Kraigg Brathwaite to play for English county side Yorkshire

Brathwaite, fresh from scoring 134 and 95 in last week’s stunning win at Headingley which puts the Windies on the brink of their first series win in England since the 1980s, is set to join up with his new team-mates ahead of the Club’s final home fixture against Warwickshire, commencing on Tuesday Sept 19.

In his 39 Tests so far, Brathwaite has only been on the winning side on eight occasions, but importantly twice in April against Pakistan in Sharjah and then more recently at Headingley.

Brathwaite, who made his First-Class debut aged 16 and his Test debut in the home series against Pakistan in May 2011, now averages 37.44 in Tests and 41.71 in First-Class cricket.

“It’s a bit of a surprise,” he told Yorkshireccc.com. “Initially, coming to England I knew there would be a lot of opportunities and one of my goals was to score as many runs as possible. I wanted to lead the West Indies batting from the top and earn a chance to play some county cricket."

“Before the second Test I was speaking to my agent and he was telling me that he was talking to Yorkshire’s coaching staff. After the game he came back to me telling me he was getting some quality feedback. They really wanted me and I was very happy because Yorkshire is a very big club in England and I’m very happy and proud to have been selected by them,” he said.

Brathwaite is set to replace the outgoing overseas batsman Shaun Marsh, who will travel back to represent Western Australia in the Matador Cup, and the Club’s Director of Cricket Martyn Moxon is reassured to have sourced such a competent replacement with recent experience of English conditions.

Image: Yorkshire County Cricket Club Twitter page