Jordan Thompson cut a frustrated figure as he sat down and spoke to the media after today’s third day against Glamorgan, the all-rounder admitting that a lack of confidence amongst the bowling group is currently undermining Yorkshire’s bid for success.
Glamorgan advanced their second innings from 57-2 overnight to 352-4 declared at tea, setting Yorkshire a daunting victory target of 492. Rain at tea prevented the start of the chase.
Australian Test star Marnus Labuschagne finished unbeaten on 170 for Glamorgan.
Thompson was one of two Yorkshire wicket-takers today, Matthew Fisher the other.
Unfortunately, the county are still searching for their first win of Division Two at the fourth attempt. And getting it tomorrow is going to be a mountainous task.
Thompson accepted as much, though was not completely ruling it out.
“Chasing the runs is something we’ll evaluate throughout the day,” he said.
“We know it’s a new ball pitch, and if they bowl well like they did the other day it’s going to be a tough one to score quickly. We’ll evaluate at certain points through the day whether we try to chase it down or take the draw.”
Yorkshire have been not so much hamstrung as ‘groin-strung’ for the majority of their bowling efforts in this fixture. Ben Coad went down injured on day one in his 10th over.
“We knew it was going to be tough with two good batters in (Labuschagne and Sam Northeast) and the pitch not helping as much as it did across the first two days,” continued Thompson.
“We find ourselves looking down the barrel of a big chase tomorrow.
“It was a matter of trying to put the ball in the right areas for a long period of time, and we didn’t do that enough today or in the last two days. Hopefully we can bat well tomorrow and get near to that total.
“We probably feel as a group of bowlers as if there’s a bit of a lack of confidence.
“We’re not going out there with the belief that we can take wickets. We’re still searching for that four games in, and it’s frustrating for us. It’s also probably frustrating to watch.
“We’ve had Coady take a five-for (at Sussex), and apart from that we’ve not really all chipped in at the same time.
“We’ve created chances and not taken them again. With players like Marnus, you’ve got to take them. We dropped him early doors, and we can’t be taking 12, 13 or 14 wickets.
“The bowling group know that we haven’t put the ball in the right place for a long amount of time. But when we do and create chances, we’ve got to take them.”
Thompson took the new ball for much of last season and impressed with Coad out injured until July. With the same man sidelined in this match, the all-rounder has been called upon again to do the same job.
“I’ll do any job that’s asked of me, and unfortunately Coady going down has given me an opportunity with the new ball again,” he said.
“I feel like I can do it pretty well when I’m hitting my straps. At the moment, I’m not at 100 percent confidence to take wickets. That’s something I’ve got to find before we go to Durham next week.
“Hopefully in the coming weeks we can all pick up on that.”
