Yorkshire’s bowlers enjoyed a productive day as they completed their 90-overs against Nottinghamshire yesterday.
Having posted 331 for 7 on the first day, the White Rose bowlers reduced the Trent Bridge outfit to 335 for 9 in reply. Bowling Coach Richard Pyrah was delighted with what he had seen from the attack, particularly given the very hot conditions and flat pitch.
Pyrah said: “It’s been a good day. First day in the dirt, it’s always a shock to the body for some of them. The lads have got through their overs, showed some good skill on a flat pitch, so very pleasing.”
The fixture saw a new opening partnership with the red-ball, as Matthew Waite combined with Ben Coad. The duo impressed early on, beating the bat with regularity and were eventually rewarded as Coad removed Ben Duckett lbw. The Ripon-born seamer added two further wickets in a later spell, whilst Waite chipped in with one in his second spell. However, with a bit more luck, both would have had more in the wicket column.
“Waitey (Matthew Waite) did really well in the one-day game, and he’s backed it up again today with the new red ball,” Pyrah continued. “He’s gone away this winter to Australia and worked really hard and he looks an improved cricketer.
“We know what Coady (Ben Coad) can do. It’s just getting him in good rhythm and getting his body ready for our summer.”
Steve Patterson opted to use nine bowlers on the day, spreading the workload around. Left-arm spinners Karl Carver and James Logan bowled in tandem at times, and both impressed taking three and one wicket respectively. Mat Pillans bowled with good pace and swung the ball, looking unplayable early in his spell. Josh Shaw bowled well, without reward whilst Patterson and Tim Bresnan carried on as they have done over the years. Jack Leaning was the final bowler to be used, showing good control with his off-breaks.
With 13 players involved in the game, it provided the ideal opportunity to manage workloads, which Pyrah believes is one of the key factors at this time of year.
“We don’t want to over-cook them to early,” Pyrah explained. “We’ve got another two-day game coming up and the three-day game against Leeds Bradford MCCU when we get back so it’s just about getting the overs into the lad’s legs in match practice. You can do as many nets as you want, but you can’t beat overs in the middle. We’ve got most of the lads a decent bowl and can move on now to the Durham two-day game.”
Commenting on pre-season as a whole, the former White Rose all-rounder said: “It’s been really good. We’ve had a good winter indoors and we’ve worked really hard with the younger guys again. It’s been pleasing to come here and see them as improved cricketers from last season. If we can finish off with a good couple of days against Durham, it will be perfect preparation.”
Yorkshire will take on Durham in a two-day clash at Senwes Park starting tomorrow, before flying home on Wednesday.