Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Knockout cricket looms once again for Dom Bess and Anthony McGrath. Yorkshire have reached the quarter-finals of both white-ball competitions in 2026.
When Dom Bess, and his head coach Anthony McGrath, undertook their media duties at the end of Yorkshire’s commanding seven-wicket win over Essex at Chelmsford on Tuesday, they didn’t know who their quarter-final opponents would be.
While they were in relaxed early-evening mood chatting about their positive group campaign, which yielded six wins from eight, other teams were still in the heat of battle scrambling for qualification places.
At one stage, it was looking like a Roses quarter-final, but we now know it will be Nottinghamshire Outlaws at Yorkshire tomorrow, starting at 11am.
Not that captain Bess was particularly bothered, mind you. Nottinghamshire, Lancashire, Surrey, whoever. Confidence is high within the camp, and the attitude is definitely a ‘bring it on’ kind of one.
“The mantra is, ‘Worry about ourselves’,” said captain Bess.
“Obviously last year, when we had Imam (ul-Haq) scoring thousands or runs, it was sort of him.
“But I reckon you look down our line-up this year and everyone’s chipped in, with the ball and with the bat. That’s the really pleasing part for me.
“Ben Cliff might have run away with the bowling tally (18 wickets), and James Wharton and Sammy Whiteman had sort of caught Will Luxton up with the runs.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Sam Whiteman (342) and Will Luxton (347) are leading Yorkshire’s runs charts in this season’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
“Everyone’s sort of batting and bowling and having responsibilities. And I love where we are.
“Last year was awesome because we almost cruised it to this point.
“This year, we’ve had to work it a little bit harder.
“We’ve chased a lot this year, which I think is great for us and the club moving forward in T20 cricket and 50 overs.”
Bess continued: “It’s knockout cricket now, and that’s why you play. You play for pressured moments and opportunities to win stuff.
“The amount of times I’ve said it, the reason why I first came here was to win things. Now, the only way you do it is by getting into knockout games.”
Yorkshire hosted last year’s semi-final against Hampshire at Scarborough, with York taking on the task of a quarter-final this time. Yorkshire played twice there in the group stages, winning both matches against Worcestershire and then Durham.
“Obviously Yorkshire, you always think Scarborough as an out-ground, don’t you,” added Bess. “And we love Scarborough.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Yorkshire are returning to Clifton Park, York tomorrow for the third time in this season’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
“But I think York, everyone puts in so much work behind the scenes, and they’ve made it a great venue for us.
“On the pitch, we’ve done really well there.
“But I just think, as a club and how they’ve operated and how they’ve got fans in, I think it’s been a really exciting part. I know away players have also come to us and said they’ve really enjoyed it.”
Yorkshire finished second in Group B with 24 points – six wins from eight games – while Nottinghamshire finished third in Group A on 20 points. They won five of eight games.
The other quarter-final sees Lancashire host Durham at Emirates Old Trafford.
The two group winners – Middlesex from B and Leicestershire from A – have advanced directly to a home semi-final on Sunday. The winners of Yorkshire and Notts will face Leicestershire at Grace Road.
McGrath added: “I think we’ve played equally as well this year as last.
“We managed to get to the semi without the quarter-final last year and just fell short.
Picture by Ben Duffy/SWPix.com. Anthony McGrath was part of Yorkshire’s team which last won white-ball silverware, in 2002, when they beat Somerset in the C&G Trophy final at Lord’s.
“So, it’s just about dealing with knockout cricket now.
“We’ve got the confidence. The players are playing well.
“It’s going to be a tough game. But, as I’ve said to the lads, it’s about us and how we perform and how we approach it, really.
“If we do what we’ve been doing for the majority of this competition, we’ll be fine.”
Nottinghamshire beat Surrey at the Kia Oval on Tuesday, by six wickets chasing 299. But they still slipped out of second place in Group A courtesy of Lancashire beating Somerset by 174 runs at Taunton.
Captained by top-order batter Haseeb Hameed, they have South African Test wicketkeeper-batter Kyle Verreynne as their overseas player and Scotland international George Munsey batting at three.
He scored a century against Surrey.
With head coach Peter Moores at The Hundred with Trent Rockets, his assistant Paul Franks has been in charge of their One-Day Cup campaign.
Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. Nottinghamshire captain Haseeb Hameed at the crease during the ongoing Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
Verreynne has been their standout 50-over player in 2026 with 443 runs, including five fifties in eight innings.
Nottinghamshire visited York in this competition back in 2021, though only 33 overs were bowled – the Outlaws were 185-5 – as rain forced a No Result.
