Kirby rips apart former county

Yorkshire 500 Leicestershire 174 & 90 Yorkshire won by an innings and 227 runs

There's nothing like the whiff of competition. Chris Silverwood and Matthew Hoggard bowled like the wind yesterday, as if firing against Australia. Even Darren Gough, enjoying the Royal Box at Wimbledon on Saturday, might be looking over his shoulder.

The furore is caused by Steve "Rip" Kirby, the 23-year-old fast bowler born in Bury, nurtured in the Central Lancashire League but then released after five years with Leicestershire. His 12 for 72 from this match means that in 24 days since his first-class debut this nervous-looking red-haired lad has ripped out 20 wickets for 201 runs. His twitchy walk is not that of the professional athlete and his story is not quite the rags to riches myth. He was despairing of a cricketing career and he was selling floor covering but, as the Yorkshire cricket chairman Bob Platt pointed out: "We did have him at the indoor school all winter and knew he had potential. The coaches [Steve Oldham and Arnie Sidebottom] told Wayne Clark they thought he was ready.

"He had two good second team performances so when we found ourselves short of a seamer against Kent in June we gave him a contract."

Kirby does look the part as soon as he starts his approach. He is taller and wirier than he first appears, comes in off a medium-pacer's run and then imparts serious speed from a high, long-armed action. Observers will have noted that 19 of his wickets have come at Leeds and it is true that in this match the pitch lost its consistency from about the time Leicestershire began their first innings on Friday. Coach Clark sums this up: "He puts the ball in the right place and anyone who can do that, at speed, imparts pressure."

Kirby can deliver one ball that seams and jumps alarmingly away from the right-hander and an even faster yorker.

He will certainly be missed at Grace Road. Yesterday morning, under heavy cloud, he had Iain Sutcliffe leg-before in his first over, removed Darren Maddy and Dan Marsh with successive balls and ended his first spell (4 for 18) by bowling Aftab Habib. When Hoggard changed ends he and Kirby (with Silverwood trying desperately to get in on the act) blew Leicestershire, following on 326 behind, away inside 29 overs.

"I keep pinching myself," the lad himself said. "I thought the world had ended when Leicestershire released me two years ago. All I ever wanted to be was a cricketer. I wrote to Yorkshire because they have this fantastic record for fast bowlers and I'm very proud to be here."

His next stop is Northampton, where many a fast bowler's heart has been broken.