LONDON: Yorkshire’s title-winning openers Adam Lyth and Alex Lees both made clear their desire to play for England after winning awards from the Cricket Writers’ Club on Tuesday.

The pair’s partnership was central to Yorkshire winning England’s first-class County Championship title, with Lyth named the Cricket Writers’ Club Championship Player of the Year and Lees collecting the club’s Young Cricketer of the Year award.

Lyth, 27, topped the First Division scoring charts with 1,489 runs and six centuries at an average of 67.68, while Lees’ 971 runs came at an average of 44.13 with two hundreds. Both awards are available only to England-qualified players, with the young players category limited to those under the age of 23 on May 1.

Lees, 21, is the 11th Yorkshire player to win the young player award, which dates back to 1950, and the third in four years following Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root.

Lyth, meanwhile, is the CWC’s third championship player of the year, following in the footsteps of Nick Compton and Wayne Madsen.

Neither batsman has yet played full representative cricket for England but history suggests they will both be unlucky to remain uncapped, with previous Young Cricketer of the Year award winners having made more than 2,000 Test appearances between them.

Both Lyth and Lees have been included in the England Performance Programme, a stepping stone to the senior side, although England will not play a Test again until their tour of the Caribbean in April, which precedes a home series with both New Zealand and Ashes rivals Australia.

“I’d love to represent my country in the Ashes but the first thing is to do well in South Africa (with the EPP) and maybe open or bat somewhere in the West Indies,” said Lyth.

Meanwhile Lees, said he felt a touch over-awed to be the latest recipient of an award won by such England greats as Peter May, Fred Trueman, Geoffrey Boycott, Alan Knott, Derek Underwood, Ian Botham, David Gower, James Anderson and Alastair Cook.

“I feel a little bit daunted, looking at the names on the list and I feel very privileged,” said Lees.

Asked what his ambitions for the off-season were, he jokingly replied: “A bit of sunshine to top up my tan before I go back to Halifax.”

Published in Dawn, October 2nd , 2014