Yorkshire CCC v Lancashire - Debutants take the praise from Martyn Moxon

The county’s director of cricket believes that the club is striking the correct balance between success on the field and giving chances to up-and-coming cricketers, with Yorkshire having selected a first-class debutant in each of their three Bob Willis Trophy fixtures.

Jack Shutt, the 23-year-old off-spinner, made his bow in the six-wicket victory at Durham; Dominic Leech, the 19-year-old pace bowler, made his maiden appearance in the 90-run triumph at Nottinghamshire, and George Hill, the 19-year-old all-rounder, debuted in last week’s rain-affected home draw with Derbyshire.

Remarkably, Yorkshire have fielded a first-class debutant in each of their last five games if you take in batsmen Matthew Revis and Tom Loten’s appearances in the final two Championship fixtures of last summer, a record that reflects well on the enduring success of the club’s production line.

Throw into the mix the blossoming skills of Jordan Thompson, the 23-year-old all-rounder, and Harry Brook, the 21-year-old batsman, both of whom have impressed this season, and there is reason for optimism as Moxon and his coaching staff look to create another trophy-winning era by carefully marrying youth with experience.

Speaking ahead of today’s penultimate Trophy group game against Lancashire at Headingley, with second-placed Yorkshire two points behind Derbyshire in the north section, Moxon said: “I’m really excited by our batch of young players. We’ll only know about them properly when they’ve played, and that’s why this year is important because they are getting opportunity to play and we’re seeing how they shape up in first-team cricket. So far none of them have looked out of place which is great news and augurs well for the future.

“Although we probably haven’t had the representation at England age-group level that we’ve had in the past, that’s not the be-all and end-all because there’s a lot of England Under-19 cricketers who don’t make it and it’s by no means the end of the world.

“What we are still seeing is that our cricketers are coming through our Academy and still playing first-team cricket for Yorkshire, which is the most important thing. The question with all these young players is ‘do they go on and play first-team cricket for Yorkshire?’ That’s what we gauge ourselves on.

“The next question is, ‘how long do they then play first-team cricket for Yorkshire?’, and I think this group has got a good chance of playing a lot of first-team cricket for the club.

“It’s very exciting. I think the squad we’ve got has huge potential. We’ve got some nice experience around it now with the likes of Dawid Malan coming to the club and I’ve been very impressed with the start we’ve made to the season.”

As ever, the challenge for Moxon is trying to win in the here and now while at the same time building for the future. Yorkshire have played some excellent cricket in the Bob Willis Trophy – the two group winners with the most points from the three regional sections go through to next month’s final – and they begin their T20 Blast campaign at home to Nottinghamshire on Thursday.

“We want to win the Bob Willis Trophy and we want to win the T20 Blast, but at the same time we want to try and gain as much information as we can about our players with next year in mind as well,” added Moxon.

“We’ve all seen Jordan Thompson’s performances and he’s hopefully progressing in the right direction. We’ve seen Dominic Leech come in and show his capabilities as a young lad. George Hill has made his debut. If Tom Loten plays, or Jared Warner plays, there could be other opportunities for us to see lads perform.

“I think Harry Brook’s performances have been very encouraging; we hope he’s now maturing into the fine player that we think he can be. Jonny Tattersall has played well under pressure in a couple of games.

“Jack Shutt showed a lot of character after a tough first innings at Trent Bridge to come back and help us to win the game in the second innings. He showed that he’s got that bottle, if you like. There’s been massive positives so far.”

Loten and Will Fraine could slot into the top order this week in the absence of Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan, who are preparing for England’s T20 series against Pakistan.

There is certainly a youthful look to the squad, which includes 23-year-old pace bowler Warner who has yet to play first-class cricket for Yorkshire but did play two games on loan at Sussex last year.

It had been floated that Ben Coad might come into contention following a side injury but both he and pace partner Matthew Fisher are hoping to be fit after this week’s game.

All-rounder Matthew Waite is out for the summer with a shoulder problem.

“There are various permutations in terms of selection,” said Moxon.

“We’ll see what the pitch looks like. It’s potentially going to be a pretty young team.”

Yorkshire (from): Brook, Fraine, Hill, Kohler-Cadmore, Leech, Loten, Lyth, Olivier, Patterson (capt), Shutt, Tattersall, Thompson, Warner.

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James Mitchinson