Craig Young produced a remarkable return to the cricket pitch on Wednesday night. He was on the field for Ireland’s inaugural T20 International fixture against England at Malahide. What a glorious return for him in this match! He had been out of action since June with a Grade 3C tear in his right hamstring which ruled him out of the home series against West Indies.
Young made his debut for Ireland at Malahide eleven years ago. As things stand, he’s being asked to step in as his team’s fourth-choice bowler, with England looking like they might pounce on the hosts at 52-0. Through an unforgiving environment, he didn’t lose sight of his craft. “To be honest, when I went onto the field I didn’t check the scoreboard,” he said. Young only bowled three overs, and 26 runs came from his overs. Sadly, Ireland couldn’t nip it in the bud and England, triumphing by four wickets, went 1-0 up in the three-match series.
The 35-year-old spoke on how great it felt to be back on the field. When accepting his award, he credited the support he had access to following his rehabilitation. He attributed the physios for working with him to regain confidence back in his leg. Young explained that his success came from being able to change his mindset in order to succeed in the T20 format.
“With T20Is, for me it really comes down to trying to keep it simple and understanding ‘the nature of the beast’,” Young remarked.
Despite the fact that Ireland lost the game, Young was hopeful in what this could mean for their future in the next few matches. He said it was key to try and mirror their batting display from Wednesday and with the ball, put in a much-improved performance.
Our batters were spectacular on Wednesday, but we need them to show up again with that same brilliance. As he said, if we support them with good bowling, we will win most games comfortably. Now let’s go out there and bring our A game!
Young looks back on his formative years in T20 cricket and admits that his outlook has changed greatly since then. Initially, he wasn’t sold on the format. With Gary Wilson at the helm, he was re-energized and re-committed.
“I wouldn’t say I particularly enjoyed T20 at the start of my career, when Gary Wilson became captain he really supported me and gave me a good run – in particular, I felt he backed me and gave me confidence in that he wanted me and needed me in the team,” Young shared.
Even in the wake of Wednesday’s defeat, Young pointed out the fact that he and his fellow teammates had studied well and played to their defensive game plans beautifully. He acknowledged the difficulty of working in the extreme conditions, but promised that this was a team that knew their way around an extreme condition.
The truth is, I don’t think these conditions played a huge role this past Wednesday. The wicket was slightly slower, although we’re accustomed to that. He explained.
Ireland is getting ready to play England in their next round. Young looks forward to being able to fully adopt the T20 format, one that he has grown to love.
“T20 cricket has possibly grown to be my favourite format,” he said, reflecting on how much he enjoys the fast-paced nature of the game.
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