“I’m seeing signs of what I used to see with Ryan Sidebottom – real genius”, Andrew Gale said about Ben Coad. Coad is a Yorkshire-based seamer who has a lot of talent and promise, has been a potent weapon with the new ball, since his debut in 2013. Coad’s performances and numbers will always make you wonder why he hasn’t yet received an English call-up. The Yorkshire-born has been a product of Yorkshire Academy, he has represented their U-15s, U-17s, and second XI, before making his first XI debut in 2015. However, the seamer made his White Rose debut during the Pro40 league in 2013. A year later, he signed a six-week sponsorship at the Darren Lehmann Academy in Adelaide. The pacer remained on the fringes for Yorkshire for four seasons, before nailing down some impressive performances. In 2017, he claimed 50 County Championship wickets and was named the Members’ and Players’ Player of the Year. He followed his breakthrough season with 48 wickets, in 2018. While Coad finished as White Rose’s third-highest wicket-taker in the 2019 Championship, before ending the shortened 2020 edition with 12 scalps. At 27, Coad has scalped over 170 first-class wickets at healthy rates. However, his white-ball numbers have been periodical. If one wants to be critical about the Yorkshireman then his Coad’s List-A and T20 numbers can be questioned, but he is too good a bowler to not receive any form of England recognition. (As of July 2021)
