Young to skipper Steelbacks as they head north for Royal London One Day Cup opener

Will Young will skipper the Steelbacks in this season's Royal London One Day CupWill Young will skipper the Steelbacks in this season's Royal London One Day Cup
Will Young will skipper the Steelbacks in this season's Royal London One Day Cup
Will Young will skipper the Northants Steelbacks in their opening Royal London One Day Cup clash of the summer against Yorkshire on Tuesday morning (11am start).

The New Zealander was rested for Sunday's warm-up against Bedfordshire, but will lead the side against the Vikings in their Group B clash at York Cricket Club's Clifton Park ground.

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Head coach John Sadler has named a strong squad for the trip north, with the County losing just one player to The Hundred in Josh Cobb, who has joined up with Welsh Fire for the next month.

James Sales is named in the squad despite only being able to bowl four overs at Dunstable on Sunday, but there is no place for fast bowler Brandon Glover, who injured his hand while fielding in the seven-run win against Beds.

Also left at home are senior players Ben Sanderson, Luke Procter and Simon Kerrigan.

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Coming into the squad are Saif Zaib, Gus Miller, Nathan Buck and spinners Alex Russell and Freddie Heldreich.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire will be without 10 first team players and their coach Ottis Gibson for the clash with the Steelbacks.

The White Rose have lost nine players to The Hundred, including Northants-bound David Willey, as well as Gibson who has taken up a role as assistant coach at Northern Superchargers.

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And they will also be without former England batsman Gary Ballance, who has tested positive for Covid-19, the day after he hammered 95 from just 25 balls in his side's warm-up win against Northumberland.

Yorkshire will be coached by Gibson's assistant Ali Maiden, who believes his side is still going to prove a handful for what is likely to be a near full-strength Steelbacks.

“It will be great fun, and the lads are excited about it. It seems to be one of the highlights of their summer," said Maiden.

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“Some see it as a second-tier competition. But when the lads are really excited about it, it adds extra importance.

“I’m really excited too. Hopefully by the end of it, I’ll be able to go to Ottis and say, ‘This player's done this well, he’s improved that, and we’ve also done really well as a team’.

“Someone asked me recently, ‘Do you want to win the competition?’

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“I don’t think you can focus on that, but we will be focusing on winning every game in front of us."

Steelbacks squad v Yorkshire: Will Young (c), Nathan Buck, Emilio Gay, Freddie Heldreich, Rob Keogh, Lewis McManus (wk), Gus Miller, Alex Russell, James Sales, Tom Taylor, Ricardo Vasconcelos, Jack White, Saif Zaib

Yorkshire squad: Fin Bean, Ben Cliff, Harry Duke (wk), Will Fraine, George Hill, Will Luxton, Tom Loten, Mathew Revis, Jack Shutt, Harry Sullivan, Jonny Tattersall (c), Matthew Waite.