BARNEY GIBSON SETS A NEW WORLD RECORD IN COUNTY CRICKET

The Yorkshire wicketkeeper, Barney Gibson, has set a new world record, becoming the youngest ever player to play English county cricket.

Gibson broke the 144-year record of Charles Young. At only 15 years and 27 days, Gibson made a successful debut against the Durham MCCU yesterday in a game of the Bradford League.

Back in 1867, Charles Young had set the world record being the youngest player of the time to appear in county cricket. At the time Young was 15 years and 131 days old.

The record had been intact till yesterday when Gibson, 104 days younger than Charles, padded up against the Durham MCCU.

Gibson expressed his astonishment, defining the feat as akin to a dream. Talking to the media, the youngster said, “I was astonished when they told me I would be playing for the first team. It has really shocked me and it feels like a dream really.”

Gibson started the game at the age of 10 from his school Crawshaw, commenting interestingly about his school, Gibson says, “I was supposed to have triple science, double maths and RE. They have sent me up here with some homework to do though.”

With his sharp mind and inherent capabilities, he was noticed by the Pudsey Congs, a cricket club in England.

Gibson started club cricket with them to polish his skills, since the very beginning, his field of interest has been wicket keeping as he finds himself more comfortable behind the stumps. Gibson’s dives, catches, stumps and throws are quick and perfect.

Wearing pads, gloves and a helmet, Gibson took his position in the bright morning of 27 April and pouched the brilliant catch of Oliver Hannon-Dalby. This was a key wicket for Yorkshire. After a few overs, Gibson caught another rival batsman and thus cemented his side’s position in the game.

It was due to Gibson that David Wainwright succeeded in achieving his bowling career’s best ever figure of 6/40. The young wicketkeeper helped every bowler bowl confidently and courageously in order to pick up wickets with regular intervals.

Talking about Gibson’s selection, the Yorkshire director of cricket, Martyn Moxon, says, “The first time I saw him was two years ago in a practice match. His ability was quickly evident."

Gibson seeks inspiration from cricket legends like Matt Prior and Adam Gilchrist, the former is the English wicketkeeper while the latter is an ex-skipper of Australia and is currently leading the Kings XI Punjabfranchise in the Indian Premier League.

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BARNEY GIBSON BECOMES THE YOUNGEST PLAYER TO HAVE PLAYED FIRST-CLASS CRICKET IN ENGLAND

Yorkshire’s 15-year-old wicketkeeper, Barney Gibson, became the youngest player to have played first-class cricket in England when he made his debut against Durham University yesterday.

The youngster broke a 144-year-old record which was previously held by Charles Young when he was selected by Hampshire to play first-class cricket at the age of 15 years and 131 days.

Gibson, who is still in school, expressed his excitement on breaking the unique record and said that he is happy to be playing for Yorkshire’s first team. He added that he was a little shaky for the initial part of the game but settled his nerves pretty soon.

He said, "It feels excellent to have gone into the history books. I was astonished when I heard I was playing for the first team and I just thought, 'Right it's time to step up to the mark’. For the first couple of overs I felt a bit shaky, but then I just tried to be myself and do what I normally do, just stand there and catch it.”

Yorkshire’s Director of Cricket, Martyn Moxon, also praised his young wicketkeeper and said that his county believes in giving opportunities to the younger players if they are good enough and Gibson has proved that he belongs at this level of the sport.

Moxon said that Gibson took a brilliant catch to open his account in first-class cricket and a wicketkeeper of any level would have been proud of that effort. He added that Gibson has never kept wickets against bowlers of this pace before but he has been outstanding and the best part about him is that he is mentally very mature.   

"We like to give our young players a chance, but they have to be good enough and Barney's proved he's good enough at this moment in time. His first catch today was outstanding and would have been a good catch for a keeper of any age. He'll not have kept to that kind of pace very much, but he's not fazed by the occasion or the publicity he's now getting. For someone so young he's very level-headed," Moxon said.

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