James Wharton pays tribute to Dawid Malan's role in his T20 Yorkshire CCC ton

Wharton’s unbeaten 111 against Worcestershire at Headingley last Friday, made from 56 balls with 16 fours and three sixes, powered Yorkshire to their fifth straight victory in the Vitality Blast.

As they go in search of a sixth at Headingley on Friday evening, against a Leicestershire team they beat at Grace Road recently, Wharton paid tribute to a man who so nearly carved his name on the roll of honour himself last month (and may yet go on to do so) - his Yorkshire colleague, Dawid Malan.

The England left-hander, who had to content himself with an unbeaten 95 against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, has had an outstanding Blast campaign; he is the country’s third-highest run-scorer with 409 behind Derbyshire’s Wayne Madsen (431) and Birmingham’s Sam Hain (417). Against Worcestershire, Malan helped Wharton add 159 for the second-wicket, a Yorkshire T20 record stand for any wicket, Malan scoring 79 from 48 balls with nine fours and four sixes as Yorkshire totalled 224-4 before restricting the visitors to 198-6.

Wharton, playing his first T20 of the season, having been overlooked for the first seven matches, credited Malan with helping him through his innings.

There is certainly no better player to learn from - it wasn’t so long ago, after all, that Malan was the No 1-ranked T20 batsman in the world.

“It really helped that ‘Mala’ was going strong at the other end,” said Wharton, a tall and powerful 22-year-old right-hander from Huddersfield.

“He was talking me through each over, and his key message was ‘stay in the moment’. He also played an unbelievable knock.

“‘Mala’s’ done it four or five games in a row now - that’s the sort of standard he’s set - and rubbing shoulders with the likes of him, and also ‘Lythy’ (Adam Lyth), is always valuable.

“I was having a conversation with ‘Mala’ in the nets the other day, and it’s just those sorts of conversations that help you get to have a performance like the one I was lucky enough to have.”

Not that others should take all the credit for Wharton’s breakthrough display.

On the contrary, a man who has made four first-class appearances, and who wants to cement a spot in all forms of the game, clearly deserves the bulk of the credit himself, having worked diligently on all aspects of his craft, with some strong performances at second-team level having earned him a chance which he seized with both hands.

“I think I’m learning my game,” he said. “As I’ve got older, I think I’ve matured, and I know how I play T20 cricket a bit more now.

“Before, it was all a bit premeditated, and I sort of didn’t know my (scoring) options, whereas now I think I’ve simplified the game a little bit. The big thing for me is staying still (at the crease). I feel like before I used to move too much, and when your head’s moving, you don’t give yourself the best chance to watch the ball and actually hit it.”

Wharton hit it cleanly against Worcestershire - not least when ramping a six to go to his hundred, an outrageous shot which spoke of a fine team man considering that he was on the brink of such a special milestone for him personally and for his family, who were out in force to watch him, along with his girlfriend and several friends.

However, there is no sense of the crash-bang-wallop, one-trick pony about Wharton’s batting; although he is bigger physically than Joe Root, say, some of his driving, through the offside especially, was almost Root-esque in its magnificence and classical feel.

“It was just nice, when you get given the nod, to go and do alright,” reflected Wharton modestly.

“I had a bit of luck early on, and then I just basically kept going. I just want to play for Yorkshire and win games; that’s only ever been my goal.

“If ‘Gibbo’ (Ottis Gibson, the Yorkshire head coach) keeps picking me, then I just want to keep performing for him and the lads.”

Those lads are tracking pretty well at present, with Yorkshire’s five straight wins an emphatic riposte to the three defeats with which they started the competition.

The arrival of David Wiese has certainly helped, the Namibia international influencing with bat and ball as the club had hoped when they signed him, and a side that reached the semi-finals last year is now playing with confidence.

“We just want to keep the momentum going really,” added Wharton. “Five from five is obviously nice, but we need to keep it going.

“We keep saying that winning is a habit, and we don’t want to forget how we’re feeling at the minute. The group is in a really good spot.”