James Wharton was delighted to have ended the season in style with a stunning 285 and says Yorkshire are ready for the challenge of Division One cricket.
Wharton starred on a day for the statisticians, underpinning Yorkshire’s mammoth first-innings 726-7 declared with a career best score, supported by Jonny Bairstow’s 79, Will Luxton’s 49 and 56 and 54 from Jordan Thompson and George Hill respectively.
Wharton, 23-years-old, shared century stands with Luxton and then Bairstow and posted the fifth highest individual first-class innings ever on this ground.
Yorkshire also posted their second highest innings total in first-class cricket.
“A few people have been saying a few things to me about all the stats, and it was a good day,” he said. “I never would have thought that coming into this game I would end up on a score like that. It just tops off an amazing week for the team.
“Getting promotion done and dusted yesterday was brilliant, and coming off the pitch I’ve never experienced anything like that. Everybody was so happy for what we achieved, and we deserved to achieve it.
“Today, it was just about going about our business. It was a draw, but we dominated the game with bat and ball.
“It wasn’t quite as competitive today, but it was still a good day.”
Wharton finished the season as Yorkshire’s second highest run-getter in Championship cricket with 833 from nine matches, including two centuries.
Adam Lyth topped the list with 1,215. He was the second leading run-scorer in Division Two, while new ball seamer Ben Coad was the division’s standout bowler with 56.
“I would have liked a few more hundreds rather than forties this year,” continued Wharton.
“That’s something going into next year I’d like to get better with. But we’ve achieved promotion, which is what we set out to do.
“We’re all just brimming with confidence, and we’re excited for Division One. We know it’s going to be a different task and challenge. It’s going to be tougher cricket, but we’re ready.
“We’ve had three years together, and it’s been a process building towards this. Now, we’re at a time where the young lads have played more and we have more experience.”
The brilliant thing from Yorkshire’s point of view is that while the experienced heads such as Lyth and Coad have led the way, the young guns like Wharton have contributed heavily.
Wharton added: “Ottis Gibson always goes on about his village growing up in Barbados. He says the elders ran the ship. With Coady and Lythy, there’s no one better in the country. They’re two of the best.
“Coady’s the best bowler in the country, Lythy the best opening batter in the country in my opinion.
“For us young guys, batting alongside them and learning from them, it’s amazing.”
This was coach Gibson’s last game in charge before leaving Yorkshire after three years in charge. He was in reflective mood after Northamptonshire closed on 71-2 in their second innings.
The Bajan added: “The last three years have been difficult.
“Relegation wasn’t in the plans in 2022. When I sat down with Darren Gough and had my first interview, looking at where the club was and everything that was going on, we spoke about five years to win the County Championship.
“To get ourselves back in the first division, the way we’ve played this year, it’s magnificent.
“I’m really proud of the lads in the dressing room, they’ve put a lot of hard work in.
“We were winless after seven games, and we’ve done it mostly with local players.
“There were games we played where 10 of the 11 guys were from Yorkshire. We have exposed some good young players to the first-team scene, and to be fair to the players they’ve stood up.
“Finlay Bean got 1,000 runs last year and 700 this. Second season’s always harder. People work you out. But he’s developing nicely. The partnership between Bean and Lyth is developing nicely. It’s one of the best in the country as an opening partnership.
“George Hill, if he doesn’t get runs, he’ll get wickets – and he doesn’t drop balls at slip very often.
“I was heartbroken when Matthew Revis (back injury in late August) got injured because he was starting to take off. I really love that kid.
“When the England players came back at the start of the season, we couldn’t get James Wharton in the team. But as soon as they went, he got back in the team and played every game since.
“The hundred he got at Derby (188) was a fantastic hundred because it was a tricky pitch.
“Whoever comes in (as new coach) is coming into a really healthy environment with a lot of confident lads that are ready to fly.”
On today’s fourth and final day, he added: “If we had needed to try and win today, we would have done.
“I was having a joke with Ali Maiden upstairs. Once we got what we needed, he said, ‘What shall we do now?’ I just said, ‘Let’s park the bus like old school football’.
“For Wharts, the opportunity to get 200 was brilliant.”
