Yorkshire plan drives Shaw on loan at Gloucs
GLOUCESTERSHIRE are hoping Josh Shaw’s dreams of playing for Yorkshire will help fire them to a Championship promotion challenge this season.
And the 20-year-old seamer, from Wakefield, believes that the experience gained from a season on loan from Headingley will enhance his chances of a place in his home county’s line-up next year.
Everyone’s a winner, it seems. And Shaw is already repaying the faith that Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson, also a proud Yorkshireman, showed when signing him during the winter.
His first-innings figures of four for 52 in a drawn contest with Northants were his best in the six Championship games that he has played since moving south.
It would have been a maiden fivefor had Graeme van Buuren not dropped a catch on the second morning.
Shaw admits that he had to think hard before moving, but is already convinced that it was the right call.
“I was a bit tentative at first because I didn’t really know anyone apart from Richard Dawson,” he admitted.
“But the guys were very welcoming when I first arrived and that helped me settle in quickly. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to play first-class cricket.
“There would have had to be a few injuries at Yorkshire for me to get my chance in the first team this season.
“Down here I bowled pretty well in pre-season and since being picked for the opening match against Essex, I have played in every Championship game.
“It’s massive for my education in the game to get that sort of experience. When I go back to Yorkshire they can hopefully put what I have learned to good use next season.”
Shaw admits that even Division Two cricket is a steep learning curve for a young pace bowler.
“It’s quite a step up from second XI cricket,” he said. “You have to be more patient as a bowler against better batsmen and try to avoid sending down a four-ball an over.
“The way to get wickets is to bash away at a length for all six deliveries and try to create some pressure.”
Being in a first-team environment is encouraging the ambitious youngster to work hard on his game.
“I would like to think I can add a bit more pace, but that is easier said than done,” he smiled. “It’s more realistic to aim at being more consistent and stringing good spells together. Everyone strives to play for England and I am no different.
“But Yorkshire is a very special club to me and doing well for them is the first ambition, hopefully on the back of a good summer with Gloucestershire.”
Shaw put the skids under Northants by removing both openers in the space of his first eight balls after visiting skipper Alex Wakely had taken a somewhat risky decision to bat first on winning the toss. “It was the best we have bowled as a unit this season,” he said. “The secret was pitching the ball up because the wicket was doing a bit. It was better to get the batsmen driving than offer them back-of-a-length balls.
Michael Klinger’s 140 on his first Championship appearance of the season helped Gloucestershire dominate without pressing home their advantage on a final day that brought battling centuries from Rob Newton and Steven Crook.
Wakely said: “It feels like a little victory from the position we were in. But we cannot forget that we again batted poorly in the first innings, pushing hard at the ball too often and nicking catches.”