A late starter in county cricket, Wardlaw was working in the accounts department of a graphic design company when Yorkshire gave him an unexpected career opportunity. After catching the eye in the Bradford League with Cleckheaton - Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale's club - he made his debut in a Twenty20 match against Nottinghamshire in July 2011, taking 2 for 17 bowling right-arm fast medium. Shortly afterwards, he signed his first contract at the age of 26.

He made his first-class debut in the Roses match at Headingley later in the same month, claiming a maiden wicket in the shape of Lancashire allrounder Tom Smith before dropping out of the match to make way for Tim Bresnan when the latter was released by England. He had played three more first-class matches by the end of the 2012 season and took the opportunity thrown up by a Yorkshire injury crisis to impress in the Champions League T20, dismissing the India captain, MS Dhoni, in the match against Chennai Super Kings. He was invited to train with the Scotland squad in early 2013, and impressed enough to immediately win an ODI debut against Afghanistan. The following year, he was Scotland's leading wicket-taker, with 16 wickets at 23.37 apiece, as Scotland won the World Cup Qualifying tournament in New Zealand.

Despite those performances, he was nevertheless released by Yorkshire, where his displays had less to commend them, before the 2014 season begun. He considered pursuing another career, but instead signed a professional contract with Cricket Scotland as the country stepped up preparations for the 2015 World Cup.
ESPNcricinfo staff