Jack Shutt believes the ongoing Royal London Cup is aiding the development of young English spinners, as his performance in Yorkshire’s win over Glamorgan at Cardiff indicated.
Shutt claimed a career best 4-46 in only his seventh List A game, the off-spinner contributing to the Vikings’ third win in four Group B outings on Wednesday.
Yorkshire moved into the top three places in the table at the halfway mark of the group campaign having adapted best to a Sophia Gardens surface which got slower and slower as the day progressed.
The county now have a week’s break before their next game, against Essex at Chelmsford next Wednesday.
Shutt, 25, said: “All of the pitches we’ve played on in this competition have turned, which is nice. But that pitch definitely suited me. There was a bit of spin and it was holding.
“With the Essex game going forward, you never know. But you hope it might be one that does a bit as well.
“With a couple of games being at club grounds, they tend to spin a bit more. Plus, with the Hundred going on, you might get a bit of a used one when you get onto a main ground.
“It’s great to see for all the spinners around, and hopefully we’ll get a few more.”
Yorkshire’s 23-run success defending 258 represented their second straight win against the competition champions having also beaten them in last year’s fixture.
“It’s a really good win,” said Shutt. “They won the competition last year, so to beat them is a really positive sign for the group. We’re really happy.
“This group has some young lads in it, but we’re starting to get more and more experience.
“Tatt captaining the side, he’s quite an experienced player.
“He’s been really good. He’s very calm and has good people skills, which are two things you need for the role. He’s doing a very good job.
“He’s not really done it in first-team cricket before, but he has done in the second team. So I’m not really surprised that he’s doing so well.”
The Vikings qualified for the knockout stages last year with four wins from eight games, and they already have three from four to their name this.
With a number of teams going well so far, it is likely more than four wins will be required for progression this time around. But the signs are good.
“There’s a good vibe amongst the lads,” added Shutt. “We’re playing some good cricket and we’re pretty confident. But we just have to take it one game at a time.
“Hopefully we’ll do that and get our next win down at Essex.”
Given there is a week between games, assistant coach Ali Maiden, who is leading the team in this competition, has given the players the best part of four days off to rest and recuperate.
“The lads will do a bit of work in the gym, just to keep their bodies ticking over,” said Maiden. “But we won’t train until Monday now.
“We have a bit of time off now before another busy period, which will clearly help us.”
