Yorkshire CCC star Will Luxton “the future of England” says Indian spinner
KULDEEP YADAV has been playing for Yorkshire for only one week but the India star has already seen enough to proclaim that his team-mate Will Luxton is “the future of England”.
“He’s got everything to play for England,” said Yadav of a man who has scored back-to-back centuries in the One-Day Cup.
“He has a very good head and technique-wise he's so good, so smooth. Lovely timer of the ball. If you watch other batsmen and if you watch him bat, it's a totally different thing.
“You can definitely see a lot of positive sides of him, and I'm sure he'll definitely go on.”
High praise from someone who has made 193 international appearances. Yadav and Luxton may be on the same side for the Indian’s spell of five one-day and three County Championship games, but Yadav does not think it will be long before he is playing against him at the highest level.
“He's the future of England,” insisted the spinner. “When I saw him in my first game (against Glamorgan) he was striking the ball very well. The way he batted was so good to watch. He has that good technique plus good hands as well. He's just a very smooth batter.
“I'm sure he'll find his place in the England team very soon, and I'm looking forward to playing against him. As of now, I'm very happy that he's a part of our team.”
Luxton has made a tremendous start to the One-Day Cup. The 23-year-old became the competition’s leading run-scorer on Wednesday with 331 from four innings when he struck a one-day best 126 in the victory against champions Worcestershire at York.
It followed an innings of 117 in the win at Sussex, which he preceded with 24 in the triumph at Glamorgan and 64 in the home defeat to Hampshire.
“I've got off to a decent start,” said Luxton. “Last year we had Imam (ul-Haq), who scored a lot of runs for us in this competition.
“We said at the start of the competition this year, ‘let’s have someone who can try and do that’.
"I’m just happy to have scored a few so far and to have paid back the chances that people have given me.”
Luxton’s admirers will be particularly pleased that he has “kicked on” and made some match-winning contributions.
“Yeah, I’ve had lots of starts in the past,” he reflected. “Everyone gets off to good starts sometimes and gets themselves out; everyone’s going to do that at some point.
“But if you limit that to a few times a year instead of most of the time, then hopefully you’re doing ok.”