Adam Lyth is just 11 runs away from becoming the first player to score 4,000 T20 runs for Yorkshire – and coach Ottis Gibson is expecting many more to follow once he achieves the feat.
Opener Lyth could reach the milestone as early as tomorrow afternoon, in front of the Headingley faithful, when the Vikings face Derbyshire Falcons in their latest Vitality Blast fixture (3pm).
It is their fourth North Group fixture of 14, and they head into it having won two and lost one. The Vikings will have to do without Donovan Ferreira, who has returned home to South Africa briefly to attend a family wedding.
Lyth is set to return to the side having missed Yorkshire’s last fixture, their win over Northamptonshire at Wantage Road last Sunday, because of an elbow injury.
The 36-year-old is already Yorkshire’s leading run-scorer in T20 cricket with 3,989. He is 1,729 runs ahead of Andrew Gale in second place on the list, the only other man to pass the 2,000 mark for the Vikings.
Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com. Adam Lyth pulls with a flourish against Worcestershire last Thursday.
“Wow,” said Gibson, when informed of Lyth’s impending achievement, before a broad smile appeared.
“And, you know what, he’ll know that. Nobody needs to tell him.
“He probably didn’t play at Northampton because he wants to do it at Headingley!”
For all teams, Lyth has gone beyond 4,000 runs. He has played in a number of other competitions such as the Hundred, the Pakistan Super League and the Big Bash. He won the latter title with Perth Scorchers in early 2023.
The left-hander’s 3989-haul for Yorkshire comes from 163 matches since debuting in 2008 and includes 26 fifties and one century.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Ottis Gibson has hailed Adam Lyth’s impending 4,000 T20 runs for Yorkshire.
That century was his stunning, record-breaking 161 against Northamptonshire at Headingley in 2017. It remains the highest individual score ever posted in England, and only five batters worldwide have posted higher scores in T20 history.
“He absolutely loves the game,” continued Gibson, of Lyth. “It’s not just red ball, but he absolutely loves the game of cricket.
“When I speak to him about other stuff outside of cricket, I think he says that one day he wants to go and open a Fish and Chip shop or buy an Ice Cream van in Whitby. But he’s not ready for that yet.
“That’s to come afterwards – he’s still got a lot more runs to make.
“He’s young at heart and, as I say, is really enjoying the game.
Picture by Nigel Roddis/Getty Images. Adam Lyth celebrates his record-breaking century against Northamptonshire at Headingley in 2017. He posted 161 that night, a score which remains the highest ever in the Blast.
“It feels like the dressing room is a good environment at the moment, and he’s leading from the front.
“His passion for the game is still the same, and it shows in his batting.”
Lyth has been in excellent form for Yorkshire in 2024.
Before scoring 55 last Thursday’s opening night win over Worcestershire at Headingley, he hit 603 runs from the first seven Vitality County Championship matches, including three centuries.
“He’s having a great season, and he had a great winter too,” said Gibson.“He came in and spent a lot of time working hard on his game.
Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com. Adam Lyth celebrates last season’s Roses T20 victory at Headingley.
“You haven’t seen him ramping yet in the matches. He was practicing that all winter, so I’m sure it will come out at some stage.
“What I like about coaching Lythy is – of course, he’s a senior pro and very experienced – that he’s still open to learning.
“We did a lot of work around white ball stuff, and now he’s ramping it and so on and so forth. He’s added a new club to his bag. Hopefully, he’ll have the bottle to bring it out at some point, because he’s practiced it and is really good at it, too.”
This is the first of successive T20 Sunday double headers at Headingley.
Tomorrow, the Northern Diamonds face the Blaze at 11am.
Picture by Dave Williams. Adam Lyth celebrates one of his three Championship centuries earlier this summer.
Afterwards, Yorkshire face a Derbyshire side who have won two and lost two of their opening four North Group fixtures, including beating Nottinghamshire last night by 96 runs. They successfully defended their 198-6, bowling Notts out for 102. Wayne Madsen starred with 53 before seamers Pat Brown and Daryn Dupavillon claimed three wickets apiece.
Coached by Mickey Arthur, they are captained by ex-England all-rounder Samit Patel, who is in his first season at the County Ground.
Their overseas players are fast bowler Dupavillon (South Africa) and top order batter Cam Fletcher (New Zealand). The latter has replaced compatriot Blair Tickner and debuted against Notts last night with 19.
For Yorkshire, victory would represent an excellent start to their North Group campaign and, ultimately, their bid for a maiden Blast title.
“Considering the tough start to the season we’ve had, we’re all delighted with this,” added a chipper Gibson.
Picture by David Rogers/Getty Images. Captain Shan Masood faces his former county tomorrow.
The Bajan will almost certainly hand a debut to Conor McKerr, the county’s new fast-bowling signing from Surrey.
Dom Leech misses out having suffered a side strain against Northamptonshire last time out and will be sidelined for a couple of weeks.
Matthew Fisher took two wickets in a second-team win over Durham on Thursday but isn’t quite ready to return from his sprained ankle.
Ferreira’s absence will only be a brief one. It was a pre-arranged plan, said Gibson, and he is back for Friday’s trip to Edgbaston to face Birmingham.
