Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. Yorkshire head coach Anthony McGrath spoke to the media following the innings defeat at Surrey this morning.
Anthony McGrath admitted his frustration at Yorkshire’s early-season inconsistency after their innings defeat against county champions Surrey at the Kia Oval today.
Earlier this month, after defeat to Warwickshire at Headingley, head coach McGrath spoke about his side needing to play better for longer, a message he re-iterated in South London this afternoon.
Yorkshire were bowled out for 229 in their second innings, losing by an innings and 28 – their third defeat in six matches so far in the Rothesay County Championship, added to a win and two draws.
“It’s obviously disappointing to lose any game,” said McGrath. “But by an innings is not great.
“We spoke at the start of this game about how well we’d performed last week (draw against Essex at Chelmsford) and backing it up this week against another good team.
“Obviously, Surrey have set the benchmark for the last three years, but again we just couldn’t hold our skills with both bat and ball for long enough.
“Against good teams at this level, in this division, you’ve got to do it hour after hour, session after session and it’s about the first team that breaks.
“We competed for parts, but then we just lost clusters of wickets.
“And when we got pressure on with the ball, we just couldn’t make that breakthrough. Then, the guys who were coming on after that just released some pressure.
“It’s just about the levels of this division and learning.
“I think after six games, we’ve been good against Worcester and Essex – very good twice – outplayed twice by Durham and Surrey, and then we’ve had opportunities against Hampshire and Warwickshire.
“So, summing up those six games, it’s inconsistent.
“We’ve just said in there (dressing room), ‘To be at the level I think those lads can be, we’ve got to hold our skills and have a lot more belief in our abilities for longer against a better team’.
“Going into the game, we had the leading run scorer in the division (Adam Lyth) and the second leading wicket-taker (George Hill). But I think we’re performing with four or five guys – and you need more in this division.
“That’s very obvious now, after six games, that we’re needing individuals to stand up and perform. So, again, I think it’s the skills, but it’s also the belief.
“We believe in the guys, but we’re again saying in there, ‘When you get out there with a bat, you’ve got to absolutely believe’.
“That can only come from the individual player.
“When you get the ball in the hand, you’ve got to believe you can hold that length and make it difficult for the batsmen. That’s the challenge we’ve got going forward, to get that consistency.
“Next weekend, we’ve got Notts, who arrive top of the table.
“They’re coming to Headingley, and whatever team we put out, we’ve got to make sure we’re bang up for it.”
Yorkshire’s team may look very different against Nottinghamshire, starting Friday, with a number of injury issues having cropped up in the last fortnight.
McGrath says his team will almost certainly not include an overseas player after Jordan Buckingham suffered a “bad” hip flexor injury and joined fellow quick Ben Sears (ankle) on the treatment table. Both men were due to play their last games of their overseas spells against Nottinghamshire.
Dawid Malan’s recovery from a groin injury will be assessed ahead of that game. He is back in training. But Jonny Tattersall is unlikely to feature having picked up a left wrist injury at the Oval this weekend.
As McGrath said, though, whatever team is picked, they have to attack Notts with belief.
“The wicket will be 12 millimetres of grass, and we’ll be taking Notts on,” added McGrath, whose side are second-bottom in the Division One table.
“That’s the right way to play, I believe, with our squad. We’ve just got to play better.
“My method is you’ve got to risk to win, and that’s the best way of doing it at Headingley.
“We won by a record 500 runs in the first game (against Worcestershire) and had chances against Warwickshire with a very good eleven out. We’ll be going with the same method.
“The league’s pretty tight down there, but we’re looking – I’m still looking – at the top and not being in a relegation battle.
“I can see why people would ask those questions, but we’ve got to be ready on Friday and put in. I firmly believe we’re not in the position we should be.
“I think we’ve got better players than that, I truly believe that.
“I think there’s enough evidence from what I’ve seen in patches that when we get it right and we get belief, we’ll be towards the top end and not the bottom end.”
