David Willey should have been striding out at Emerald Headingley proud as punch this evening – his first outing as Yorkshire’s permanent Vitality Blast captain. The Vikings were due to host Durham in their North Division opener.
Instead, the star all-rounder has been sat at home chatting about his plans to take the county forwards in that format rather than implementing them.
After Steve Patterson stepped down from leading the side in T20, Willey, the 30-year-old with 185 career 20-over appearances under his belt, was appointed his successor in February.
A winner of domestic titles in England, Australia and India, and having played in a World Cup final, he has pretty much been there, done it and bought the t-shirt in the all action format.
So what does he believe Yorkshire – a county who have only ever reached Finals Day twice since 2003 and are still awaiting their first title – have to do to turn themselves into serial challengers from constant underachievers?
“I don’t think we’ve had a formula in the past,” said the ex-Northamptonshire man.
“It’s not always your best players who make up your best T20 team. If you look around the counties who’ve won the T20 in the past, they probably haven’t got eleven of the best players on the circuit.
