David Willey says his recent spell in the Indian Premier League helped him get his cricketing mojo back.
The Yorkshire all-rounder admits to experiencing some unwanted thoughts last summer as he was left out of England’s one-day side for large parts of their international schedule, including the Champions Trophy, and forced to carry the drinks.
A knock-on effect was that he didn’t play as much as he would have liked for Yorkshire, although he did enjoy a very productive T20 Blast campaign.
He is hoping things can change for the better this summer having returned from India last Monday. The ex-Northants star was straight off the plane and into Wednesday’s thrilling Royal London one-day Cup win at Derbyshire, taking four wickets.
Ahead of Tuesday’s Roses RL50 clash with Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford (11am), Willey, who won the IPL with Chennai and made three appearances, said: “When I first went out there, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. But it surpassed all expectations.
“It was a great learning experience. You are playing with and against some of the best players from around the globe and working work some coaches that have incredible CVs.
“It’s certainly helped me become a student of the game again, which is quite refreshing.
“I wasn’t in a great place with my cricket last summer. But to play in that environment and learn so much in such a short space of time was quite exciting. Now, I just want to play.
“Last summer, definitely (I fell out of love with cricket). It was a tough time and somewhere I’ve never been with cricket before.
“To just be wishing the game would be finished so I could get away from the ground was quite tough to process given it’s a game I’ve loved from as young as I can remember.
“It was tough to deal with and understand.
“But I’m back thoroughly enjoying my cricket again, and hopefully that can shine through this summer.”
He continued: “When you’re sat on the sidelines for such a long time, the game moves on and you can get stuck in a bit of a rut. Then you play the odd game and it’s difficult to be up to speed. You can practice all you want, but nothing replicates being out in the middle.
“It was a combination of things. I wasn’t sure of my own game and some self doubt came in. There was a bit of a minefield in my head about what I was doing. It was challenging.
“It was great to be back out there at Derby. The more I play, the more I’ll get that confidence back. Fingers crossed I’ll play more regularly for England. If I am carrying the drinks, hopefully there’s an opportunity to get released back to Yorkshire.”
Yorkshire head into Tuesday’s clash with seven points from six games. They currently sit outside the top three qualifying places and may have to win their last two North Group fixtures to get back in.
“It’s a big game against Lancashire,” added Willey. “At Northants, we had a fair few run-ins with them. It’s always nice to beat them, whether it’s with a Northants shirt on or now with Yorkshire.
“I’m sure it will be a tasty game. Hopefully we can perform a little bit better than we did at Derby and make it more of a plain-sailing win.”
Team news
All-rounder David Willey keeps his place in a 13-man squad. He took 4-47 as the Vikings beat Derbyshire by two wickets with a ball to spare at the 3aaa County Ground.
Ben Coad, who will play in the Second XI Trophy fixture against MCC Young Cricketers at York on Tuesday, is rested from the First XI once again. Jonny Tattersall keeps the gloves and Steven Patterson continues with the captaincy duties and will do so for the remainder of the Royal London One-Day Cup competition.
13-MAN SQUAD TO FACE LANCASHIRE
Gary Ballance
Tim Bresnan
Harry Brook
Karl Carver
Matthew Fisher
Tom Kohler-Cadmore
Adam Lyth
Steven Patterson ©
Liam Plunkett
Cheteshwar Pujara
Adil Rashid
Jonny Tattersall (WK)
David Willey
Competition statisitcs
Royal London One-Day Cup standings
Match Statistics
- Yorkshire have won all of the last three List A matches between these two counties.
- Lancashire have not beaten Yorkshire in a List A match at Old Trafford since 2008.
- The two highest totals in all List A matches between these two counties were both scored at Old Trafford by Yorkshire, the higher being 325 for seven in 2016.
Yorkshire’s Royal London One-Day Cup statistics
Milestones
Potential batting milestones in Lancashire v Yorkshire on 5th Jun 2018
JC Buttler needs 19 runs to reach 5000 runs in List A matches
JA Leaning needs 47 runs to reach 1000 runs in List A matches
S Chanderpaul needs 61 runs to reach 13500 runs in List A matches
AJ Hodd needs 66 runs to reach 1000 runs in List A matches
KR Brown needs 80 runs to reach 2500 runs in List A matches
A Lyth needs 121 runs to reach 3500 runs in List A matches
JM Anderson needs 127 runs to reach 500 runs in List A matches
JM Bairstow needs 130 runs to reach 3500 runs in List A matches
Potential bowling milestones in Lancashire v Yorkshire on 5th Jun 2018
JM Mennie needs 2 wickets to reach 50 wickets in List A matches
Azeem Rafiq needs 7 wickets to reach 50 wickets in List A matches
The Opposition
Specsavers County Championship in 2017: Second place
Royal London one-day Cup in 2017: Group stage knockout
Vitality Blast in 2017: Group stage knockout
Captain: Liam Livingstone
Coach and Director of Cricket: Glen Chapple and Paul Allott
Overseas Players: Australian seam bowler Joe Mennie arrives for his first taste of county cricket and is available for all competitions until early September.
Mennie’s compatriot James Faulkner returns to Emirates Old Trafford on a two-year contract for T20 cricket only. The all-rounder was a star of their 2015 Blast title triumph.
Other Ins and Outs: The Red Rose have recruited Durham pair Keaton Jennings and Graham Onions to bolster their batting and bowling stocks respectively.
Their batting already looked strong before the signing of England Lions captain Jennings, but Onions’ arrival was a necessity after the return of Kyle Jarvis to international cricket with Zimbabwe.
Mennie replaces Ryan McLaren as overseas.
Luke Procter, meanwhile, has left to join Northamptonshire after a successful loan spell at the end of last summer.
