Yorkshire CCC batsman Will Luxton in good company as he looks to build on breakthrough display
DID Will Luxton know the name of the last Yorkshire batsman to have made his maiden first-class hundred at Scarborough with a score in the 160s?
“Go on?” said the 23-year-old when this correspondent asked the question after his 167 against Warwickshire last week.
“Joe Root.”
“Was he really?”
“Yes, against Sussex in 2011.”
Luxton's eyes lit up at the statistical detail.
“A good omen,” he concluded with a smile of surprise. He is, you might say, in good company therefore.
Luxton's innings was the highlight of the match at North Marine Road from Yorkshire’s perspective.
He followed it with 69 in the second innings to have one thumbing the records to find the last time that a Yorkshire player had scored two centuries in a Championship match at the ground.
The answer, to one’s surprise, was that no Yorkshire player had, although David Denton, Wilfred Rhodes, Herbert Sutcliffe and Len Hutton did so in matches against MCC, while Martyn Moxon performed the feat against the Indian tourists 40 years ago.
The only man to have scored two centuries in a Championship game at Scarborough?
Michael Yardy, of Sussex, in the same match in which Root announced himself with an innings of 160 exactly.
Were he not of a similarly modest disposition to his famous county team-mate, Luxton could claim slight superiority in the maiden hundred stakes.
Whereas Root’s breakthrough knock came in his 28th innings, Luxton’s arrived in his 20th, but the main thing is he has got the monkey off his back as he goes into Friday’s game now against Leicestershire at Grace Road.
“It was nice to obviously get a chance and then take it for once,” said Luxton, who had twice made Championship fifties but failed to go on.
“It’s nice to tick it off (a hundred) and hopefully it can give me the confidence and whatnot to keep going from here.
"It was a bit frustrating that I couldn’t kick on in the second innings as well but at least it helped to set it up for Jonny (Bairstow) at the back end and for Hilly (George Hill), who came in and whacked a few as well.
“I’m just happy being out there, and if that means opening, or wherever, then that’s what I’ll do.”
Luxton, who has shown himself to be versatile enough to bat anywhere in the top order, seemed more disappointed that Yorkshire had failed to win the match than delighted to have made such a fine contribution.
As with Root in that game against Sussex 15 summers ago, Luxton’s maiden century came in a draw, Warwickshire holding on with eight wickets down in their second innings on Monday evening.
“I’m just disappointed that we didn’t get through there in the end because we bowled unbelievably,” said Luxton of his team-mates’ efforts. “We deserved a lot more than what we got and it was just frustrating.
“But in the last eight days of Championship cricket, we’ve beaten Surrey by an innings and then these (Warwickshire) are near the top of the league as well.
“We were all over them for four days and deserved to have won, so that’s very encouraging.”
Luxton’s efforts repaid the faith shown by Bairstow and head coach Anthony McGrath, who gave him the nod ahead of opener Fin Bean.
That must have been a tough decision given that Bean, 24, averages 45 in Championship matches at Scarborough and made his seventh first-class century against Sussex at Headingley two months ago, no doubt one of those nice problems to have from a selection point of view.
“Fin’s obviously disappointed and he hasn’t got probably the amount of runs lately that he’d have wanted to, but he’s a good player and I’m sure he’ll be back in contention soon,” said McGrath.
“We want competition for places and to develop the strongest squad that we can, and although it’s obviously not great for the lads not playing, the best teams, the best squads, have that depth and that’s what we need.
“Will has waited for his chance; he’s been scoring hundreds in the Seconds, and I think that he complements Adam (Lyth) really well at the top of the order. I’m really pleased for him, and it should give him a lot of confidence going forward.”
On Luxton’s performance per se, McGrath said: “He played beautifully. I thought ‘composure’ was the word for him in the first innings. I think we all know what a good talent he is. He's cracked the white ball game in terms of being in the team regularly; red ball he’s been wanting to get in and find a position.
“He batted really well in both innings and was very measured in how he played, assessing the pitch and then going through the gears really, really well.”