Picture by Dave Vokes/Hampshire Cricket. AJ Tye has taken 11 wickets and with a best of 3-36 in this season’s Blast. He has also contributed 105 runs with a best of 44 down the order.
AJ Tye has been there, done it and bought the t-shirt in T20 cricket – and on that figurative t-shirt he carries an important message from his time with serial winners Perth Scorchers which he believes sums things up at Yorkshire.
“We were always firm believers at the Scorchers in characters over cover drives,” said the experienced Australian seamer.
“We put a really good group of mates together, and I feel as though that was one of our extra edges.
“And I get the same feeling here with these (Yorkshire) boys.
“There are no bad blokes, and even the boys who aren’t playing are mates with the ones who are. Everyone’s pretty close together.
“We have conversations, and some people might feel uncomfortable at times. But we’re helping each other, we’re teaching each other, and we’re all learning.”
Tye has been speaking ahead of Yorkshire’s next Blast clash against Durham – his former county – at Headingley tomorrow evening, starting at 6.30pm.
Picture by Will Russell/Getty Images. AJ Tye won multiple Big Bash titles in Australia with Perth Scorchers.
Despite three games without a win, the White Rose go into it still well placed in the North Group, second on 18 points and two behind leaders Nottinghamshire. In all, they have four wins, three defeats and a tie in eight games.
Durham are also in contention for the quarter-finals. They are six points behind Yorkshire but have a game in hand. They have won three and lost four.
After years of underachievement in the Blast, there does seem to be a different feel about this Yorkshire side. Ok, there has been some recent setbacks, but coach Anthony McGrath summed things up nicely when speaking about Yorkshire’s two games over the most recent weekend at last year’s finalists Hampshire and Derbyshire.
They lost the Hampshire game by two wickets defending 151 and took the game down to the penultimate ball. At Chesterfield, they tied the game on 215 having been 172-8 after 17 overs and a batter light because George Hill was unwell. Matthew Revis hit that stunning 69 not out to grab two points out of the fire.
“I think certainly last season we would have lost both games, maybe by 60 or 70 runs and Hampshire would have knocked them off two down,” he said. “So, a lot of fighting qualities.
“We’re on 18 points now, which is a good return. And we’ve got three games out of four at home now. So, yeah, a really exciting weekend coming up with Durham and Leicester at home.”
Tye continued: “We definitely feel like we can go deep.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Yorkshire coach Anthony McGrath is encouraged by the position his team find themselves in at present in the Vitality Blast.
“Even the games we have lost, it was only Gloucestershire that we were a bit off the boil.
“There’s a lot of T20 experience in myself, Faheem, Hassan, Moeen, Jonny and Lythy – not just at club level but at international level. It’s not just bowling or batting, it’s steady throughout the team.
“We can change the team from time to time, and we’re here helping the Will Luxtons, Matty Revis’s, and Dom Bess’s find their way in this game.
“I think we’ve got a great balance to the squad, we’ve got a great fielding unit as well, and we’ve got what it takes to go a long way this time. As long as the boys keep believing that and keep fighting, hopefully we’ll have a good chance.”
It’s fascinating that when T20 first started, back in 2003 with the Blast, the automatic assumption was that this format would be a young man’s game. But it hasn’t really worked out like that. Experience is key.
The Yorkshire hierarchy have gone down the experience route for this season. For example, seven of the team who faced Derbyshire on Sunday are aged over 30.
“Experience definitely is key,” added Tye, whose father is from Middlesbrough. “And we’ve got that.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Moeen Ali is another experienced head in Yorkshire’s side.
“It can be good being young and having no fear. But when things aren’t going your way, it’s the blokes who are experienced around those young guys to help them find their way and know there’s nothing to panic about.”
Yorkshire beat Durham at Banks Homes Riverside at the end of May, by 58 runs. They posted 151-8 before bowling the hosts out for just 93.
Durham are coached by Tye’s fellow West Australian Ryan Campbell and captained by former Yorkshire opening batter Alex Lees. They have South African batter David Bedingham as their overseas player.
Lees is their leading run-scorer so far with 268 from seven innings, including a superb 108 off 64 balls in their victory over Middlesex at Richmond on Sunday. Seam duo Matthew Potts and Kasey Aldridge have both taken 12 wickets.
This fixture forms part of a T20 double header day at Headingley with Yorkshire’s women, who face Somerset in their Blast competition from 2.30pm.
