By Graham Hardcastle

Matthew Fisher has taken advice from a Division One rival as he gets ready to become Yorkshire’s youngest County Championship debutant in 15 years at Trent Bridge this weekend.

The 17-year-old seamer is in line to fill the boots of the injured Ryan Sidebottom against Nottinghamshire on Sunday after impressing the White Rose hierarchy last summer and through the winter.

Instead of touring Australia with England under 19s, a joint decision between Yorkshire and the ECB, Fisher travelled to Abu Dhabi with the county last month, where he spoke to Sussex’s Steve Magoffin about fast bowling.

The veteran Australian was last summer’s leading wicket-taker in Division One, confirming the view that he is one of the best bowlers in county cricket.

"There’s a big future for Matthew,” said Yorkshire second XI and Academy director Ian Dews. “He’s a very bright cricketer.

“He played in a squad friendly with some of the Sussex players in Abu Dhabi, and off his own back, he went and spoke to Steve Magoffin.

“Andrew Gale was saying ‘what a fine bowler he is’, and Matthew has gone and picked him out and had a word.”

Ahead of the Nottinghamshire clash, Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie admitted: “Fish was in the squad at Worcester, and the likelihood is that he’s the next cab off the rank.

“I’ve spoken with Fish and said that I think there will be opportunities for him this year.

“We knew even before his injury, that Siddy was unlikely to play every fixture, and Fish is very much in our thoughts. He’s got a chance to put a case forward.”

When asked to assess Fisher’s recent development as a bowler, former Australia quick Gillespie said: “Very simply, he’s worked incredibly hard at his game.

“He’s working hard at getting the right lines and the right lengths to bowl. He’s getting himself nice and strong. We think he’s put on a yard of pace. We are very excited about Matt Fisher.”

Fisher has already played five one-day matches for the county, and his first against Leicestershire at Scarborough two summers ago left him as the youngest post war county cricketer aged 15 years and 212 days.

If he does take the field against Notts, Fisher will do so aged 17 years and 161 days.

Yorkshire’s youngest ever Championship debut remains Paul Jarvis at 16 years and 75 days in 1981, but Gary Ramsden was the last 17-year-old to debut in this competition in 2000 aged 17 years and 76 days.

Yorkshire’s other younger Championship debutants than Fisher are Doug Padgett (16 years and 321 days in 1951), Paul Booth (17 years and three days in 1982) and Kevin Sharp (17 years and 155 days in 1976).

Meanwhile, Yorkshire fear Sidebottom could be in for a lengthy lay-off after suffering a left calf tear at Worcester earlier this week.

The left-arm swing bowler suffered the injury whilst batting, and director of cricket Martyn Moxon said: “Siddy is likely to be missing for several weeks.

“He is set to have a scan in the next day or so, and once we have the results back we will have a better indication of how long he’ll be missing. It is a great shame for him.”

Yorkshire are still planning for Aaron Finch to link up with them next month after the Australian batsman suffered a severe hamstring injury at the Indian Premier League earlier this week.

The powerful World Cup winner suffered the tear to his left hamstring whilst batting for Mumbai Indians on Tuesday, ruling him out of the rest of the competition through until late May.

Finch tweeted his disappointment at the result of scans on Wednesday, saying he was “absolutely shattered”.

The 28-year-old enjoyed a productive first season with Yorkshire in 2014, scoring 291 runs in five Championship appearances, including a century against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

He scored two 50s in ten Twenty20 appearances, and he is set to play in all forms for the county this season until he links up with Australia’s limited overs squads at the end of August.

Moxon said: “We remain hopeful that Aaron will be with Yorkshire at some stage in May. It is disappointing news for him and a great shame that he’ll miss most of the IPL season.

“We look forward to welcoming him to Headingley at some stage next month, and that he will be fit and ready to play in the LV= County Championship and the NatWest T20 Blast competitions respectively.”

India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara will fill in for Finch as Yorkshire’s overseas player until the end of May. Unfortunately, he started with a duck in the Championship win over Worcestershire at New Road earlier this week.