Big Ben ready to chime
Fast bowler Ben Cliff heads into 2024 having already had a brief taste of first-team action, playing in a solitary One-Day Cup match in 2022 and then playing his first two County Championship matches in 2023, striking three times across the latter two.
Cliff has been a regular in the county’s second-team and has also played for the England Under 19s.
He was drafted into their World Cup squad at the start of 2022 in the Caribbean as an injury replacement and went on to take two wickets in a pair of Test appearances against Sri Lanka on home soil.
Cliff made his first-team debut for Yorkshire in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup in 2022 before his Championship appearances came away the following September at Glamorgan and then Leicestershire – both draws.
Cliff, aged 21, made his first recorded appearance for Yorkshire as an Under 14 and progressed through the age-groups to play for the Academy and the seconds.
He contributed 15 wickets in eight appearances to Yorkshire’s Second XI Championship title success in 2022, including a trio of two-wicket hauls during the first half of the campaign. In the trophy-clinging draw against Kent in September, he took a wicket in both innings and shared the new ball with Matthew Fisher.
He struck with just his fourth ball in his debut 50-over clash with Northants at York, removing the dangerous opener Ricardo Vasconcelos.
That notable scalp should be the first of many for the rookie contracted quick from Halifax.
UPDATED: Feb 2024.
