By Graham Hardcastle, Paul Dyson & Jonathan Doidge.
Andrew Gale is still backing Yorkshire to have a say in this season’s Royal London one-day Cup, despite just one win from their opening five games. But there is a condition: “We have to put a full performance together,” the coach says.
Gale has watched his Vikings play some impressive cricket so far in the North Group, especially with the bat, although their chances of a top three finish and knockout qualification hang in the balance courtesy of two defeats and two ties.
Wednesday afternoon’s televised clash with Northamptonshire at Wantage Road (1pm) is the first of three remaining games, the others against Worcestershire away and Durham at Emerald Headingley.
Gale said: “I have said to the lads, ‘We haven’t played to our potential’.
“We’ve played some good stuff, but we haven’t brought a full game together apart from the first one against Leicestershire at home.
“The two tied games and the one-run loss against Lancashire, we could be sat here four wins from five.
“But these are three games we can win, and we might sneak in through the back door. Then you never know what happens if you come into form at the right time.
“All we can do is go into these three games with a clear mind and try to put a full performance together. If we do that, we’ll win three out of three. I’ve got no doubt about that because we are capable.”
Notts on Sunday at Trent Bridge is the only game so far where Yorkshire have been clearly second best.
They would have beaten Derbyshire last week had rain not curtailed their innings on 308-2 from 40 overs. Instead of Derby chasing 400 plus in 50 overs, they were set a Duckworth Lewis Stern target of 225 in 22 and tied.
The Warwickshire tie at Edgbaston and the Lancashire defeat at Headingley could have gone either way.
“Another four runs and we’ve got three wins,” said Gale. “It’s that tight.
“When you play 600 balls of cricket and it comes down to the last one, your destiny is right there.
“Definitely two of those games, Lancashire and Derbyshire, we should have won, and it’s certainly dented our confidence slightly.
“At Warwickshire, it felt like we’d gained a point and confidence was really high.
“But the other two, we should have got over the line, and it puts pressure on the next game.”
Gale is determined to stay positive, however.
“If we were getting played off the park every game, I’d question what we’re about,” he said.
“You only have to look at individual stats and they’re up there with the best in the country.
“Apart from Notts (213 all out), we’ve batted really well.
“We got 380 against Leicester, we’d have got 400 plus against Derby, Warwickshire we played well to get back in the game. Lancs as well, we got 300 plus.
“But the bowling at times has been patchy and the fielding the same.
“We’ve only lost two games of cricket so far this season in both formats, yet we feel like the wind’s been knocked out of our sails a bit.
“But who knows what could happen if we get over the line in a nipper this week and sneak in through the back door for qualification.”
Northants are out of contention with one win and only two points from five games so far.
Team news
First XI coach Andrew Gale names the same 13 that made the trip down the M1 to Trent Bridge, with the added inclusion of top-order batsman Will Fraine, who makes his first appearance in a senior squad since re-joining his home county last October.
Seamer Ben Coad and all-rounder Tim Bresnan were 12th men for that particular encounter, but could come into contention for this crunch Royal London One-Day Cup match at Wantage Road, under the floodlights and in front of the Sky cameras.
Physiotherapist Kunwar Bansil is confident Josh Shaw (quad) is just a week or two away from a return to Second XI cricket, while James Logan’s recovery from a broken thumb remains ongoing with his return anticipated in the next two/three weeks.
14-man squad to face Northants Steelbacks
Gary Ballance
Tim Bresnan
Harry Brook
Ben Coad
Will Fraine
Jack Leaning
Adam Lyth
Duanne Ollivier
Steven Patterson ©
Mathew Pillans
Josh Poysden
Jonny Tattersall (WK)
Tom Kohler-Cadmore
Matthew Waite
Jonathan Doidge says…
After a 100 partnership between Adam Lyth and Harry Brook, there is no doubt that finishing on just 213 all out was a disappointing result from a batting perspective on Sunday, and the lads were always going to struggle to defend that on a free-scoring ground like Trent Bridge.
Credit to them for battling on when, at 72-0, Notts could have been forgiven for thinking they were home and dry. Chipping away at the wickets column, a return of six, with another three for Mat Pillans, at least gave a feel of going down fighting.
That’s behind us now and if anything can sharpen the focus on route to Northampton on Tuesday, ahead of Wednesday’s day-night fixture, it’s the fact that the Vikings now need to win all three remaining fixtures to have a chance of making the quarter finals.
We know they are capable of doing that, which has probably further fuelled the frustrations of recent matches, but it is now there for them to prove. Northants sit one off the bottom of the table on net run rate, and there could hardly be a better opportunity to get this One Day Cup campaign back on track, but the last couple of weeks show that nothing can be taken for granted.
Milestones
Potential batting milestones in Northamptonshire v Yorkshire on 1st May 2019
- AG Wakely needs 135 runs to reach 2500 runs in List A matches
Potential bowling milestones in Northamptonshire v Yorkshire on 1st May 2019
- GG White needs 8 wickets to reach 100 wickets in List A matches
Match statistics
- Yorkshire have won all of the last 14 List A matches between these two counties.
- Northamptonshire last defeated Yorkshire in a List A match in 2001, that being at Northampton.
- The 161 scored by David Sales at Northampton in 2006 is the fourth-highest innings made against Yorkshire in all List A cricket. Yorkshire’s highest against these opponents is 152 not out scored by Gary Ballance at Northampton in 2017.
- Colin Johnson took four catches against Northamptonshire at Huddersfield in 1974. No other Yorkshire player has taken so many in a match in all List A cricket.
- David Capel’s feat of scoring 67 and taking five for 57 for Northamptonshire at Headingley in 1997 is the only instance of a player scoring a half-century and taking at least four wickets in List A matches between these two sides.
Royal London One-Day Cup standings
Royal London One-Day Cup competition statistics
Yorkshire’s Royal London One-Day Cup statistics
The opposition – Northants Steelbacks
- Head coach: David Ripley
- Captain: Alex Wakely
- 2018: CC 9th in Div 2, RL50 7th in North, T20 9th in North
Northants had a season to forget in 2018. Second bottom in Division Two, they also failed to make an impression on the T20 Blast, a competition which has been so kind to them in recent years.
They made a real statement in February by signing West Indies captain Jason Holder to a pre-World Cup overseas stint in Championship and one-day cricket.
South Africa Test batsman Temba Bavuma will also play Championship cricket for them through the middle of the season, while Pakistan all-rounder Faheem Ashraf has been signed for T20.
Out have gone Ben Duckett (Notts), Richard Gleeson (Lancashire) – both left late last season – and Steven Crook, who has retired.
One man who has signed and is a player to watch closely is towering one-Test Zimbabwe fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani, a 22-year-old who has done the same as Duanne Olivier and signed a three-year Kolpak deal.
Last time out
07/06/18 – Emerald Headingley
Yorkshire won for the fourth match running by chasing 242 to beat battling Northamptonshire by four wickets at Emerald Headingley and advance to the Royal London one-day Cup knockout stages.
The Vikings missed out on a home tie in next Thursday’s semi-final eliminator courtesy of net run-rate, with them failing to achieve their target in 41 overs. And they will face Essex at Chelmsford.
That was down to a Northants side who caused problems with spin as Yorkshire attempted to recover from 14-2.
They slipped to 134-5 in the 33rd over to increase tensions knowing a win would eliminate them, with David Willey gone for 71.
But Gary Ballance and Jonny Tattersall hit superb fifties and shared a sixth-wicket stand of 87 inside 14 overs.
Ballance hit 66 off 61 balls and Tattersall finished 52 not out off 51 balls. The win was secured with an over remaining.
Earlier, the already eliminated visitors fell to 101-6 having elected to bat as Willey and Tim Bresnan struck twice. But some valuable lower order contributions elevated them to 241 all out.
Willey finished with 3-24 from 9.5 overs, while Bresnan, Matthew Fisher and Adil Rashid all struck twice.
Charlie Thurston, the Steelbacks 21-year-old debutant, top-scored with a fluent 53, while Graeme White hit 41 not out.
Brett Hutton hit 30 and Rory Kleinveldt added 21. Earlier, captain Alex Wakely made 42.
Matchday guide
Welcome to Northamptonshire County Cricket Club, home of the Northamptonshire Steelbacks. We are delighted to welcome you and hope you have an enjoyable day out. Please see below for all the information you will need to enjoy your match day experience here at The County Ground.
Ways to follow
- Northamptonshire v Yorkshire – Wednesday May 1 on Sky Sports Cricket from 12.55pm BST
- Ball-by-ball BBC Radio Commentary –
- Via the club’s match centre below…
Weather
Outlook for Wednesday to Friday
On Wednesday, any sunshine will gradually give way to cloudier skies from the west together with patchy rain. Mostly cloudy on Wednesday night with further patchy rain. Thursday is then likely to be breezy and cooler with showers, some heavy and possibly thundery. Showers gradually easing on Friday, leaving sunny spells but with a chilly north-westerly wind.
