Cricket: Milestone as Young notches up 3000 runs

William Young is on a purple patch in Plunket Shield this month. PHOTO/Warren Buckland

If it takes an old head to do the job against the Proteas then it's difficult to go past 19th first-class ton of Peter Fulton in Nelson.

But when the mantra is always stuck on building for the future then you have to look at someone like Central Districts Stags captain William Young (102 runs not out) or left-hander George Worker (72) in his 50th Plunket Shield match.

No doubt it's a wickedly long shot to bring in No 4 Young for out-of-form opener Tom Latham in the Black Caps but No 3 Worker isn't too wild an option for someone who has opened in the white-ball format.

"Absolutely. I'd take it but that doesn't mean it'll happen," he said with a laugh, mindful that it's a specialist role and all batsmen go through lean patches. "If the call came obviously I would."

On day two at Saxton Oval yesterday, the Canterbury Kings added 91 runs to their overnight score before CD skittled them for 388.

The third-wicket CD partnership posted 122 as Young achieved the milestone of 3000 in the red-ball format when he reached 51.

CD resume today at 247-6 in a bid to reel in the Kings' 141 runs in the first dig.

"I had it in the back of my mind so to tick it off is quite pleasing and then to kick on to bring up my ton but, at the same time, there's still a lot of batting to come," said the 24-year-old who carved up his fourth century in the format, his second in as many rounds.

He said No 8 Adam Milne was capable and the tail enders were no mugs.

Young said he chose to bowl after winning the toss but the deceptively long-grassed wicket wasn't doing much.

"It did less than we thought it would for the seamers," he said, not expecting it to break up much either in the next two days.

Injured new-ball seamer Seth Rance didn't start. Neither Ajaz Patel nor Todd Astle or Tim Johnston got much as spinners.