Conor McKerr and Jonny Tattersall have urged no let-up from Yorkshire as they aim to further boost their Vitality County Championship promotion hopes when they travel to face Derbyshire at Chesterfield, starting on Sunday (11am).
Yorkshire were outstanding in securing a three-day innings victory over Gloucestershire at Scarborough, which finished on Tuesday.
They were skilful and relentless in capturing their first win of 2024 at the eighth attempt.
On loan quick McKerr struck five times across both innings, all taken on Tuesday’s final day.
And given he has been borrowed from county champions Surrey, it was the type of performance which he has seen time and time again in the last few years.
“In all sport, momentum’s important,” said the 26-year-old. “So we’re going to go to Chesterfield feeling really confident.
“But we can’t look too far ahead.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Conor McKerr celebrates one of his five day three wickets against Gloucestershire.
“That’s another four-day game, which takes forever. We have to take it half an hour by half an hour, ball by ball and make sure we stay disciplined and patient.
“That earned us our rewards at Scarborough.
“Coming from Surrey, you learn how to win, and you start winning from positions where you perhaps shouldn’t. If we can learn that as a group and team, that sets us up for competing in Division One.”
This is the first of six remaining games, with coach Ottis Gibson targeting another three wins to seal a top-two finish for promotion. Yorkshire are currently third in the table, 25 points behind Middlesex in second and 33 behind leaders Sussex.
They play both counties at home in the run-in.
Before leaving Scarborough, Gibson said: “That’s the first of what I believe the four wins which will get us promoted in the next six games we have left.
“We’re confident. We’ve been playing well, but not good enough to win. This will do the world of good for our confidence.”
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Ottis Gibson is targeting three more wins for promotion.
McKerr plays the last game of his initial loan spell with Yorkshire, while Sri Lankan left-arm fast bowler Vishwa Fernando also brings the curtain down on a three-game overseas stint.
The Test Match bowler has taken eight wickets in two matches so far – five in the late May draw against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road and three against Gloucestershire earlier this week.
“I think he’s done well,” said Gibson, of Fernando.
“A different dimension with the left-arm.
“I remember last year we wanted to sign a left-arm overseas. We looked at Wagner and now he’s retired.
“Vishwa’s bowled well in the two games he’s played. I’m very pleased for him.”
Yorkshire face a Derbyshire side who sit bottom of Division Two having drawn six and lost two of their eight games.
Picture by John Heald. Shan Masood is set to return from a week out with concussion. He helped Yorkshire to a Championship win at Chesterfield last year.
One of those draws was against Yorkshire at Headingley last month.
Derbyshire come into this game on the back of a defeat against Middlesex at Lord’s.
Tattersall captained the side at Scarborough in the absence of Shan Masood due to concussion. The Pakistan Test skipper will return at Chesterfield to face his former county. Ben Coad is also in contention to return from the back injury which has sidelined him late last month. Will Luxton is unavailable having been selected in the First-Class Counties XI to face the West Indies in a three-day friendly at Beckenham, starting on Wednesday.
“I don’t think we’ve been million miles away,” said Tattersall.
“But I think the thing I’ve noticed over my time of playing, and we’ll look back at Gloucestershire and see that you have to be at it for four days – or three days in the sense of that.
“We’ve not done that in the first seven games – we’ve not backed it up day after day, session after session.
“That’s where we’ve fallen short.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Jonny Tattersall led Yorkshire to victory at Scarborough – and he wants more.
“We probably could have had four wins so far this season. But it turns out we’ve just got one.
“We just have to keep working hard and move onto the next one and go again at Chesterfield.
“We’ve got more quality to come back into the side.
“The captain, for one, in Shan and Coady to come back. Hopefully Matt Fisher’s not far behind that.
“If everyone can keep performing how they are now, added to those guys coming back into the team, there’s no reason why we can’t keep up this momentum and winning feeling and take it through the second half of the season.”
Yorkshire were relentless with the ball in bowling Gloucestershire out for 197 and 237, but that win was set up by first-innings centuries from Fin Bean (164) and Adam Lyth (129).
They shared 307 for the first wicket, underpinning a total of 456.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Fin Bean and Adam Lyth scored centuries to set up a Yorkshire win over Gloucestershire.
“It was a fantastic partnership, and it’s what they’ve been doing since they got together as an opening partnership,” added Tattersall.
“Lythy’s experience, he’s such a high-class player, and he added another hundred to his record. For Finlay as well. The way they play, they just complement each other so well, feed off each other and enjoy batting together.
“They put us in the driving seat, and Gloucestershire had no answer on that first day.
“We were exceptional from start to finish. We won pretty much every session. I think they won just one of the sessions in that game. Full credit to the lads, they performed outstandingly well. It was great to get over the line and get a win.”
Wicketkeeper-batter Brooke Guest is Derbyshire’s leading Championship run-scorer this summer with 500, while off-spinner Alex Thomson is their leading wicket-taker with 20.
Captained by opening batter David Lloyd, South African seamer Daryn Dupavillon is their only overseas player.
