Yorkshire CCC promoted: Fin Bean hoping to catch the eye in Division One

Bean, the 22-year-old opening batsman, backed up a strong first full year in 2023 (983 runs at an average of 46.8) with another solid season – 746 runs at 33.9.

Only opening partner Adam Lyth (1,215) and James Wharton (833) scored more, with Wharton edging past him during his remarkable 285 in the final match.

With England having chosen a makeshift opener for their recent Test series against Sri Lanka – Dan Lawrence replacing the injured Zak Crawley in a move that backfired – there is seemingly a chance for a specialist like Bean to push himself forward.

The left-hander has his feet firmly on the ground, recognising that he must build not only on the traditionally difficult second season but also adapt to the challenge of facing better bowlers, but he is delighted to be getting the opportunity at the higher level brought about by Yorkshire’s success.

“Division One is clearly another step up, and it’s where you want to be playing your cricket,” said Bean.

“It’s where you get recognised to make that next step towards the England stuff, and it will test us all out to see if we’re up to it.

“Obviously, I’d love to play for England, but selection is out of your hands and it’s just about making those small steps up when you can.

“England are definitely giving opportunities to players – they’re not afraid of putting people in, so it’s just about doing your job and trying to impress.”

Bean, who made his debut at the back end of the 2022 campaign, is not especially plucked from the Bazball mould.

That is no bad thing, perhaps, given Lawrence’s performance in the recent series – the archetypal square peg in a round hole who is more suited to the middle-order spots.

But nor is Bean a slouch by any stretch, with an array of attacking strokes at his disposal.

“I guess I’d have to get my foot down from ball one,” he joked.

“But, first and foremost, I know what’s worked in the past two seasons, and I don’t really want to stray away from that because, obviously, you can’t really ignore runs.

“I think that’s the most important thing – to stick to my own game and then, whatever happens, happens.”

Bean hit two hundreds in Yorkshire’s promotion triumph – a career-best 173 against Glamorgan at Headingley, followed by 164 in the innings victory against Gloucestershire at Scarborough, a result that kick-started a sequence of five wins in the final seven games.

It was turning both of those three-figure scores into big hundreds that pleased Bean the most as he delivered an honest assessment of his own performances.

“I think it was always going to be difficult after my first year was quite a successful one,” he reflected.

“Coming into the second year, bowlers have plans; they’ve obviously seen more of you, so they work you out a little bit.

“But it’s been nice to put some runs on the board.

"It’s been a bit more inconsistent with my scores this time – I had the two big hundreds and then not much in between – but I guess that’s part of being an opener as well because you’re going to go through periods with low scores, so it’s just about riding that wave and then, when you do get in, going big, which was the most pleasing thing for me with those hundreds.”

Bean’s 164 at Scarborough formed part of an opening partnership of 307 with Lyth after Gloucestershire’s decision to insert went awry.

It was the highest-ever first-wicket stand at North Marine Road in a first-class match.

Lyth turned 37 years young on the eve of the final game of the season, and Bean paid tribute to his partner: “He’s still going strong. He’s been brilliant for us.

“I think we work quite well as a partnership. I quite like building innings and batting long periods of time, and he does as well, but he gets off to flyers a lot of the time, which takes a lot of the pressure off me, and we’ve built big partnerships this year, which has been nice.

“He’s great to have down the other end to talk about certain things, and he’s definitely still going from strength to strength.”

There was another aspect to Bean’s cricket this year that impressed greatly – his slip catching, which is second to none.

He took more catches (22) than any other Yorkshire outfielder – one more than Lyth, in fact.

“I’ve been alright, so I’ve kept my place in there,” said Bean. “I think keeping wicket when I was younger helped.

“Lads work hard for their wickets, so when they find the edge, you don’t want to put one down.

“We don’t put many down in the slips, touch wood.”