Picture by Ben Duffy/SWPix.com. The 2002 C&G Trophy medal around Anthony McGrath’s neck has been in the Yorkshire dressing room in recent weeks.
Anthony McGrath has revealed how he hopes giving his Yorkshire players a flavour of the county’s last List A triumph can help inspire them to glory in this summer’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
Yorkshire’s last white-ball trophy came in 2002 when current head coach McGrath was part of the team who beat Somerset in the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy final at Lord’s.
The county’s current crop have made an impressive start to their Group B campaign, winning three of their opening four matches. They are top of the table courtesy of a superior net run-rate to Somerset and tomorrow’s opponents Middlesex.
Next up is a clash between the top two teams in the group at Radlett tomorrow (11am). Middlesex have also won three of their opening four matches.
Rewind to start of the competition, and McGrath asked all the players and coaches to bring something personal into the dressing room as a way of working on their team unity.
The former all-rounder took the chance to reflect on a past triumph which has obvious relevance to the White Rose’s current assignment.
“It’s about the team,” he explained. “We’re doing a lot of work at the moment on our team code and ethics and things like that.
Picture by John Clifton/SWPix.com. Captain Dom Bess leads his team-mates onto the field at York earlier this week.
“We asked the guys to bring some stuff in – it was just something you can bring to the team for the next three or four weeks, not necessarily cricket-related. It could be absolutely anything.
“Everyone gave it some thought. And, as ever, there was some weird and wonderful stuff.
“My one thing was my medal.
“It was not to show off, but more just to symbolise that it was one of my favourite days in cricket. Not from a personal performance point of view, but it was about the team.
“It just symbolised what a great day of playing for your mates, the whole family there, great crowd, the celebrations after the build-up.
“And we talked about, ‘Let’s do something special in this competition’.
“To get to Trent Bridge would be brilliant, and this group has a chance to do it. That was the idea behind it.
Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. Anthony McGrath won titles with Yorkshire as a player and Essex as a coach. He’s aiming to add more now that he’s leading the White Rose as coach. That can start with the ongoing Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
“It’s not just the outcome of winning it, it’s the journey you get on to do it. And you can have a lot of fun with it. All of them are pretty close in this group, so to do it with your mates is pretty special.”
McGrath faced a couple of follow-up questions, one serious and one not so serious.
Asked to expand on the team unity side of things, he said: “We’ve banged on all year about being a better team unit.
“I think we’ve got really good individuals, but we’ve spoken a lot about playing as a team. Sometimes you’ve got to do different roles, and you might not always get your name in the headlights.
“There’s stuff which are the one percenters, as they’re called, which we can get better at – and I can get better at – and I think the guys have really bought into that.”
And what of the “weird and wonderful stuff” brought into the dressing room?
The coach laughed: “My personal favourite was Will Luxton. He’s promised to bring flowers in every day to cheer the mood in the camp. At York the other day, he brought in some sunflowers!”
Picture by John Clifton/SWPix.com. Will Luxton has been delivering runs – and flowers – for Yorkshire of late.
Pardon the pun, but Luxton is blossoming into quite the batter.
Ok, he ran himself out for a golden duck in the six-wicket defeat against Somerset at York on Thursday, but he has played some eye-catching innings across all formats, including 77 off 63 balls in Tuesday’s win over Lancashire at the same venue.
Given his form, especially in the Vitality Blast, it’s somewhat of a surprise that he hasn’t been called up to play in the Hundred, a competition which has just poached in-form Matthew Revis.
The all-rounder has just signed as a replacement player for Rocky Flintoff with the Northern Superchargers.
He could now be unavailable for the remainder of the 50-over competition aside from the final on September 20. Should Yorkshire advance, he would be available to play at Trent Bridge next month.
Yorkshire have plenty of work to do to get there, but things are looking good.
They have beaten Warwickshire, Northamptonshire and Lancashire to put them on course for a top-three finish in the group.
Picture by John Clifton/SWPix.com. Matthew Revis has linked up with the Northern Superchargers in the Hundred.
Tomorrow’s clash with Middlesex is their first of four remaining games.
“To dominate three games in this competition, which we have done against decent teams, takes some doing,” added McGrath, who is targeting five or six wins to seal qualification.
“We’ve looked a really good unit out there. That’s the most pleasing thing.
“You’re always going to lose games, but it’s how you react.
“Winning three and losing one, now is our chance to try and get on a bit of a run again.”
Middlesex beat Warwickshire by 28 runs at Rugby School yesterday.
Bowled out for 217 batting first, they defended it impressively. Luke-spinner Luke Hollman took four wickets to help bowl the Bears out for 189.
Picture by Clive Mason/Getty Images. Middlesex opener Sam Robson bats against Warwickshire at Rugby yesterday. Earlier this week, he scored a brilliant 169 not out in a record chase of 388 at Durham.
They are captained by emerging batter Ben Geddes, who made 48 yesterday.
On Tuesday, Middlesex chased 388 to beat Durham at the Banks Homes Riverside. It was the highest successful List A chase ever in England. Former England Test opener Sam Robson hit a career best 169 not out.
Middlesex have former Lancashire captain Dane Vilas as their interim coach following the mid-season sacking of Richard Johnson.
