Rising star Moin Ashraf has hailed Yorkshire’s veteran bowling coach Steve Oldham’s influence on his fledgling career.

Bradfordian Ashraf burst on to the first-team scene in stunning fashion at the back end of last summer with nine wickets in his first two County Championship matches against Nottinghamshire and Kent.

The fast bowler, who turned 19 earlier this week, has long been championed as the next big thing by Oldham.

Ashraf said: “At the end of the Nottinghamshire game, when I sat down, I rang Steve and thanked him for everything that he’d done for me.

“I work a lot with the likes of Martyn Moxon, Kevin Sharp, John Blain and Craig White but I’ve had such a close relationship with Steve.

“He’s been there for me all the time, he’s looked after me, he’s taught me a lot of tricks of the trade.

“He just wants to make sure that I develop into a really good fast bowler.”

Nicknamed Esso, Oldham is still doing all he can to add to Yorkshire’s fast bowling stock at the age of 62.

“If you look at the players he’s brought through, it is amazing,” continued Ashraf.

“There’s Darren Gough, who some people say is the best fast bowler Yorkshire have produced, there’s Ryan Sidebottom, Chris Silverwood, Ajmal Shahzad and Tim Bresnan among others.

“Darren is the bowler I look up to.

“To have half as good a career as he had would be an amazing achievement.”

The future of fast bowling at the club looks to be in rude health, with Ashraf joined by the likes of Oliver Hannon-Dalby, Steve Patterson, Ben Sanderson and James Lee.

“Steve knows exactly how to treat certain individuals,” added Ashraf.

“He knows how hard to push you, when to restrain you, when to put an arm around your shoulder and when to give you a rocket.

“Everything he does or says, you know there is a reason behind it.

“He knows exactly what he’s doing.”

Ashraf, meanwhile, is mulling over the possibility of a return to JCT600 Bradford League cricket this summer.

He has played for Idle, Pudsey St Lawrence and Great Horton in the past, and is looking for somewhere to play at weekends when he is not on county duty.

He said: “I haven’t got a club as yet but we’ll see how that progresses over the next few months.

“I would like to go back and play in the Bradford League because Bradford’s my home.”