Jonny Tattersall has reflected on the fine margins which cost Yorkshire the chance to progress in this season’s Royal London Cup.
The county captain cut a disappointed figure on Tuesday as the Vikings suffered their fourth defeat in eight Group B games, at the hands of table-toppers Hampshire at Scarborough.
It was a reverse which meant they dropped out of the top three qualifying places, replaced by a Kent side who had beaten them off the last ball at Canterbury only last Friday.
That was the glaring example of the fine margins, with all-rounder Grant Stewart – in pursuit of 297 in 45 overs – hitting the last ball of the match for six over the leg-side off Matthew Revis.
Tattersall, however, has paid tribute to the contributions of all-rounder Revis, who has shown skill and character in equal measure this summer even if things haven’t always gone the way of the 20-year-old.
“I don’t think we’ve been a million miles away,” said Tattersall.
“We lost on the last ball at Kent, and those two points would have been good enough to get us through.
“We maybe went with the wrong delivery in that situation. But it wasn’t the reason we lost that game. There were other areas we could have done better.
“We didn’t produce with the bat against Lancashire.
“Then, I thought we did well with the ball in the first innings against Essex and they came out and bowled well in the first few overs.
“We lost too many wickets there. Had we lost lost only three wickets, we’d have probably won on Duckworth Lewis when we came off for rain.”
The skipper continued: “There are areas where we can improve. It’s just about hoping the lads know what they need to do to get better as individuals. That will obviously then help us collectively.
“You can’t fault the effort. The lads have put their hearts and souls into it.
“They’ve given everything they can, but it’s just not quite been good enough. But that’s been the story of the season as a whole in many ways.”
On Revis, Tattersall added: “He has been outstanding this season.
“He’s not someone who has bowled a lot in his career. But he’s come in this year when we’ve had some injuries, and he’s given absolutely everything he’s got.
“Full credit to him for keep standing up.
“It happened in the T20s with Dave (Willey) as captain as well.
“We keep chucking him the ball in the difficult overs. That’s full credit to him for how well he’s done this season and what everybody thinks of him as a cricketer.”
Meanwhile, Dom Bess is “improving as expected” following his nasty blow on the head during Tuesday’s clash with Hampshire.
Bess had to retire hurt after being hit on the back of the head by an errant throw from Fletcha Middleton, forcing Harry Sullivan into the game as a concussion substitute.
“Dom is continually being assessed but is improving as expected,” read a club statement.
“He will now work along the ECB’s concussion protocol guided by the club’s medical team.”
