Anthony McGrath: George Hill deserves recognition after another fine season for Yorkshire CCC

Hill has played only one Lions match, against India A last year, and was overlooked for their winter tour to Australia despite taking 51 wickets in Division One of the County Championship at an average of 16.72.

He is on course to achieve something similar this season, having taken 44 wickets at 17.97 with two games left, as well as scoring 552 runs at 30.66 and taking 12 catches.

The Lions will tour South Africa this winter, shadowing the Test squad.

“He's got to get some kind of England recognition at some point, whether that's Lions or higher up,” McGrath said.

“He’s only played one Lions game, and he’s not been on a Lions tour.

“I think the next stage for him naturally would be to get in the Lions and be in the reckoning for a winter tour at least.

“It’s not just this season now when he’s done really well, it’s been a couple of seasons, so I think that looks to be a natural next step.”

McGrath has advocated Hill’s case in his role on the County Insight Group, established to improve communication between England and the counties after the Ashes.

He believes that winter tours should reward sustained county form - rather than simply giving opportunities for the development of young players.

“The winter tours always used to be a reward for how well you did in county cricket, and I think the last couple of years it's gone away from that a little bit,” McGrath said.

“They've picked probably too many younger players, perhaps.

“I think it's always good to identify a couple of younger guys, but I still think there should be a route on rewarding county cricket, and I think we're seeing that now in Test selection.

"Hopefully, we'll come back to that a bit more now.”

McGrath’s support for Hill is based on his ability to influence matches in all departments of the game.

He is Yorkshire’s go-to man with the ball, a magnificent slip catcher and has four first-class hundreds to his name in addition to 21 fifties.

“He's in the game every ball with bat, ball and in the field,” McGrath said.

“He’s metronomic in the way he bowls and he's always asking questions.

“The Surrey boys last week were full of compliments for him - they didn't want to face him - and the Essex lads this week said the same.

“He's an unbelievable cricketer and athlete as well, so we love having him in our team, and he is literally one of the old clichés, the first man on your team sheet, because he's just so reliable.”

Hill had a fine all-round game this week against Essex at Headingley as Yorkshire won by an innings and 106 runs.

He scored 40 with the bat and returned remarkable match figures of 15.4-10-14-5.

His batting remains a work in progress and McGrath believes converting more scores in the 50s and 60s into hundreds would strengthen his credentials as a Test all-rounder.

There is no doubt that he has all the right ingredients and there is plenty of time for his game to develop.

“I think probably the question we've had over him is the consistency of runs because I think he'd have to play as an all-rounder (for England), but I think he's showing signs of that now,” McGrath said.

“I think the next step is turning the 50s, 60s into 100s, but it's difficult when you're sometimes batting at seven and eight to do that.

“The work he's done with John Sadler (the Yorkshire batting coach) is really paying off, and the more he plays and understands his game, I think we'll see those bigger scores coming.”

McGrath believes Hill can go on to play Test cricket, a view that is gathering increasing momentum.

Asked how he could potentially fit into the Test side, he said Hill ticked the boxes as a genuine all-rounder.

“I think he'd probably have to be a fourth or fifth seamer and bat at seven I guess, a bit like he does for us,” he said.

“I think he would have to play as an all-rounder.”

McGrath acknowledged the question over Hill’s pace - more Ollie Robinson than Jofra Archer - but believes his control and ability to move the ball could make him effective at international level.

“I think the pitches around the world now are not as quick as they used to be,” he said.

“You see keepers up to the stumps, and it's about skill and holding length and being able to shift the ball left and right, and he can certainly do that.”

Ultimately, McGrath believes Hill can do no more than continue producing the performances that have made him such a key part of Yorkshire’s team.

“All he can do is keep doing what he's doing,” McGrath said.

“If he does that, then he surely can’t be ignored for long.”