JAMES Logan believes bowling at free-flowing England star Moeen Ali on his Yorkshire debut in September will help push his career forwards.

The left-arm spinner, 21, was handed his first-team bow in the final game of 2018, a three-day Specsavers County Championship win over Worcestershire at New Road.

Logan - who plays in the Bradford Premier League with Farsley - bowled 12 wicketless overs, all but two of them coming in the first innings.

He was hit for an early six by a particularly carefree Moeen, who posted 60 and 67 in the match, before settling and bowling tidily.

Logan was preferred in the side to leg-spinner Josh Poysden and felt his debut was reward for an encouraging season with the White Rose second team.

Now, he is back in training at Emerald Headingley ahead of 2019 and aiming for more exposure.

“I am aiming for more first-team appearances next year,” he said. “But it’s obviously tough for a spinner at the start of the year when it’s cold and the pitches are green.

“I felt I had a good season, and playing in that last game just topped it off in many ways. I’ll just try and do well for the seconds and go from there.”

Wakefield-born Logan remains the Yorkshire Academy’s leading all-time wicket-taker with just short of 200 scalps and is now on the full-time staff.

Last season, he claimed 24 wickets in second-team cricket.

“The last four games of the season, I was in the (Championship) squad. Then, for whatever circumstances, they didn’t play a spinner,” he said.

“But I knew with the last game being at Worcester - it’s usually a ground where you play a spinner. And I felt I was the first in line at that point.

“I knew I had a chance, although I didn’t know I was definitely going to get a go until the morning of the game, but Andrew Gale pulled me to one side and told me.

“It was a mixtures of nerves and excitement.

“The first few balls I was nervous, then I got into it and enjoyed every minute.

“My first few overs, I got hit for a couple of sixes. But that’s what is going to happen with a player as good as Moeen against a young lad on debut.

“He was playing without any fear at all, and he was difficult to bowl to. But it was an experience, and one that will definitely stand me in good stead.

“When I got a chance in my second spell, I just tried to dry it up a bit.

“That’s what my job was. In the second innings, I didn’t get to bowl really because the seamers did all the work.

“I loved it. It was a great experience, and getting a three-day win just topped it off.”