At last: Deserved recognition for George Hill - Comment

The Yorkshire all-rounder missed out last winter on the trip to Australia, a decision that went down about as well as a Lancashire shirt on the Western Terrace.

Better late than never, as the saying goes.

One man who will be particularly pleased is Jonny Bairstow.

When Hill was also overlooked for the Lions’ ongoing white-ball series in the West Indies, the Yorkshire captain came out swinging.

“What does George Hill have to do!!!” he wrote on social media. “Averages 18 with 48 wickets and 750 runs @ 34!

“England are hardly blessed with people that can swing the ball, bat well and be a jet in the field! Absolute joke!”

Now Hill finally has his chance after making himself impossible to ignore.

Fifty-one wickets in the 2025 County Championship were followed by the impressive all-round figures referred to in Bairstow’s Instagram post.

Those are the numbers of a top-class player, one whose value to Yorkshire does not need underlining.

The Lions tour is another stepping stone in Hill’s development. The Lions play two first-class games and three 50-over matches against South Africa A next month, with Hill competing for a place in the starting line-ups from an 18-man red-ball squad and a 15-man white-ball party.

The important thing is he is “in the conversation”, having delivered performances that demanded to be heard.

There have been some question marks about his pace, as there invariably are when a bowler does not operate at 90mph.

Gavin Hamilton, the Yorkshire general manager of cricket, put it as well as anyone when he said recently: “I know the talk is he’s not quick enough, but I’m not having that.

“He bowls early 80s and bowls as quick a bouncer as anybody around. Just because he doesn’t swing it around trees and bowl it at 90mph, you’re still allowed to have other skill-sets, and he has them all.”

Mick Lewis, the Yorkshire bowling coach, puts Hill in the same bracket as some of the modern game’s finest bowlers.

“He’s right up there with Scotty Boland, James Pattinson, Sam Cook, Jamie Porter, Shane Snater,” Lewis said.

“I mean, they’re all pretty good, but he’s right up there as well and just as good as them.”

The message is clear - this is a man good enough not only to earn Lions recognition but also to gain full international honours.

Hill has developed into a genuine all-rounder who often stands tallest when his team needs him most.

He is also a man with his feet on the ground - humble and with a nice line in self-deprecation.

But no one who has watched him develop into the player he is now would ever underestimate the qualities he brings.