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21 JOIN OUR MAILING LIST FOR ALL THE LATEST: TRENTBRIDGE.CO.UK/MAILINGLIST FREDDIE McCANN O n a crisp Friday night in July, under the beaming rose-shaped floodlights of Headingley, a somewhat unknown quantity to a boisterous Leeds crowd – bearing 44 on his back, and generous layers of tape strapped around a broken finger – steps out in front of thousands in the stands, and thousands more online. A die-hard supporter throughout his youth, it is a moment Freddie McCann has dreamt of for years. But he was not supposed to be there, in truth. Only days before, he had come to terms with the fact that his season was over – and with it, his hopes for a Notting- hamshire debut in his first year as a professional. Whilst scoring 92 onYouthTest debut for England U19s the week prior, McCann sustained a broken finger mid-way through his innings, and the prognosis originally looked bleak. “The doctor told me it would take six to seven weeks to heal. I didn’t even register that 90 at the time, because all I could think was, ‘that’s it, I’ve broken my finger. My season’s done’,” he says. “But two days later I saw a specialist who told me it was stable enough for me to play through the injury, if I really wanted to. And, all of a sudden, Pete [Moores] told me I’m playing at Headingley.” That fracture became merely a niggle from that point – a determined McCann was not letting his chance slip away. “I was certain that adrenaline would get me through,” he jokes. And so less than a week later, proudly suited head-to-toe in his boyhood green and gold, the teenage Academy graduate is opening for Notts Outlaws in their final Vitality Blast group game of the year. His mother made the trip up toWest “ALL I COULD THINK WAS, ‘THAT’S IT, I’VE BROKEN MY FINGER. MY SEASON’S DONE’. AND, ALL OF A SUDDEN, PETE [MOORES] TOLD ME I’M PLAYING AT HEADINGLEY.” Freddie McCann