David Willey, who will open the batting and the bowling for Yorkshire in Saturday’s NatWest T20 Blast finals day at Edgbaston, might have been Central Casting’s idea of a very modern cricketer. He is strong, extremely combative and multifaceted, with the ability to take top-order wickets and hit the ball in the direction of oblivion with the bat.
He has helped to revitalise the fortunes of Yorkshire and England in the white ball format; though the more he succeeds in short-form cricket the further he seems to get from his ambitions to play the Test game like his father, Peter, before him.
His success in this year’s World Twenty20 in India, where he was England’s outstanding bowler in their run to the final, and won a place in the team of the tournament, has made him exceptionally marketable and at the end of the year he hopes to continue his role with Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash.
But that is not enough. “Test cricket is the ultimate thing for me, something I’ve always wanted to do,” he says. “I know players can now earn a lot of money playing Twenty20 cricket around the world without playing Test cricket. But the Test game is still the pinnacle for me.”
The cruel paradox for Willey is that the more success he enjoys in the one-day game the less red ball cricket he gets to play; he has appeared in only three championship rounds this year. There was an early season injury, in only his second game, but he has also struggled to nail down a place in an exceptionally strong team. Yorkshire also have Jack Brooks, Ryan Sidebottom, Liam Plunkett, Tim Bresnan and Steven Patterson.
“It’s not easy to get in the championship side,” he says. “But I would like to play more championship cricket next year. I want to play considerably more red ball cricket. It’s not just about playing every game but ensuring that I’m at my best when I do get the opportunity.”
Yorkshire signed Willey from Northants at the end of last season primarily to improve their poor record in limited-overs cricket. But they also view him as a potential replacement for the left-armer Sidebottom in the longer form. That, ultimately, is his best route to five-day cricket.
It is his ability to swing the ball, at early 80s mph, which is his strongest weapon. When he made his ODI debut in Malahide last year he became only the eighth Northants cricketer to play for his country.
“I’m a long way off fulfilling my Test ambitions,” he concedes. “It’s not going to happen overnight. But it is my long-term plan.”
For the moment, though, Willey is focused on Saturday’s T20 finals day – and the Royal London Cup semi-final against Surrey later in the month.
The bad news for Durham, who Yorkshire play in the second match in Birmingham on Saturday (before a possible final against Notts or his old county Northants) is that Willey, 26, has a reputation for playing his best cricket when it really matters.
Last year, against Sussex at Hove in the quarter-finals of the competition, he hit a century from 40 balls – including 34 from one Michael Yardy over. It was the fastest hundred in the format by an English batsman. He describes himself as “a bowler who bats”, but there is real ball-striking talent here.
On finals day last year, his last day as a Northants player, Willey virtually settled the semi-final against Warwickshire in his first eight deliveries, in which he dismissed Varun Chopra, William Porterfield and Ian Bell.
But Northants were beaten in the final, when Willey could not reproduce his astonishing performance in the 2013 climax to the competition, when he destroyed Surrey with a 19-ball 50 followed by a hat-trick.
“I was disappointed not to win it last year because it would have been such a nice send-off for me. It would have been great to have won another trophy with Northants.
“But this year we are really excited about our one-day cricket at Yorkshire and we are out to win both trophies. On finals day, I really prefer to play the first game. Then you can come away, go back to the hotel, and chill before the final.
“But against Durham we will have to play well. With Stokesy and Woody [England rivals Ben Stokes and Mark Wood] in the side we will have to play well.” Willey versus Stokes; it does not get more fiercely competitive than that.
