Duo return for three-day Norfolk fixture
July 23, 2021TWO players who have not featured for Suffolk for almost two years return to the side for the National Counties Cricket Association Championship match at Norfolk.
Kyran Young and Feroze Khushi are both included in the side for the three-day fixture at Manor Park, home of Horsford CC, starting on Sunday at 11am.
They last appeared in the final Championship fixture of the 2019 season, the six-wicket win against Northumberland at Bury St Edmunds.
The pair shared a stand of 134 for the third wicket in Suffolk’s first innings, Young scoring 93 and Essex 2nd XI batsman Khushi a splendid and undefeated 120 on his debut.
Young, the former Frinton all-rounder who has returned to Mistley, is recalled to replace the injured Tom Rash, while Khushi replaces his Essex team-mate Josh Rymell.
Ipswich-born Rymell scored a century on his Championship debut in Suffolk’s crushing 329-run victory over Cambridgeshire in their opening match.
He has since made his Essex Eagles debut in the Vitality Blast, scoring 21 off 17 balls in the nine-run loss to Middlesex at Chelmsford last Sunday, and is in their squad for the Royal London Cup.
The third change to the Suffolk side from the victory over Cambridgeshire sees Joe Gatting, who was unavailable for the match at Bury St Edmunds, return at the expense of Alex Oxley.
Rash, who has only previously missed one three-day match since making his debut in 2011, pulled a calf muscle in the five-run NCCA Trophy loss against Cumbria at Barrow on Sunday.
Suffolk head coach Andy Northcote said: “Tom’s injury is better than we first feared. After a week of intense physio, heat and ice, it is responding well. We hope to have him back to full fitness for the third round of matches against Lincolnshire at Sleaford.
“Kyran is a proven Championship cricketer and with Tom’s omission, there is room for another senior in the side. It’s handy having him fill a similar role, though they are very different types of bowlers, so the balance of our side has not shifted too much.”
Northcote is delighted that Khushi, who scored a century for Essex 2nd XI against Suffolk earlier this month, is able to slot into the line-up in place of Rymell.
He said: “The partnership we are growing with Essex is superb and needed – just like all other NCCA teams. It gives us some experience and an opportunity to play with a professional cricketer who the boys can learn off, and gives the player in question the opportunity for time in the middle and to strengthen his case for a pro starting XI slot.
“Our Essex link goes all the way down to the Emerging Player Pathway, so hopefully in time we will see lots of fluidity between counties. It’s great to see Josh has been given a go and we wish him well for the Royal London Cup whilst we welcome back Feroze.”
After the disappointment of exiting the NCCA Trophy at the quarter-final stage of the competition, Suffolk’s attention for the remainder of the season turns to red-ball cricket.
Northcote added: “Our focus this year was the white-ball competitions and we had the T20 cancelled and a good run in the Trophy. Of course, we have only ourselves to blame for the loss.
“The championship is a different beast all together and with a clear run at it, we hope to be able to compete as in previous years. Player availability seems to have us more than most years this time round which means we should give lots of players an opportunity across the competition.”
Suffolk: Ben Claydon, Darren Ironside, Feroze Khushi, Joe Gatting, Ben Parker, Ben Shepperson, Kyran Young, Jack Beaumont (capt), Josh Cantrell, Adam Mansfield (wkt), Matt Wareing. 12th man: Andy Northcote.
Photograph caption
Kyran Young, who returns to the Suffolk side for the match against Norfolk at Horsford CC, starting on Sunday.
Photograph: Nick Garnham
Tags: Kyron Young
Categorised in: Suffolk CCC