Ben Coad underlines England place claim in Yorkshire defeat of Notts

Ben Coad for England? “Why not” is the message from the Yorkshire captain, Gary Ballance, after seeing his seamer claim 10 wickets in the match as the hosts defeated Nottinghamshire by 164 runs.

Rewind 12 months and Coad had only just started to turn heads, taking eight in the season-opening defeat against Hampshire here at Headingley. He went on to claim 50 Championship wickets for the season and has started this campaign with a flourish. The 24-year-old from Ripon has 61 wickets from 14 Championship games, including two 10-wicket matches.

Ballance said: “He’s a wicket-taker. If he’s not taking wickets, he doesn’t go for runs. He’s a very good bowler, and there’s no reason why he can’t go further in his career. He’s the kind of the lad who’s never happy. He wants to improve. If he keeps doing that, there’s an opportunity down the line for him. We always say: ‘You’ve never got enough when batting or bowling.’ He’s got that attitude.”

Not surprisingly, Coad is refusing to get caught up in talk of higher honours, insisting: “There’s people saying stuff about that, but I’m just concentrating on Yorkshire.” He remains determined to keep enhancing his skills, with winter work including adding the in‑ducker to his natural shape of away from the right-hander.

After wrapping up Yorkshire’s first win of the season with two fourth‑morning wickets of Jake Ball and Harry Gurney in the same over, he said: “I’ve been working on a fair few things over the winter, and the one that goes in is one of them. It’s not quite 100% there yet, but I’m confident with it and using it in games.

“It’s not necessarily about wickets, it’s just setting them up so they know it’s there and they maybe stay leg-side of the ball and keep the pad out of the way, playing with just their hands. That’s the idea.”

The Yorkshire coach Andrew Gale must hate such speculation given the amount of players he has to do without because of England honours. But he said: “Ben’s confident at the minute. He hasn’t had the most fluid pre-season given he was injured [hip flexor] out in South Africa. He’s had little game time. But he just goes about his business and is very level-headed and works hard. He’s very particular in preparation. Who knows where it can take him? He’s just enjoying the journey.”

While Yorkshire have won one and drawn one after the Essex abandonment here last weekend and go to Somerset on Friday, Notts have now won one and lost one. They will have Stuart Broad available for the next three matches, starting at Worcestershire. Their captain, Steven Mullaney, admitted: “We’ve been outplayed.”