Haris Rauf will wreck a batting order or two before his short-term spell as Yorkshire’s overseas player is over, believes Darren Gough.
The express fast bowler from Pakistan made his county debut in the opening round LV= Insurance County Championship win over Gloucestershire at Bristol last week, claiming three wickets in each innings.
Rauf was playing only his fifth first-class match having built a superstar reputation via his performances with the white ball.
But Gough, plus his head coach Ottis Gibson, expect the 28-year-old to be a big hit in first-class and Test cricket, which is why he was recruited for the opening six Championship games of 2022.
Ahead of Thursday’s clash with Northamptonshire at Wantage Road (11am), Gough, Yorkshire’s interim managing director of cricket, said: “Haris needs this (county cricket) at this stage of his career.
“He’s mainly played and bowled four overs, so he’s raw.
“He reminds me a little bit of myself when I first started, a bit all over the shop at times, but when he gets it right, he’ll go bang, bang, bang.
“And the reason we signed him is that we’ve got good bowlers here. We’ve got a good bowling attack, but what we need is somebody who has that express pace.
“We’ve got guys who can control the momentum of the game.
“We’ve got Patterson, we’ve got Thompson. He is someone as well who’s improved massively. I think he’s a good performer.
“We’ve got Fisher. We’ve got Bess to take control. But you need a strike bowler in any team.
“To knock over the tail – in county cricket you’ll see a lot, up and down the circuit, 9, 10 and 11 getting runs. When you’ve got somebody who can bowl 150, it makes a difference.”
Gough continued: “I think for him, six matches, it’s going to go a long way towards making him a complete bowler. And this is a perfect opportunity to be bowling with a red ball and to show how good he is.
“There will be one game, hopefully two, when he’ll run through a team. I honestly believe that.
“There’ll be one or two games in this six when he’ll either knock over a quick five, or he’ll end up with a real big haul.”
Rauf is an effervescent character, with Gough describing him as “ a great guy”.
Gibson said: “He’s full of energy and he wants to do well.
“Right at the beginning, he said to me that he wants to improve.
“He hasn’t played much red ball cricket in Pakistan. So he’s still young in that sense and he wants to learn.
The Rawalpindi-born star bowled 43 overs at Bristol, the most he has ever bowled in a match.
“This is the thing with fast bowling in places like Pakistan,” continued Gibson. “They don’t hold them back like they do here in England. If you bowl four or five overs here in England, you have to have a week off or something.
“But, in Pakistan, they just let them bowl. And they want to bowl – they enjoy bowling.
“He loved it (on day four at Bristol). He wanted to make a difference for the team. The captain held him back a little bit, but when he came on he was straight at it. That’s the sort of character he is.
“Steve Patterson, the way he captains, he’s very collaborative. He speaks to Haris and asks him how he’s feeling. And Haris wants to bowl.
“So when he’s bowled five overs, Patto’s saying, ‘I don’t want to kill you’. And he’s like, ‘No, this I what I’ve come to do. So I want to bowl’.
“When Patto tells him to take a break, he doesn’t want to because he wants to do well for us. He wants to get wickets and make a difference.”
Rauf will be joined in Yorkshire’s team at Northampton by Sri Lankan Test captain and opening batter Dimuth Karunaratne, who has signed for the next three Championship games.
The 33-year-old has scored two hundreds in his last three first-class matches, a Test in India and a first-class game for Colombo – both last month.
Northants drew their opening game at home to Gloucestershire before a week off last week.
Captained by Ricardo Vasconcelos, they could hand debuts to New Zealand batter Will Young and Australian seamer Matt Kelly as their overseas players.
https://yorkshireccc.com/news/view/9824/preview-northamptonshire-vs-yorkshire-lvcc
wicket-haul from the second innings v Gloucestershire last week! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OneRose?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OneRose</a> <a href="https://t.co/AeQOUZb7u1">pic.twitter.com/AeQOUZb7u1</a></p>— Yorkshire CCC (@YorkshireCCC) <a href="https://twitter.com/YorkshireCCC/status/1516809274260963339?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<a href="https://t.co/gZcoJfED7V">https://t.co/gZcoJfED7V</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LVCountyChamp?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LVCountyChamp</a> <a href="https://t.co/S8c0BbU3Ke">pic.twitter.com/S8c0BbU3Ke</a></p>— LV= Insurance County Championship (@CountyChamp) <a href="https://twitter.com/CountyChamp/status/1518178205781405697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
