Did Jack Leaning just take the best catch of 2017?
It’s certainly got a lot going for it.
If they gave awards for the year’s greatest catches, Yorkshire’s Jack Leaning might have secured the trophy for 2017 after his effort in the Natwest T20 Blast.
With Lancashire 63-2 and chasing 183 to win, Arron Lilley guided a full toss to the boundary, where Leaning was waiting.
But despite being in the vicinity of the ball, the Yorkshire player still had a lot of work to do, which was partly his own doing.
Having moved in initially to take the catch, Leaning recognised he had been hasty and backed up towards the boundary, before leaping into the air and securing the ball at full stretch with one hand.
Here’s the reaction from the crowd.
Even Lancashire had to admit it was pretty special.
It was a thing of beauty alright. Yorkshire bowled Lancashire out for 163 in the end, winning by 19 runs, a result Leaning’s catch contributed to in a huge way.
Although the fact Leaning’s dad was a goalkeeper for York City in the mid-1980s might have something to do with the batsman’s ability.
They say catches win matches, and this one certainly didn’t hurt Yorkshire’s cause.
