, qualifying for the second-team showpiece at Wormsley on Thursday June 15.
It really has been a remarkable run of T20 performances for Yorkshire’s seconds, none more so than yesterday at Nottinghamshire when Will Fraine crashed brilliant back-to-back centuries opening the batting.
In a friendly win over the South Asian Cricket Academy last month, openers Will Luxton and James Wharton also hit centuries and batted through the innings at Weetwood to post an eye-catching 257-0.
Both men have since been elevated to Yorkshire’s first-team squad for the Vitality Blast, and Luxton has made his debut.
It would be absolutely no surprise to see Fraine return to that fold as well soon enough.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Will Fraine.
“It’s been good fun in the seconds,” said Luxton, who reflected on that remarkable 257-0 scorecard.
“It was very tiring,” he smiled. “We couldn’t actually believe that we were still going after 20 overs. We thought we’d chip one in the air to someone, somewhere, but it never happened.”
It hasn’t gone quite so swimmingly for Luxton in the Blast, with a nought and four to his name in the last two games against Nottinghamshire and Lancashire.
Last year, in the Second XI T20 competition, the Vikings finished bottom of the North Group with just one win from their 10 matches.
Luxton, 20, has had a solid start to the summer with the bat in the second-team and has given his view on why results are in such stark contrast to last season.
“I think we’ve got more experience in the team this year,” he said. “Last year, we were very young with a lot of trialists.
“We’ve all learnt from last year. If you ask any of the coaches, they’ll tell you that some of the stuff we were doing last year, we aren’t this. We’ve all just got that little bit smarter.”
And what about chasing a second trophy at that level in as many years?
The former England Under 19s batter added: “It just goes to show the good work of the coaches and how confident and free the players are at the minute.”
The seconds have two T20 group fixtures remaining. They face Lancashire at Ramsbottom on Tuesday afternoon and Derbyshire at Belper on Thursday afternoon.
