Bears' Young cleared for last game after visa dash
Warwickshire opener Will Young has hit 92 runs in five innings since returning in August for his second stint with the Bears
- Published
Warwickshire opener Will Young has been cleared to play in the Bears' County Championship title-deciding final game of the season next week following an unexpected visa issue.
The 33-year-old New Zealand Test opener was re-signed in June to appear in the Bears' final six games, starting in August.
He played in the first four - only to be contacted by the England and Wales Cricket Board over a visa issue, which also affected his New Zealand Test team-mate, Henry Nicholls, who is doing the same six-game stint with Somerset.
The Bears issued a short statement to say: "Will Young was unavailable for selection due to an outstanding visa matter that has since been resolved between his agent and the ECB."
Warwickshire were contacted at 10:20 BST, just 10 minutes before play was due to start in the Bears' Championship game with Essex at Chelmsford, which began on Tuesday and was over inside two days on Wednesday evening.
Somerset's Nicholls' clearance, by way of contrast, had come the night before.
By the time Young's clearance came through, the Bears had already opted to recall Zen Malik as opener - and he responded well with a second-innings half-century that helped secure Warwickshire's second successive two-day win.
"We had a tough few days," Bears first team coach Ian Westwood told BBC Radio WM.
"Will got a call saying that he had a problem with his visa. The application is normally pretty standard and it had gone in via his agent. But it hadn't come back and we were in a race against time. Everyone at the club did everything they could.
"I believe Somerset might have been in the same boat and theirs came though the night before. Ours came though at 20 past 10, which was a bit too late. It was too late to play in this game but he's available for next week."
After a two-and-half week-long road trip that brought three successive wins against Hampshire, Glamorgan and Essex, Warwickshire's final game, at home to relegation-threatened Leicestershire, starts on 24 September at Edgbaston.
Zen Malik's second-innings half-century at Chelmsford was his second in the Championship this summer
The plus side of Young's absence allowed former Staffordshire player Malik the chance of a recall - and he took his chance.
"Sometimes sport writes its own script," added Westwood. "Zen handled it very well, not knowing even 10 minutes before whether he was playing. But he showed what a talented ball striker he is.
"We were fantastic at Chelmsford from ball one. We let them back in it slightly. Then Sam Hain showed his class with the bat, a really important knock.
"We've really enjoyed these three games on the road. It was really nice to get on the bus away from Edgbaston, knowing we were on the road all together.
"We've kept the same squad travelling around. It's been a nice atmosphere. We wanted in these games to express ourselves and play with a smile on our face and use the excitement of a title chase to excite us rather than hold us back. And the lads have done that. We've got some good leaders in the group
"It's really exciting going into the last game of the season knowing we still have a chance of winning it. That's a really nice place to be, whatever the outcome."
