Brathwaite keen to make telling impression

It has been a pretty memorable second half of the summer in England for West Indies Test batsman Kraigg Brathwaite, Yorkshire’s short-term overseas signing.

Now he wants to finish it in style with a starring role against Essex at Chelmsford, which starts tomorrow.

Brathwaite is with the White Rose for the final two Specsavers County Championship matches of the season.

The opener debuted in last week’s nail-biting win over Warwickshire at Headingley, posting scores of 18 and 17, as the county took a giant step towards safety.

They now just need a maximum of six points against the champions to be playing Division One cricket next year.

Maybe it wasn’t the start to county cricket he would have hoped for scores wise, but the 24-year-old’s performances in the recent Test series against England show he is in the form to shine.

In the Headingley Test late last month, which the West Indies won, he posted scores of 134 and 95, almost becoming the first man to score two hundreds in the same first-class match at the venue.

That was something team-mate Shai Hope achieved in that game.

“I was on the field on day two (against Warwickshire), and I couldn’t believe it,” explained Brathwaite.

“It’s been one of my career goals to play county cricket, but I never thought it would happen. I’m really, really happy to be here.

“I would have been back home in Barbados by now relaxing, maybe doing a bit of training ahead of our next tour. But I’m still here playing.

“Coming to England for the Test series is maybe the toughest series in world cricket, you know, based on the conditions and the strength of their bowlers.

“To come out of that with a decent amount of runs was something I was very pleased with. I’d like to keep improving on it, starting now with Yorkshire.”

Martyn Moxon admitted recently that Brathwaite is under consideration to return to Yorkshire for a longer stint next year, so this fortnight is pretty important for the Bajan.

“It is important,” he said. “I started well (against Warwickshire), but I wasn’t able to carry it on.

“It would be nice to come back here next year. I think we have a few months free of cricket with the West Indies, so it would be something I’d like to do.

“I’ve settled in well so far, I’m really enjoying it.

“They are a great bunch of lads, and the club have taken care of me really well. Yorkshire is a great cricket club here in England.”

Brathwaite has been impressed with what he has seen from his new team-mates.

“The guys showed a lot of fight against Surrey, which I went to watch. Surrey got a lot of runs, but we fought back to get the draw,” he said.

“We also showed a lot of quality in last week’s match, and hopefully we can continue that at Essex to end the season well.”

Brathwaite would have been one of many nervy team-mates when Steve Patterson and Matt Fisher were sharing their brilliant 78-run partnership for the eighth-wicket on Friday as Yorkshire chased down 175 to win.

It leaves them all but safe.

They sit fourth in Division One on 145 points, which means an 18 point cushion over second-bottom Somerset, who have 127.

Somerset face Middlesex at Taunton, who are fifth in the table on 143 points, while Hampshire are sixth on 140 ahead of their final round trip to face Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

Fisher hit 15 in that aforementioned partnership with Patterson to cap a memorable first appearance of the season. He took five wickets in the first innings and also hit 37.

The 19-year-old said: “It’s good to know that we’ve got a good cushion ahead of Essex, where we need to put four good days of cricket together like we did in the Championship-winning seasons.

“It just seems like we’ve struggled to do that this year, although this win has given the lads a lot of confidence.

“I’ve said before that playing Championship cricket is the pinnacle of the county game for me, so to achieve a win for Yorkshire in that competition has got to come above anything else I’ve achieved so far.

“You like doing well individually, but to have that team success is fantastic.

“The feeling in the dressing room at the end was incredible. This will stick in my memory for a long, long time.”

Essex could select England Test opener Alastair Cook.

He has been made available by the ECB, but he was left out of last week’s win over Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl.

Essex will receive the County Championship trophy at the conclusion of the game, meaning it will be the fourth year in a row Yorkshire have been there for the presentation.yorkshireccc.com