Yorkshire's Iain Wardlaw to remain at Headingley (From Gazette & Herald)
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Yorkshire's Iain Wardlaw to remain at Headingley
12:14pm Thursday 1st November 2012 in Sport By Graham Hardcastle
YORKSHIRE fast bowler Iain Wardlaw has signed a new deal to remain at Headingley until the end of the 2014 season – and believes he is part of a squad with the potential to win the LV= County Championship in the near future.
Wardlaw, also now eligible to play international cricket for Scotland, came to the county’s attention after a string of impressive performances for Cleckheaton in the Bradford League, signing an initial contract midway through the 2011 campaign.
He has played four Championship, eight 40-over and seven Twenty20 matches for the county, taking a total of 17 wickets.
Wardlaw took advantage of Yorkshire’s injury crisis at last month’s Champions League t20 in South Africa to impress in the last two group fixtures against Highveld Lions and Chennai Super Kings.
He even claimed the prized wicket of India captain MS Dhoni in the defeat against CSK, helping to demonstrate that he has a lot to offer in a White Rose shirt.
Wardlaw is part of a strong fast bowling department at Headingley, with Ryan Sidebottom, Steve Patterson, Jack Brooks, Liam Plunkett, Moin Ashraf and Oliver Hannon-Dalby also vying for places.
And that is part of the reason why the 27-year-old is confident that silverware is just around the corner after promotion in 2012.
“We want to push on and mount a title challenge in the Championship, he said.
“Even if it’s not next year, we’ve got a squad of players who can really show their worth over the next three or four years.”
Wardlaw could follow experienced former Warwickshire allrounder Neil Carter in making himself available to play for Scotland.
There has been a recent change in the regulations on international availability, allowing players with British passports and Scottish parentage to qualify instead of just those who were only born in the country or live in the country for 100 days per year.
County players such as Rob Taylor (Leicestershire), Richard Coughtrie (Gloucestershire) and David Murphy (Northamptonshire) have also become available as a result, and Wardlaw has a Scottish father.
