Two 23 year-olds struggling to make it in first class cricket
Azeem Rafiq, it was announced last week, will be leaving Yorkshire at the end of the season in search of 4 day and one day cricket after Yorkshire only used him for Twenty20 this year. That seems amazing to me. I can understand that he may not always play in the 4 day team as they may choose sometimes to go seam-heavy and use Adil Rashid as the only spinner to support them, but in ODI cricket his non-selection is a bit of a puzzle.
At 23 Rafiq still has time on his side but he'll need to pick his next County well. I wonder if Sussex will go after him. They're short of a spinner and have had to resort to taking James Tredwell on loan this year...plus they also resurrected Panesar's career not so long ago (before he hit self-destruct).
Another youngster leaving his County for altogether different reasons is Chris Jones of Somerset. Despite a glorious century against the visiting Australian's last summer, Jones hasn't quite been able to translate potential into results and has decided to stop trying. He's going to go into the world of proper work....which must be a wrench for anyone who has put so many years into pursuing a cricket career. He's not the first (Alex Loudon comes to mind) and he won't be the last, but what a pity.
Good luck to both of them.
