Ben Coad believes Yorkshire are close to claiming some silverware and would love to qualify for next week’s Bob Willis Trophy final to help prove it.
The White Rose new ball seamer admitted he and his team-mates were “gutted” by last week’s defeat against Warwickshire which ended their chances of winning the LV= Insurance County Championship title.
It means they now head into Tuesday’s final round game against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge (10.30am) with only a second-placed finish possible.
Currently fifth in Division One behind title challenging quartet Hampshire (58.5 points), Warwickshire (55), Lancashire (54.5) and Notts (52), Coad and co would need other results to go their way to reach the five-day Lord’s final starting a week on Tuesday.
Yorkshire sit on 41.5 points and would need to beat Notts added to a positive result from the Lancashire and Hampshire game at Liverpool and then Somerset to beat Warwickshire at Edgbaston.
“We just have to perform,” said Coad. “Hopefully if the other games go our way, we can get into the final and win some silverware.
“I know it’s going to be a hard ask with other games having to go our way. But let’s see.
“We were playing for the title originally. But it’s still going to be the top two teams in the country fighting for some silverware.
“We’d be right up for it.
“It’s a big game on TV, five days. It would be a tough game against whoever we play.”
Coad continued: “We know we haven’t played our best stuff this year. But the last couple of games, the way we’ve performed against some very good sides (Hampshire and Somerset), myself and the rest of the lads had a real feeling we could go all the way this year.
“To fall short the way we did against Warwickshire was really disappointing.
“But we know there’s a lot of good stuff to have come this year. We can learn from this and go one better next year.
“I think we’re very close to winning something. It’s just winning these pressure situations.
“We’ve been in two (limited overs) quarter-finals and took it to the last game in the County Championship.
“We’re obviously still a young group and haven’t been in this situation many times. We’ll learn from this and take it forwards.
“The next time we’re in this situation, we can really put our foot down and go and win it.”
Notts slipped from top spot in Division One to fourth with defeat against Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl last week and need as many points as possible to give them a chance of bypassing their trio of rivals. Even then, a 24-point win may not be enough.
Coad, meanwhile, has spoken about his haul of 29 wickets in nine Championship games this season.
He missed three of the first four with a pectoral injury and assessed: “Alright is probably what I’d say. I set some high standards.
“The return I’ve got is actually not that bad.
“I would have liked a few more wickets, but the average is still low (21.82).
“I’ve not quite been at my best this year and can’t put my finger on why. Hopefully next year I can up it again and make a really big contribution for the team.”
Captain Steve Patterson is a doubt to play due to a hamstring injury sustained last week. But Coad insists the depth in the bowling department is one of the major positives to come from 2021.
“This year, you can see the depth,” he added. “If one person’s got a niggle or isn’t feeling too great, someone can come in and take up that role. You saw that with Dave (Willey) at Scarborough and Fish the week before when Dave wasn’t feeling too well.
“We’ve got the depth now where we can be honest with the coaches. If you aren’t feeling too great, you can rely on others to come in.
“It’s a great team to be a part of, and there’s great strength in depth.”
Squad
Steve Patterson is unavailable due to a hamstring injury picked up during the last game and a captain for the fixture will be named at the toss.
Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root and David Willey are being rested ahead of a busy period of international cricket this winter.
13-man squad to face Nottinghamshire
Gary Ballance
Dom Bess
Harry Brook
Ben Coad
Harry Duke (Wicketkeeper)
Matthew Fisher
Will Fraine
George Hill
Tom Kohler-Cadmore
Adam Lyth
Duanne Olivier
Matthew Revis
Jordan Thompson
A look at the opposition – Nottinghamshire
Coach: Peter Moores
Captain: Steven Mullaney
Last Year’s Performance: Fourth (North Group)
2020 Leading Runscorer: Ben Duckett (394, 56.3)
2020 Leading Wicket Taker: Zak Chappell (15, 28.7)
Overseas players: Dane Paterson (South Africa)
Key man: Joe Clarke – Even with 17 first-class centuries to his name already – four for Nottinghamshire – the classy middle-order strokemaker can still improve and his form could be key to the county’s fortunes.
Flies under the radar: Haseeb Hameed – Fast-tracked into the Test side at 19 only for his form to disappear, the opener showed signs last season that a change of scene away from the spotlight is working for him.
Best Player Under 24: Liam Patterson-White – The truncated 2020 campaign brought frustration for the left-arm spinning all-rounder, who was unable to follow up a 20-wicket debut season in 2019 but is likely to have more opportunities this year.
The Season Ahead: Although they have not won in 27 first-class matches going back to June 2018, Nottinghamshire were unlucky not to end that dismal run in the Bob Willis Trophy last season, clocking up 20 batting bonus points – six more than any other county – and 15 for bowling, and achieving a substantial first-innings lead in all their five matches. Given a batting line-up that exudes quality from Haseeb and Ben Slater at the top through Ben Duckett, Clarke and the evergreen Samit Patel, combined with a bowling attack including a resurgent Jake Ball that is bolstered by the return of Brett Hutton and the addition of the skillful South African Dane Paterson, with spin options to boot, Nottinghamshire ought to be near the top of their group. However, the long wait for a win is a monkey on their back they need to shake off quickly.
Statistics
• Only Lancashire have played more matches against Yorkshire in the Championship than Nottinghamshire have done.
• Nottinghamshire last beat Yorkshire in the Championship at Trent Bridge in 2008.
• Yorkshire have scored at least 500 in an innings on eight occasions against Nottinghamshire in the Championship but its opponents have done so only once – 545 for seven declared at Headingley in 2010. Yorkshire’s highest is 572 for eight declared at Scarborough in 2013.
• In 1901 Nottinghamshire were dismissed at Trent Bridge for 13 and this is the second-lowest total in the entire history of the County Championship.
• Geoff Boycott scored 15 centuries against Nottinghamshire in the Championship and this is the record for Yorkshire against any county.
• The world record analysis of ten for ten occurred for Yorkshire against Nottinghamshire – by Hedley Verity at Headingley in 1932.
• Of Yorkshire’s 15 hat-tricks in the County Championship since the Second World War six have been taken against Nottinghamshire.
HOW TO FOLLOW
There willbe a match blog on the website, and the clips available via the match centre. Highlights will also be available shortly following each days play.
