PROFILE

If 2010 was a breakthrough season for Steve, 2011 was a slight step backwards. In 2010 he cemented his first team place in all forms with some great performances and 45 first-class wickets at 26.68. He claimed career-best figures of 5-50 against Essex at Scarborough and was also Yorkshire’s leading CB40 wicket-taker with 21.

In 2011 he played 11 Championship matches taking 21 wickets at 46.33 with a best of 4-51 and was frustrated that he bowled better than his figures suggested on more than one occasion. His 53 against Sussex at Hove was his maiden first-class fifty. He fared better in the CB40 with 12 wickets at 18.66 with a best of 4-28 against Worcestershire at New Road, but managed only 1 FPt20 wicket at a cost of 146 runs.  

Steve had taken increased opportunities in 2010 with both hands with Ajmal Shahzad and Tim Bresnan away for much of the early season on England duty. In early May he took a career best Championship 5-50 in Yorkshire's win over Essex at Scarborough and followed that with 6-32 in a CB40 win over Derbyshire at Headingley Carnegie. He finished the summer with 45 first-class victims at 26.68, 21 CB40 wickets at 22.38 and 15 FPt20 scalps at 30.00 apiece. His dogged batting also earned him the nightwatchman slot in the Championship line-up.

Glimpses of his true ability showed in 2009 with a four-wicket haul against Cambridge UCCE at Fenner’s and three wickets against Gloucestershire in the penultimate NatWest Pro40 match of the season to give him then career-best figures in both First Class and one-day cricket.

In 2007 Steve experienced an incredible moment when he grabbed two wickets with the last two scheduled balls of the match to bring his side a nerve-tingling one run win over Loughborough UCCE.

JAMES BUTTLER
January 2012