Picture by Stu Forster/Getty Images. Joe Root is available to face Sussex, with Harry Brook following him into Yorkshire’s team next month.
Anthony McGrath has described the impending availability of Joe Root, Harry Brook and captain Jonny Bairstow as a “huge boost”, with Yorkshire bidding to get their season moving in the right direction.
It has been far from the start the county were hoping for having drawn one at Glamorgan and lost the other at home to Hampshire in the Rothesay County Championship.
Now, after a week’s rest, they are preparing to host in-form Sussex at Headingley, starting tomorrow – 11am. And they will do so with an availability boost.
Captain Bairstow is fit again having missed the Hampshire game with a fractured thumb and fast bowlers Jhye Richardson and Jack White have recovered from the sickness bug which forced their substitutions from the same game.
On top of that, the White Rose welcome back the greatest batter our county and country has ever produced in Root.
This is the first of three games Root is available for, in addition to Somerset at Taunton (May 1-4) and Surrey at Headingley (May 15-18).
In addition to that, his international team-mate – and fellow batting star – Brook will also be available for two of the next four matches ahead of the start of the Vitality Blast next month.
He will face Warwickshire at Edgbaston (May 8-11) and then join Root in the line-up for the blockbuster Headingley meeting with Surrey (May 15-18).
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Yorkshire captain Jonny Bairstow is ready to return following his fractured finger.
“Joe’s excited to get going,” said head coach McGrath. “For the next four games, we’re going to have at least one of him and Harry, and then two of them for the last game against Surrey. That’s a huge boost.
“And, obviously, Jonny coming back and staying injury free will be big for us.
“They’re three batsmen who, for the last three years – particularly Joe and Harry now, have been the best around.
“That’s going to help any batting line-up.
“Hopefully that gives us a solid base to get some runs on the board and let our bowlers do the work.”
McGrath summed up Yorkshire’s performances so far as “disappointing” in the immediate aftermath of the 214-run defeat against Hampshire a couple of Mondays ago.
Sussex, though, have started positively in head coach Paul Farbrace’s last year in charge at Hove. They were opening-round winners at Leicestershire before a statement win at home to a Warwickshire side who are fancied by a few people as title dark horses.
They are captained by former Yorkshire seamer Ollie Robinson in this competition, having taken over ahead of this summer from wicketkeeper-batter John Simpson, who remains club captain.
Picture by John Heald. George Hill bowls new Sussex captain Ollie Robinson at Hove in May 2024.
They have signed former Yorkshire Championship-winning batter Jack Leaning from Kent, and he scored a century in that win over the Bears.
Like the White Rose, they come into this fixture on the back of a rest week.
Ex-Yorkshire second-team coach Farbrace is leaving Sussex at the end of the season, a county who are beset by financial issues. They started the season with a 12-point deduction in Division One as a result of entering into a three-year agreement with the ECB to tackle those financial issues.
McGrath added: “With the points deduction, I guess if they’d started poorly, they were staring down the barrel. But to win two games is a great start, particularly chasing a target (328) against Warwickshire.
“So, yeah, they’ll be on a high.
“But this is a good game for us because it’s a good test.
“We’ve just got to be better, because we feel we’re falling way below the standards we expect and set towards the back end of last season.”
Experienced Australian opening batter Daniel Hughes is their overseas player, as he has been since late May 2024.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Yorkshire head coach Anthony McGrath wants to see improvement on the opening two rounds of the summer.
They can also call upon the much-talked about all-rounder James Coles, who back in mid-March was signed by London Spirit for this summer’s Hundred competition for a whopping £390,000.
It would be somewhat of a surprise if the 22-year-old England Lion does make his senior international debut at some point this summer, at least in limited overs cricket against either India or Sri Lanka.
Yorkshire won last year’s home game against the Martlets at Scarborough at the end of July and start of August before the two counties played out a rainy September draw at Hove in the return leg.
YORKSHIRE v SUSSEX, FIRST-CLASS CRICKET – 1873-2025 – STAT PACK
Results (home and away) County Championship: Played 183; Yorkshire won 73, Sussex won 31, Drawn 79. (Abandoned 2).
In addition, the counties have played 26 non-Championship matches, 16 won by Yorkshire, three by Sussex and seven drawn.
At Headingley (all Championship): Played 28; Yorkshire won eight, Sussex won five, Drawn 15.
Most recent results: 2025 Yorkshire won by innings and 128 runs at Scarborough, and at Hove match was drawn.
Most recent result at Headingley 2023 match drawn.
Most successive wins: Yorkshire 10 (1873-1882, non-Championship), eight (1891-95, Championship), Sussex three (1933-34).
Two wins in a season: Yorkshire 20 times, Sussex three.
Highest innings totals: For Yorkshire, 681-5dec at Sheffield (Bramall Lane) in 1897. For Sussex, 597-8dec at Hove in 2007.
Lowest innings totals: For Yorkshire, 42 at Hove in 1922. For Sussex, 20 at Hull in 1922.
Highest individual innings: For Yorkshire, 311 by JT Brown at Sheffield (Bramall Lane) in 1897. For Sussex, 274* by MW Goodwin at Hove in 2011.
Highest wicket partnership: For Yorkshire, 378 for the first wicket between JT Brown (311) and J Tunnicliffe (147) at Sheffield (Bramall Lane) in 1897. For Sussex, 349 for the second wicket between CB Fry (204) and E Killick (200) at Hove in 1901.
Best bowling figures (innings): For Yorkshire, 9-48 by JH Wardle at Hull in 1954. For Sussex, 9-34 by James Langridge at Sheffield (Bramall Lane) in 1934.
Best bowling figures (match): For Yorkshire, 16-112 (9-48 and 7-64) by JH Wardle at Hull in 1954. For Sussex, 12-110 (6-71 and 6-39) by GR Cox at Sheffield (Bramall Lane) in 1907.
Hat-tricks: For Yorkshire, Three – by E Wainwright at Dewsbury in 1894, E Robinson at Hull in 1928 and MJ Hoggard at Hove in 2009. None for Sussex.
Most dismissals in an innings by a wicketkeeper: For Yorkshire, Six (all caught) by WR Allen at Hove in 1921, (all caught) by RJ Blakey at Eastbourne in 1990 and (all caught) by JM Bairstow at Arundel in 2014. No Sussex wicketkeeper has made more than five dismissals in an innings.
Most dismissals in a match by a wicketkeeper: For Yorkshire, Nine (all caught) by RJ Blakey at Eastbourne in 1990. For Sussex, Eight (all caught) by P Moores at Middlesbrough in 1991.
Most catches in a match by a fielder: For Yorkshire, Six PJ Sharpe at Bradford in 1965. No Sussex fielder has taken more than five catches in a match.
One hundred runs and 10 wickets in a match: For Yorkshire, E Wainwright 10 and 104 and 7-66 and 4-57 at Sheffield (Bramall Lane) in 1892. No instance for Sussex.
A century and five wickets in an innings in a match: For Yorkshire, A Drake 115 and 5-53 and 3-30 at Hastings in 1911 and E Wainwright (as above). No instance for Sussex.
A century and five dismissals in an innings by a wicketkeeper: JM Bairstow 161* and six caught at Arundel in 2014. No instance for Sussex.
At Headingley…
Highest innings totals: Yorkshire 558 in 2021, Sussex 442-3 (2nd) in 1949.
Lowest innings totals: Yorkshire 96 in 2013, Sussex 61 in 1893 (their first Championship match at Headingley).
Highest individual innings: For Yorkshire, 270 by H Sutcliffe in 1932. For Sussex, 212* by G Cox in 1949.
Best bowling figures (innings): For Yorkshire, 8-39 by W Rhodes in 1920. For Sussex, 7-47 by AW Hilton in 1893.
Best bowling figures (match): For Yorkshire, 11-95 (7-55 and 4-40) by R Peel in 1893. For Sussex, 11-148 (4-86 and 7-62) by R Naved-ul-Hasan in 2006.
Compiled by Paul Dyson, Peter Horne & Martyn Webster – members of the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.
