Lawson glee at five-star display

Mark Lawson was thrilled after taking five wickets against Durham

England U19 leg-spinner Mark Lawson could barely contain his excitement after announcing his arrival in county cricket with stunning figures of 5-62 against Durham at Scarborough.

The 18-year-old, in just his third Frizzell County Championship appearance, collected five consecutive wickets in a devastating spell after tea to reduce Durham from 208 for four to 278 for nine.

"It's my best moment ever in cricket - no doubt," said Lawson. "I've bowled better and not got the wickets but when it's your day, it's your day. It would have been nice to get that last wicket but I'll take five wickets any day."

English leg-spinners are a rare breed, and those from Yorkshire rarer still.

Headingley's seamer-friendly surface has hardly been the most fertile breeding ground for exponents of the art, and Shane Warne's figures of 3-268 in his three Tests at Leeds say everything about how unwelcoming it can be.

An even Scarborough wicket also looked to offer very little for a leg-spinner, but Lawson proved his adaptability by intelligently varying his flight to cause havoc in the Durham lower order.

"I've bowled on wickets which have turned more this year," he said. "The wickets I took didn't really beat the bat.

"I got a bit of drift and picked up a couple of lbws when the batsmen have made errors. I've been told not to bowl too fast and to try and pitch it up and that's what I did."

Lawson has received advice from Terry Jenner

Lawson is a graduate of the ECB's leg-spin development programme headed by Warne's mentor Terry Jenner.

After making his first class debut earlier this summer, also at Scarborough, he has featured in the England U19 series against Bangladesh before rejoining his Yorkshire team-mates.

He is due to return to Australia this winter for more intensive coaching with Jenner, but for now he is happy to concentrate on Yorkshire.

"I didn't really expect to have done so much and to play this year," he said. "If I hadn't have played first class cricket this year I wouldn't have been disappointed so it's been marvellous.

"The lads are great - people like Darren Lehmann have been brilliant and Matthew Wood has really helped me and given me the confidence to just go out and bowl."