Sam Wisniewski

Sam Wisniewski, a left-arm wrist-spinner, is a rare commodity who is a professional cricketer for Yorkshire CCC. The Chinaman is a prodigy, while his craft has been fast-tracked by Yorkshire, once was called to prepare England’s batsmen for Kuldeep Yadav, ahead of the Test series against India in 2018. 

Wisniewski is just 19-years-old now, but he has his bag full of tricks. In his current armoury, he has his stock-ball as well as a googly, a top-spinner and a slider, while the flipper is a work in progress. 

Born in Huddersfield, the young prodigy first noticed Brad Hogg bowling chinaman on TV and it was love at first sight. He then started spinning the ball with his wrist at the mere age of nine years. And by 14, he began playing representative cricket for Yorkshire. He used to watch Adil Rashid and Adam Zampa on Youtube to learn the art of wrist spin.

The spinner has come up through the ranks for Yorkshire, right from age-group levels. In 2017, Wisniewski was part of the Under 15 team that won the county cup. He has also played for the A-side at the age-group level. When he was 17, the spinner earned his first academy contract and scholarship by Yorkshire in 2019.

After scholarship, a Yorkshire debut wasn’t too far, as the Huddersfield-born played his first professional game against Lancashire during the 2020 T20 Blast. His skills and temperament were soon rewarded by Pune Devils, who picked the Yorkshireman to play the 2021 T10 League in Abu Dhabi. 

Wisniewski has barely entered into his professional career, but he has shown a wise head on those young shoulders. If the chinaman heads in the right direction, he is soon going to be a star for Yorkshire and England, in the following years. 

(As of July 2021)