I’m absolutely buzzing for the start of the season now.
From a team point of view, the way we went about our work in Abu Dhabi, we prepped really well. We’ve all worked very hard over the winter as well, and if we put that into practice I’m sure we’ll have a good summer.
Personally, I’d love to start really well.
I’ve worked on a few things this last month or two, from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi and at home, and as long as I can nail that down in this opening month, then things should take care of themselves.
My main focus isn’t results, it’s the way I’m feeling at the crease. For me, that’s usually a good indication that things are going well.
I’ll aim to start well with the twos and put myself in the shop window.
Picture courtesy of Beaumaris CC. Noah Kelly keeps wicket during his winter of club cricket in Melbourne.
It’s a saying we’ve had at Yorkshire for a while, ‘Put your name in the hat’. If you do that, you don’t know what’s around the corner. As long as my name’s being thrown about for selection, I’ll be happy.
We have such a strong squad. Someone might do really well but not get the chance because there’s no door open. Then, all of a sudden, two may open at once. It’s just about biding my time and making sure I’m ready to take a chance if it comes.
There is competition for places, and a lot of it. But the best thing about Yorkshire is that everyone is keen to help each other out. As much as we’re fighting for spots, it’s very healthy.
Your established players like Jonny Bairstow are so giving with their time to help the younger guys progress.
It’s been a manic month or so, from finishing up with Beaumaris in Melbourne, to getting to Abu Dhabi for pre-season and now being back at home just a few days away from the start of the season. It feels like it’s gone in an instance.
I was really pleased to meet up with the boys for our tour in Abu Dhabi.
Picture by YCCC. Jonnys Tattersall and Bairstow on Yorkshire’s pre-season tour of Abu Dhabi.
I’ve played with a lot of them for many years, we’re really good mates, and it was nice to be back around that Yorkshire accent and for people to understand what I’m saying!
The atmosphere around the group was really good. The day I got there, we went out for a run to shake off the travelling, and we were straight into the work the day after.
It was a pretty gruelling two weeks. The schedule was jam-packed, training was difficult in the heat. The games as well. I know not everyone played the three T20s back-to-back, but that was tough even if you played two of them.
Then, the two-day game against Somerset, it was the hottest it had been for the two weeks we were there. It got up to 38 or 39 degrees. But the bowlers definitely enjoyed running in and getting competitive overs into their legs instead of just running in in the East Stand.
In one of the T20s, against Birmingham, myself and Will Luxton put on 51 for the fourth wicket after we had fallen to 9-3 early on. He got 34 and I ended with 24. That was nice to have some time in the middle, and it was a big confidence-booster.
We stuck to our plan of going hard in the powerplay, and it was nice to get that chance.
Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. Noah Kelly enjoyed the challenge of facing ex-England fast bowler Richard Gleeson on pre-season tour last month.
If I play against Birmingham again, I’ll have a feel for their bowlers. They’re all good learnings in that respect. I’d never faced somebody of Richard Gleeson’s pace before, for example. You don’t get that too often in the second team, but I really enjoyed that challenge.
Jonny Bairstow came into the captaincy role in that two-day game against Somerset, and he was switched on with it immediately.
He has been around some amazing captains and has been part of winning sides at World Cups and in the Ashes.
He knows how to motivate people. He’s got a really good way of speaking in front of the group. We’ve had some good chats as a team about our progression.
Having someone with such experience and so much love for the county, it’s really exciting as a young player. Dawid Malan, also, he is going to be a very good mentor.
He’s obviously been the best T20 batter in the world only very recently, and he’s still world-class. He will be leading from the front. And it will give Jonny some real freedom in the T20s, which will be fun to watch.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Noah Kelly has hailed the appointment of Dawid Malan as Yorkshire’s new Vitality Blast captain.
I look up to those two as two of England’s greatest players across the formats, and I don’t think there are two more experienced captains leading a county in the country. We’re very fortunate in that respect.
I think we’ll be taking the positive option whenever possible across all the formats. Nothing’s been spoken about Bazball in the Championship or anything like that, but we’ll always try and be on the front foot.
We could potentially have a line-up of Lyth, Bean, Root, Brook, Bairstow and Malan during the early stages of the summer. Five have played international cricket, and Beany’s scored nearly 2,000 Championship runs in the last two seasons. That’s a serious line-up for a county team, and there’s no chance they will be taking a backwards step.
Hampshire first up is going to be tough. They have a good record. But if we can get a good score on the board, hopefully the likes of Coady, Hilly and Jack White can get about their business and cause mayhem on an April pitch.
And, in terms of the twos, we play Warwickshire in the first game at the Edgbaston Foundation Ground next week. That’s a really nice venue, which offers a bit for bat and ball. It’s one of the better second-team venues on the circuit.
