[1] He began his cricket career as a wicket-keeper and lower-order batsman for Northern Districts.
[2] Young made his international debut for New Zealand in an ODI against Australia at Melbourne in December 1990.
During the early 1990s he became a "dogged" opening batsman and played his first Test match in December 1993 during New Zealand's tour of Australia.
He went on to make 35 test and 74 ODI appearances for the national side, playing his final international matches in March 1999 against South Africa.
[7][8][9] Young was also an effective slip fielder, on average taking almost a catch in every innings in which he fielded at Test level.