Will Young (cricketer)

William Alexander Young (born 22 November 1992) is a professional cricketer who plays as a batsman for the Central Districts cricket team. Young was captain of the New Zealand Under-19 cricket team at 2012 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup.[1] He made his international debut for the New Zealand cricket team in December 2020.[2]

Will Young

Personal information
Full name	William Alexander Young
Born	22 November 1992 New Plymouth, New Zealand
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm off break
Role	Batsman
International information
National side	New Zealand
Test debut (cap 280)	3 December 2020 v West Indies
Last Test	11 December 2020 v West Indies
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2011/12–present	Central Districts (squad no. 4)
Career statistics
Competition Test FC LA T20 Matches 2 80 57 69 Runs scored 48 5,125 1,979 1,588 Batting average 24.00 43.43 37.33 26.46 100s/50s 0/0 10/29 5/11 0/9 Top score 43 162 136 96 Balls bowled – 18 – – Wickets – 0 – – Bowling average – – – – 5 wickets in innings – – – – 10 wickets in match – – – – Best bowling – – – – Catches/stumpings 1/– 44/– 22/– 32/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 26 January 2021

Career

In the 2011/12 New Zealand domestic cricket season he made his first-class debut for Central Districts, becoming the team's captain in December 2015 at just 23 years of age. Under his captaincy the Central Stags won the one-day Ford Trophy in 2016 and the first-class Plunket Shield unbeaten in 2018. Young then elected to step down from the captaincy to focus on his batting and making the New Zealand side.

In December 2018, he was named in New Zealand's Test squad for the series for the first time against Sri Lanka, but he did not play.[3]

In March 2019, Young was named to make his Test cricket debut one day before a Test match between New Zealand and Bangladesh was scheduled to begin at Hagley Oval. However, a terrorist attack in Christchurch on the same afternoon saw the match cancelled by New Zealand Cricket.

Despite not yet having played an international match, in May 2019 he was one of the twenty players awarded an annual NZC contract for the 2019–20 season by New Zealand Cricket.[4]

In May 2019, Young was going to be named as a reserve player for New Zealand in the 2019 Cricket World Cup, but made the decision to undergo shoulder surgery instead after an injury to his right labrum at a training camp.[5]

Despite his shoulder injury, Young scored back-to-back centuries for a New Zealand XI against Australia in a one-day warm-up series of three unofficial ODIs in Brisbane in May 2019. Young averaged more than 100 in the series with consecutive scores of 60, 130 and 111 against the defending Cricket World Cup champions.

In November 2020, Young was named in the New Zealand A cricket team for practice matches against the touring West Indies team.[6][7] Later the same month, he was named in New Zealand's Test squad for the series against the West Indies.[8] He made his Test debut for New Zealand on 3 December 2020, against the West Indies.[9] As part of the 2019–21 ICC World Test Championship, his squad number is no. 32, previously worn by bowler Chris Martin.

References

1. Will Young - Cricinfo profile
2. "Will Young to make Test debut as BJ Watling ruled out". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
3. "Somerville out, Will Young in: New Zealand's squad for Sri Lanka Tests". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
4. "Jimmy Neesham, Tom Blundell and Will Young handed New Zealand contracts". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
5. "Shoulder surgery likely to rule Will Young out for rest of the year". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
6. "Devon Conway included in New Zealand A squad to face West Indies". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
7. "Nicholls, Conway & Young to face West Indies in Queenstown". New Zealand Cricket. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
8. "New Zealand call up Devon Conway, rest Kane Williamson and Trent Boult for West Indies T20Is". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
9. "1st Test, Hamilton, Dec 3 2020, West Indies tour of New Zealand". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 December 2020.

External links

• Will Young at ESPNcricinfo