Gibson Is Seconds' Standout

As the curtain comes down on another season for the Yorkshire second eleven, permit me to briefly review their fortunes (or lack of them) and to nominate the standout performers.

Ironically, Yorkshire may well be held up as an assembly line of new talent that regularly makes it all the way to test cricket, but the county's second string have lost more than they've won over the last few years, and this summer, I'm afraid, was no exception. Clearly there is no consistency or stability in team selection, owing to some personnel drafted in from the firsts to get some much-needed match practice or players from the reserves being promoted to the top table to cover for international absentees and injuries. Anyhow, mitigating circumstances aside, the following does not make for pretty reading for those of a Tykes disposition:

Second Eleven Championship: won two and lost four

Second Eleven Trophy: won one and lost five

Second Eleven Twenty20: won three and lost six

For all of the low scores and erratic bowling that characterised the seconds' travails in 2015, I nominate the following as the pick of the bunch:

Ryan Gibson was the best second eleven player of 2015 and he ought to be seriously considered for more opportunities in the first XI's one-day encounters.

Also worthy of mention are the trio of Karl Carver, Matt Fisher, and Will Rhodes. Admittedly Rhodes received ample opportunities to open the batting for the firsts without ever really nailing his place down with many big knocks. He remains a useful all-rounder. Carver and Fisher have been entrusted with many limited-overs outings for the first XI and both have largely done themselves justice. Whether either will feature regularly in the County Championship in the near future is another matter entirely.