Mick Lewis, Yorkshire’s new bowling coach, has high hopes for the county’s bowlers, saying: “I really do believe that this bowling group could be the best in the country.”
Former Australia white-ball seamer Lewis has followed Anthony McGrath to Headingley from Essex, where he spent three seasons in the same position.
The 50-year-old Victorian started work at Yorkshire at the beginning of the month and travelled with the squad on their recent pre-season tour of Abu Dhabi.
He did a little bit of work with emerging fast bowler Ben Cliff in Melbourne during the second half of the winter and believes he is one of many exciting talents on Yorkshire’s staff, ranging from experienced heads such as Ben Coad to young guns like Alex Wade.
Lewis was speaking ahead of the county’s sole friendly on home soil, the two-day game against Lancashire at Headingley, starting tomorrow at 11am.
The fixture is a behind-closed-doors contest.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. New bowling coach Mick Lewis at training earlier this week.
He said: “I had three exceptional seam bowlers down at Essex in Snater, Cook and Porter, and the guys here are like, ‘What do they do?’
“And I go, ‘You guys are just as good, and you’ve got potential to be better than those three’.
“Those three are exceptional players, but I think what we’ve got here is something special as well, and I think these guys have got a high ceiling.
“I don’t think they’ve reached three quarters of it yet.
“I really do believe that this bowling group could be the best in the country. And that’s my main aim, to get these guys to be the most feared bowling group in the country.
“So when we come up against teams like Surrey, they’re sitting there saying, ‘Oh god, we’re at Yorkshire this week, we’ll see off Coad, we’ll see off Revis, we’ll see off Hill, but we’ve got Cliff to deal with.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Mick Lewis chats to the audience at Yorkshire’s Opening Season Lunch on Thursday. To his right, second-team coach Tom Smith and to his left, batting coach John Sadler.
“That’s what I want us to become – the most feared bowling group in the country.”
Asked what is required for Yorkshire’s bowlers to reach their potential, the 50-year-old continued: “It’s just game time. I mean, they’re quite young, really, in games played.
“They’ve spent two or three years out of Division One, now back in Division One.
“It’s going to be harder, it’s going to be tougher, but it’s being able to adapt and adjust to what’s in front of you.
“I think sometimes as players, we can prophesies too far ahead and think about the game rather than staying in the moment.
“It’s about staying at the moment, see what’s in front of you and play what’s in front of you.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Jonny Bairstow is set to captain Yorkshire against Lancashire this weekend.
“We’re going to have really good days, but we’re going to have some bad days as well, and that’s okay. That’s a part of life.
“I’ve never met anyone that’s never dropped their guard or had a bad day in life. But it’s about what you learn from those bad days and not hold onto it and just move on pretty quickly.”
Yorkshire’s stock of seamers is supplemented by three spinners in Dom Bess, Jafer Chohan and Dan Moriarty.
Overseas quartet Jordan Buckingham, Will O’Rourke, Ben Sears and Will Sutherland will link up with the county over the next couple of months, while the likes of Matthew Revis and Matt Milnes are in the final stages of their recovery following back stress fracture injuries.
Lewis has worked with Buckingham and Sutherland in the past.
Lancashire are aiming to bounce back from relegation to Division Two last year and have been boosted by the availability of Jimmy Anderson for the full campaign.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. New fast-bowling recruit Jack White trains at Headingley earlier this week.
It’s unclear what their team will look like for this fixture given a large number of their squad have been training at Desert Springs in Spain this week, only returning home yesterday.
For Yorkshire, Lewis said: “It’s about fine-tuning a few things.
“Whether we win or lose the game, not really bothered about that. It’s more about what guys need to get out of the game to be ready for that first game against Hampshire.”
And, on his move to Headingley, Lewis added: “Yorkshire is one of the biggest clubs in county cricket, and I’m super-excited to be here.
“The guys have been brilliant so far. They did a brilliant job to get promotion last year, and with myself, Mags and Sads coming in, it’s a new challenge for us and all the players as well. We want the players to have as much fun as they can and put themselves in a position to win as many games as they can.”
