Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Will O’Rourke celebrates dismissing Leicestershire’s Rishi Patel at Headingley last Sunday.
Yorkshire have a double date with Durham over the next week which is shaping up to be crucial to their hopes of success in this summer’s Vitality Blast.
The White Rose county welcome their rivals from the North East to York’s Clifton Park tomorrow (2.30pm) for the venue’s first ever first-team T20 fixture.
A sell-out 4,500 crowd will see Dawid Malan and co go in search of their third win in seven North Group games, them hoping to bounce back from defeat against the Bears at Headingley last night.
Following that, they head up to the Banks Homes Riverside on Friday evening for the return leg.
These are the last two fixtures before the fortnight-long break for the return of the Rothesay County Championship.
After that, Yorkshire have six more group games remaining in the race for a top-four finish and quarter-finals cricket.
New Zealand overseas fast bowler Will O’Rourke said: “We need to get a couple of wins under the belt here to start pushing towards getting up that table to try and make a run at the quarter-finals and then, fingers crossed, Finals Day.”
Picture by John Clifton/SWPix.com. York’s Clifton Park will host its first ever first-team T20 fixture tomorrow.
Tomorrow promises to be a memorable occasion, especially given the fact Jonny Bairstow has a good chance to line up at the club he once represented following his recovery from a calf injury. He is a close friend of York CC secretary Nick Kay. They both went to the same school, St Peter’s, which is a stone’s throw away from the ground.
It could also be a first game of this season’s Blast for Jordan Thompson following his side injury.
This will be O’Rourke’s penultimate T20 appearance for the White Rose having only signed for the group stage, though he will play one of the two Championship matches which follow.
Canterbury’s O’Rourke – 23-years-old – has taken five wickets in the last three games, including a best of 3-31 against the Bears last night. In the other two games, he took a wicket apiece and played a crucial role in wins over Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.
“It was a pretty rocky start, as it can be sometimes as a T20 cricketer,” he said. “But you have those tough times, and you’ve got to just bounce back.
“It all happens so quick out there that it tends to turn at some point. For me, it was just about keep running in hard, trying to be me, and see how that works out.
“Thankfully, it has over the last few games.
Picture by Hannah Peters/Getty Images. Will O’Rourke bowls for New Zealand against England last winter.
“It was nice to help get a few wins. Obviously we lost against the Bears, but we’re tracking in the right direction, so it’s positive for us.”
O’Rourke described his stay with the club as “awesome”.
He arrived with a big reputation as one of the rising stars in world cricket having taken 63 wickets in 32 international appearances for his country, including 36 in 10 Tests.
He has claimed five in five T20Is.
“That was a big reason for coming over here, just to try and get a few more T20 games under my belt,” he said.
“It’s probably the weaker of my three formats at the moment, but I’m pushing up my skills – my yorkers and slower balls and stuff like that because I, like everyone, want to be a three-format player.”
On his international career more generally, O’Rourke has taken two five-wicket hauls in 10 Tests since debuting at the start of last year. He turned heads with a debut match haul of 9-93 against South Africa at Hamilton and then 7-114 against India at Bengaluru last October.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Jonny Bairstow could return from injury at York tomorrow.
“It’s definitely happened quicker than what I would have thought going into it,” he reflected.
“I was sort of a pretty raw prospect at the start.
“Then, you know, the nature of things, I got a bit lucky with timing – Trent Boult and then Neil Wagner retiring. It sort of opens up doors, and I’ve been lucky enough to take the opportunity. It’s been a lot of fun, for sure.”
With 4,500 in at Clifton Park, and them being right on top of the action, it will be quite the atmosphere and a very different dynamic to playing at Headingley.
“I’ve heard a few things about the size of the ground and stuff, which is exciting,” added O’Rourke. “It’s going to be a sellout crowd, which is pretty cool. That’s the beauty of having a few home grounds. You get to show off to a few of the different locals. Hopefully we can put on a show for them.
“With it being a tight ground, the crowd will feel like they’re right on top of us. If we can get ahead of the game, and the crowd gets into it, it can be a massive advantage for us.”
Durham have made a bright start to this season’s Blast, winning three from five games and sitting third. They inflicted a first defeat in seven on group leaders Northamptonshire last night, totalling 157-8 and defending it to win by 15 runs.
Picture by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images. Durham’s New Zealand overseas all-rounder Jimmy Neesham was outstanding in victory at Northampton last night.
O’Rourke’s fellow Kiwi Jimmy Neesham starred with 50 not out and three wickets.
They also have another New Zealand all-rounder as their other overseas player, Zak Foulkes.
Former Yorkshire Championship winning opener Alex Lees is their captain.
