Ben Coad

Ben Coad, a pace bowler of some promise, shot to prominence in 2017 when he forced his way into Yorkshire's Championship side with a series of outstanding displays, none better than his six wickets in the Roses match at Headingley. Lithe, willing and capable of moving the ball just enough at a good lick from challenging, tight lines, he gave Yorkshire a considerable boost as they contemplated how best to manage the transition among a large but ageing stock of quick bowlers.

Fifty Championship wickets at 20.86 in his first full campaign ensured a rush of awards at Yorkshire's end-of-season celebration, with director of cricket Martyn Moxon calling him "a revelation". From the moment he took 6 for 37 in the opening Championship match against Hampshire at Headingley, he led Yorkshire's attack in the first half of the season.

He sustained that good form into the following summer, taking his 48 Championship scalps at just 16.33, and although the returns were steadier in 2019, he finished behind only Duanne Olivier and Keshav Maharaj in the wickets table for Yorkshire. He committed his future to the club at the end of 2022, at which point his first-class record of 210 wickets at 20.26 put him in the highest echelon of county performers.

Coad, a product of Harrogate CC, made his Yorkshire first-team debut in the YB40 against Gloucestershire at Headingley in 2013. He signed terms as a junior professional ahead of the 2014 summer and prepared for the season with the help of a six-week sponsorship at the Darren Lehmann Academy in Adelaide. He made an encouraging T20 debut at Wantage Road in 2015 and followed up with another solid display against the defending champions Warwickshire. A Championship debut came at Chester-le-Street in 2016; work over the winter then put a yard on his pace and made him a bowler to be reckoned with.
ESPNcricinfo staff