Here's @liam628 on a change in fortune, #WIvEng and thoughts on @lythy09https://t.co/H985EBTx8n
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) March 25, 2015
Liam Plunkett has backed his Yorkshire team-mate Adam Lyth to make an impact for England after receiving his first call-up to the Test squad.
The opening batsman was named in England's 15-man party after a stunning 2014 which saw him rack up 1,489 runs en route to taking the top honours at the PCA and Cricket Writers' Club Awards on the back of Yorkshire’s LV= County Championship success.
Lyth will be one of six White Rose players to travel with the squad to the Caribbean on Thursday along with Plunkett, and the fast bowler is confident he can reproduce on the bigger stage.
Speaking in support of the 27-year-old, Plunkett said: “In the two years I’ve been here (at Yorkshire) and having played against him before, and with the Lions, he seems to know his game now.
“He’s class to watch, he looks elegant when you’re watching him bat and obviously it is deserved and if he gets his chance I’m sure he’ll step up and do well for England.”
The presence of the Yorkshire players in the squad means they will be depleted for the start of the domestic season, but Plunkett insists the county should take great pride in producing so many players for the national side.
“It’s a huge honour,” he said. “It’s fully deserved, obviously Adil Rashid, Adam Lyth, Jonny B (Bairstow) and the two that are there now, Rooty (Joe Root) and Gaz (Gary Ballance), but it’s a shame for Yorkshire because you’ll lose a lot of players but it’s huge for the club.
“It’s good to have people out there that you work with, you know how they like to play, how they prepare and its always good for people like Lythy and Rash who have just come in like I did last summer.”
Plunkett meanwhile has enjoyed a remarkable comeback himself. Having first played Test cricket for England as a 20-year-old, a loss of confidence looked to have derailed his career until a move from Durham to Yorkshire revitalised him.
Now approaching his 30th birthday, Plunkett has re-established himself in the international set-up and took 18 wickets last summer before injury struck, and he credits the move of county with changing him as a player.
Speaking about his contrasting fortunes, Plunkett said: “When I first played for England obviously I was with Durham but I was just at a place where I was a little bit stale through my own fault and I just needed a little bit of change just like any other job.
“In the first net session (at Yorkshire) I bowled and hit the side netting, but Dizzy (first-team coach Jason Gillespie) just said ‘there’s no stress about it, it's November, we want you to play here because when we spoke to you initially you said you wanted to play for England and that’s what I wanted to do.
“Dizzy was great; he gave me the freedom and aim to bowl quick and that’s opened options up for me.”
All the hard work put in by Plunkett appears to have paid off. He took 42 wickets in his first year at Headingley and followed it up with a further 44, and he says the success has relaxed him.
He added: “That first week I got picked for England was the best I’ve slept for a couple of years. I just felt so comfortable. I knew I had to perform and that’s what I did.”