Cricket star Josh Baker dies age 20: Michael Vaughan leads tributes for talented Worcestershire spinner, who played in a match for the club yesterday

Cricket star Josh Baker has died just two weeks before his 21st birthday - with Michael Vaughan leading the tributes for the talented Worcestershire spinner.   

Baker was playing for his county's second XI just yesterday, with a statement from club chief executive Ashley Giles saying: 'The news of Josh's passing has left us all devastated.'

Baker, who appeared in two Under-19 one-day internationals in Sri Lanka at the end of 2021, had made his first-class debut against Warwickshire earlier that summer, claiming future England ODI batsman Sam Hain as his maiden scalp.

He took 43 wickets in 22 first-class games with his left-arm spin, and received a morale-boosting text message from Ben Stokes after England's freshly appointed Test captain had hit him for 34 in an over playing for Durham in a championship match in 2022.

Baker was in tears at home with his parents following some cruel comments on social media when the text arrived from an unknown number. 

In it, Stokes - who had famously been hit four successive sixes by West Indies' Carlos Brathwaite in the final of the 2016 World T20 in Kolkata - urged him: 'Please don't let today define the rest of your season.'

He added: 'You've got serious potential and [I] think you'll go a long way.'

Stokes's act of kindness lifted Baker, who revealed: 'It was a big shock to get it, and really nice. It felt like it came from him, as well - it wasn't like a generic, robotic message.

'I messaged him back and we had a bit of a chat next day about what I could have done different. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I took massive confidence from it as well.'

Above all, Baker was a popular cricketer in the New Road dressing-room. 'Josh was much more than a team-mate,' said Giles. 'He was an integral part of our cricket family. We will all miss him terribly. All our love and prayers go out to Josh's family and friends.'

Daryl Mitchell, a former team-mate and now chief operating officer at the Professional Cricketers' Association, tweeted: 'Absolutely devastating news. Bakes was an infectious character that became the life and soul of the dressing room at such a young age.'

PCA chief executive Rob Lynch said the news was 'impossible to comprehend', while the ECB's managing director of men's cricket, Rob Key, tweeted: 'This is absolutely heartbreaking. My thoughts go out to all of Josh's family.'

Former England captain Michael Vaughan led tributes to Baker on social media from the wider cricketing world.  

'This is so sad.. Thoughts with all his family & close friends,' Vaughan wrote.

The England and Wales Cricket Board also offered their condolences to Baker's family and friends.

'The ECB is desperately sad to learn of the passing of Josh Baker,' a statement read.

'This is devastating news. We extend our best wishes to Josh's family and friends, to everyone who knew and loved him, and to everyone at Worcestershire CCC.'

Worcestershire's statement referred to Baker's 'untimely passing', and asked for his family's privacy to be respected.

Worcestershire are next scheduled to play in the County Championship on May 10, when they face Kent.