An all-rounder set for a mountainous career
George Hill only made his first-team debut for Yorkshire in 2020, but he has quickly developed into a linchpin squad member. With bat or ball or in the slips, no task is too tall.
And that was proved in 2024, a summer Hill, aged 24, will never forget.
As Yorkshire dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s on promotion during the final week of the season at Headingley, a draw against Northamptonshire, he was handed his county cap by Jonny Bairstow.
A month or so earlier, the pair had shared 238 for the sixth wicket in the first innings of a high-scoring draw against Middlesex at Headingley as Yorkshire closed the gap on the side who held second place in the table at the time.
Hill hit a fine career best 169 not out.
Either side of that, he showed his versatility, claiming a pair of six-wicket hauls in both the Rothesay County Championship and the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
First came 6-28 in a 50-over win over Warwickshire at Rugby School in August. Then came 6-59 in the second innings of the crucial Championship victory over Leicestershire at Grace Road in mid-September.
Hill, a former England Under 19 – he was vice captain of their 50-over World Cup campaign in early 2020, is part of the Sedbergh School set, developing under the watchful eye of Martin Speight alongside county colleagues Harry Brook and Matthew Revis.
A top or middle order batter and a skilful seamer, Hill scored a second-team double century at the start of 2021, with his 207 underpinning a first-innings score of 620-6 dec against Gloucestershire at Bristol – the county’s then record total.
Hill started 2022 opening the batting in the Championship and ended it batting at three. He also batted at four through the One-Day Cup campaign. The only format he has yet to cement his place in is T20.
In 2022, he scored his first three centuries in first-team cricket; 151 not out and 131 in Championship matches at Northamptonshire and Hampshire as well as 130 in a 50-over win against Worcestershire at Scarborough.
Towards the end of the season, in the first innings of the Roses draw at Old Trafford, he returned a brilliant 6-48 with his rapidly improving seamers.
In 2023, he scored 694 Championship runs added to 19 wickets, including a century and a best of 4-43.
He warmed up for 2024 with a successful spell of club cricket in New Zealand for the Christchurch-based club Weedons.
Hill is a Yorkshire Academy product who represented the age-groups from Under 14s onwards.
UPDATED: Feb 2025.
