Yorkshire heroes and highlights of memorable red-ball season

And with England superstars Joe Root and Harry Brook having finished their respective five-game stints for the county, slim was out of town.

Skipper Shan Masood did not play any red-ball cricket after July 1 either, thanks to his international commitments with Pakistan.

Yet, without three of their biggest hitters, literally and metaphorically, Yorkshire have pulled off the unthinkable.

They won five and drew two of their last seven games, sealing promotion alongside champions Sussex with a day of the season to spare.

But how on earth have they done it?

The T&A are here take a look at some of the heroes and highlights of what has been a remarkable six months…

BOWLER OF THE YEAR

FIFTY-SIX wickets at an average of 15.8.

Neither of those statistics are a typo, they are actually Ben Coad’s figures for the Division Two season.

The opening bowler has been a key player at Yorkshire for years when fit, and it is probably only injuries that have stopped him being capped by England at some point.

Few English bowlers have been as unfortunate as Coad down the years, and if anyone deserved a starring role in this triumphant red-ball season, it was him.

He ended up as the top wicket-taker in the division and was practically unplayable in the second half of the campaign, taking a season’s best 6-30 in the innings win over Derbyshire back in July.

Coad also claimed second innings figures of 5-69 in the nervy, but vital four-wicket win over champions Sussex at Scarborough, while the clash with Leicestershire in September was virtually all over by lunch on day one after the seamer’s destructive 5-15.

Ben Coad takes the acclaim after his superb five-wicket haul against Leicestershire last month. (Image: John Heald Photography.)

He took eight wickets in Yorkshire’s penultimate match at Glamorgan too, with that 186-run victory virtually sealing their promotion, which was wrapped up at Headingley against Northamptonshire a week later.

BATSMAN OF THE YEAR

Coad was only 21 when Yorkshire last won the Division One title back in 2015, and did not make his first-class debut for the county until the following season.

But nine years ago, opener Adam Lyth was being handed his England Test debut against New Zealand, while he also went on to feature in that summer’s Ashes.

That came off the back of an astonishing 2014 campaign, which also ended with Yorkshire winning Division One of the County Championship.

Lyth plundered a magnificent, chart-topping 1,489 Championship runs, including six centuries, at 67.68 that season, with his efforts seeing him named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year.

A decade on, Lyth is still just as important to Yorkshire, with the veteran scoring 1,215 Division Two runs this year, second only to Glamorgan’s Colin Ingram.

Adam Lyth struck twin half-centuries in the home draw with Middlesex at Headingley this year. (Image: Ray Spencer.)

With five hundreds, five fifties, and a massive average of 57.85 in 2024, expect Lyth to take the top flight by storm once again next season.

BREAKTHROUGH PLAYER OF THE SEASON

If James Wharton was a contender for this unofficial T&A award before the final game against Northants, he was a certainty afterwards.

He helped secure the points Yorkshire needed to pip Middlesex to promotion and then some, scoring a mind-boggling 285, the fourth-highest individual score of all-time at Headingley.

James Wharton raises his bat after scoring his century against Northamptonshire, but his innings was far from over. (Image: SWPix.com)

Only Darren Lehmann, Sir Donald Bradman and John Edrich have ever hit more, so it is some company for the young Huddersfield talent to be in.

While Root, Brook and Masood were around earlier in the season, Wharton could not get a look in.

He did not make a single first-class appearance until the middle of May, and was part of the batting line up that collapsed to what looked like being a season-defining 21-run defeat to Sussex.

But after the initial summer break, Wharton made his mark in that aforementioned innings win over Derbyshire, scoring a sensational 188 in Chesterfield.

Wharton also managed a key 63 in that away win against Glamorgan, scored vital runs in both innings as Yorkshire edged that thriller against Sussex in Scarborough, and hit 50 not out in the second innings at Headingley against promotion rivals Middlesex.

And of course, he saved his best for last, in what will surely be the innings of his lifetime.

UNSUNG HERO OF THE YEAR

Once Yorkshire lost Masood to international duty, long-serving club stalwart Jonny Tattersall had an even bigger role to play.

But his captaincy in the final five Championship games of the season was nothing short of outstanding, whether it came to usage of his bowlers, reshuffling the batting order and his field placings.

A popular figure at the club, Tattersall has stayed loyal to Yorkshire for years, even though he has been out of the team for long periods.

But he was, in many ways, as key as anyone in the final two months of this season, as Yorkshire overhauled Middlesex to gain promotion.

On an individual level as well, he arguably produced Yorkshire’s innings of the season, given the circumstances.

In the must-win game at Leicestershire last month, the visitors were on cloud nine after dismissing their hosts for 98 on day one.

But with Yorkshire’s reply floundering on 109-5, then 210-8, Leicestershire were still right in the game.

Yet Tattersall stood up and was counted, scoring a brilliant 126, as he and No.10 Matthew Fisher (88) completely took the game away from the home side.

Jonny Tattersall's innings against Leicestershire turned the game decisively in Yorkshire's favour. (Image: John Heald Photography.)

For a man who was released by Yorkshire at the end of that memorable 2015 season, before being given a second chance in 2017, this was a special, special year.

TURNING POINT OF THE YEAR

One final award, which we’re not going to give to any individual, goes to the red-ball fixture that changed everything for Yorkshire this season.

If Root and Brook could not even inspire a single four-day win for Yorkshire, and they certainly did what they could, both scoring two centuries and averaging 55.25 and 77.6 respectively in their five appearances, how could anyone consider them realistic contenders for promotion?

Winless and going into their four-day game at home to Gloucestershire in the middle of a hit-and-miss Vitality Blast campaign, which eventually ended in a group stage exit, the mood was low among the fanbase.

Yet Yorkshire were outstanding that week in Scarborough, from the moment Lyth (129) and Fin Bean (164) went out to bat on the first morning and put on 307, the highest opening partnership in history at North Marine Road.

Adam Lyth and Fin Bean made the most of a glorious summer's day in Scarborough back in June. (Image: SWPix.com)

With George Hill (45) and Jordan Thompson (44) chipping in further down the order, the home side posted 456 all out, before running through Gloucestershire batting card.

Despite the absence of key opening bowlers Coad and Fisher from the side, Thompson and Matt Revis took three wickets apiece as the visitors were bundled out for 197.

Following on, Gloucestershire were dismissed for 237, this time Hill and Conor McKerr claiming three wickets each, as Yorkshire won by an innings and 22 runs.

They did not lose a single red-ball match all season thereafter, and rarely looked like doing so either.

Now to carry this form into Division One for 2025…