Tom Smith has been reflecting on Yorkshire’s summer at second-team level and said: “It’s been really good.”
The county’s Second XI coach has been delighted by progression of many up and comers alongside more senior heads such as Harry Duke, for example, whose four-day Championship haul of 826 runs was the highest in the country.
Wicketkeeper-batter Duke ended the season in style last month with an eye-catching 255 in a high-scoring defeat against Middlesex at Merchant Taylors’ School. It was Yorkshire’s third highest ever score at that level. Fin Bean’s famous 441 in mid-2022 still leads the way.
Yorkshire missed out on silverware, but they continue to challenge under Smith, who has long insisted that such success is a bonus to go alongside such goals as progressing players.
Red ball Championship winners in 2022, they have reached T20 Finals Day in each of the last two summers.
“We got to T20 Finals Day for the second year running, semi-final last year and final this year at Wormsley, losing to Somerset in the final. Fingers crossed, we’ll win it next year!” smiled Smith.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Harry Duke scored a fabulous double century against Middlesex last month.
More importantly, three youngsters – Jawad Akhtar, Noah Kelly and Alex Wade – have all gained their maiden professional rookie contracts.
“For me, I’ve almost noticed a change in that some guys have pushed forwards into the first team like Cliffy, Luxton, etc,” continued the former England Lions all-rounder.
“That creates space underneath for a few more Academy players to come in.
“It’s almost starting again at that younger end.
“I look at Well Bennison, Jawad Akhtar, we have a big left-arm seamer, a young lad called Tom Bradley. He had some opportunities at the back end of the year.
“It’s been a really good year for giving opportunities to young players and seeing where they’re at, seeing what they’ve worked hard on in the pathway and Academy.”
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Fast bowler Alex Wade is one of three new rookie professionals at Headingley.
Performance wise, Yorkshire finished top of the T20 North Group before beating Surrey in the semi-final and losing to Somerset in the final. In the Championship, the county finished 13th in the table with one win, six draws and three defeats. Nottinghamshire were champions.
Smith reflected: “In the red ball stuff, I think we lost 1,400 overs to rain (the equivalent of almost 15 full days of play). I think everyone’s been in that boat, though. But around that, we had some really good performances.”
Nineteen Academy and Pathway players featured for Yorkshire in red ball cricket this season.
While Duke finished the leading run-scorer, off-spinner Dom Bess topped the wickets chart with 18, including the only two five-wicket hauls of the summer.
Behind Duke, three others topped the 400-run mark; Will Luxton with 555, Akhtar 463 and Will Bennison 444. Akhtar’s haul included back-to-back centuries in the final two games of the season last month against Lancashire and Middlesex.
Added to Duke’s runs, he claimed 15 catches and four stumpings with the wicketkeeping gloves and is one of four players to have travelled to Melbourne to play winter grade cricket.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Will Luxton is one of four Yorkshire players playing grade cricket in Melbourne this winter.
He is playing at Essendon, Ben Cliff and Luxton are at the same club, Greenvale, and Kelly is at Beaumaris.
“The way Dukey played in that last game at Merchant Taylors’ was unbelievable,” said Smith. “He’s played really good cricket all year, and that innings was just a top off to how he’s been playing.
“I think he would admit himself that he missed out on a couple of opportunities early on. He had a 90-odd against Lancashire followed by an 80-odd against Somerset. He had chances to go big there, but he’s done it at the back end and has averaged close to 90.
“We have quite a few going to Melbourne.
“Dukey has just finished University, so it’s a great chance for him to go out there for the first time and explore his cricket in different conditions and test himself. It’s the same for the other three lads.”
In the Second XI T20 competition, which saw the county win six of 11 matches in all, Yash Vagadia was the county’s leading run-scorer with 213 runs, though Luxton hit 356 runs in all when you include the friendlies played.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Yash Vagadia impressed in second-team T20 cricket and featured for the first team in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
George Hill and left-arm spinner Josh Hen-Boisen claimed 13 wickets apiece, both claiming a five-wicket haul along the way.
Smith added: “The work ethic of the lads has been brilliant. But that’s not just the second team, it’s the firsts as well. Everyone has got stuck in and bought into what we wanted to achieve.”
