Day one at Scarborough brought a bowling performance that put Yorkshire's title chase back into gear after months in neutral and a couple weeks in reverse.
Matthew Hoggard led the way decapitating the top order allowing the two youngsters, Bresnan and Shahzad, to cause middle order mayhem. Even McGrath got in on the act before Hoggard put Warwickshire out of their misery with a final burst.
It would be interesting to know whether Gillespie would have had as much success on this wicket, or whether his temporary departure has in some way contributed to today's performance. Certainly Shahzad did himself no harm with his performance. Two more confidence boosting wickets and another glimpse at what he could become.
It was also good of McGrath to join the wicket taking party. He's been the forgotten bowler this season having been underused, but his contribution as a partnership breaker was evident today, his wickets coming early on in both spells.
With Gale and Vaughan remaining at the crease until the premature close it was a day free of negatives. Should the pace unit recreate this effect against Sussex and Hampshire, Yorkshire will be back in with a chance of nicking the title. And if the rain, which has dogged Yorkshire's matches this season, continues to keep Surrey and Sussex kicking their heels at the Oval, a victory at North Marine Road will make the Division 1 table a more pleasant read for Yorkshire fans.
What makes today's bowling performance even more pleasing is that neither Gough nor Rashid took a single wicket. Gough was due an innings off having carried the attack all season and the young leg spinner was not required. No doubt both will be keen to assist in a second innings demolition expected to commence by lunchtime on Friday.
Wednesday 22 August 2007
Tuesday 21 August 2007
What do we need? Wickets! When do we need them? Now!
As suggested earlier wickets are what Yorkshire need in order to win the title and something they've so far failed to accrue in significant quantity since Matthew Hoggard left for Test duty.
With this in mind Yorkshire have moved to replace the economical pace bowling of Jason Gillespie with the leg-spin of Imran Tahir plucked from League Cricket obscurity for the Championship run-in.
After lots of head scratching and some indignation the signing of Tahir begins to make a little more sense. With Sussex almost certainly creating a spinners paradise for the Mushtaq's (Ahmed and Saqlain) playing two or three spinners is a distinct possibility. With Mark Lawson out for 'personal reasons' it leaves the promising finger spin of David Wainwright as the only option to accompany Adil Rashid. Bringing in an experienced, in-form, leg spinner seems reasonable.
Despite him excelling at limited overs cricket, Gough and Moxon have decided Wainwright is not yet ready for the step up to four day, title-deciding, cricket. The coach and captain still have faith in the slow left armer, shown by him bowling at the death against Glamorgan in the Pro40. Wainwright must know he has bright future at Yorkshire. He's emerged from the shadows and has made great progress in one season. Once Rashid gets snapped up by England, Wainwright could be Yorkshire's first choice spinner in all forms of the game.
However it's the pace bowling that needs serious attention. If sources are to be believed Kruis has been offered a contract for 2008 and Bresnan, Gough and Hoggard will all still be on board. Should the county's overseas player be a fast bowler of genuine wicket taking ability, on paper, that quintet of quicks could be adequate.
However Gough has already started to bowl shorter spells and may not be able to play such a substantial season in 2008. Kruis has been plagued by injury and lacked the fire of previous years. Hoggard will probably be only partially available and Bresnan blows hot and cold. Shahzad and Pyrah have shown promise but are they good enough to be relied upon? If Yorkshire suffer injuries like 2006 the attack would begin to look less than healthy. The bowlers seem to be either ageing pro's on the wane or raw, young quicks not yet ready to carry the bowling.
Therefore, if Shahzad fails to have a destructive finish to the season, the Yorkshire hierarchy could look to bring in either an English, or controversially a Kolpak, pace bowler of quality. They are out there. Durham have a plethora of quick bowling talent, of which Moxon will be familiar, a reasonable chunk of which have missed first team games this season. Graeme Onions, Mark Davies, Stuart Broad and a rejuvenated Steve Kirby would all consider moves to Yorkshire.
An attack led by two new strike bowlers, supported rather than carried, by Gough, Bresnan, Kruis and Shazhad would provide a more rounded quick bowling unit, offering genuine depth and better able to respond to injury and loss of form.
Some committed Yorkshire supporters will be horrified by the thought of bringing in the required players from beyond the borders of the Broad Acres. This view is an honourable one however if Yorkshire's bowling resources need improving and the required quality is not to be found in the Second XI, 'outsiders' must be considered.
Whatever occurs in the off-season Yorkshire's pulling power would be considerably increased with a Championship title to point at. Whether Tahir can help secure this time will tell. In the meantime the usual suspects will have to try and find wickets on a Scarborough pitch likely to be full of runs.
With this in mind Yorkshire have moved to replace the economical pace bowling of Jason Gillespie with the leg-spin of Imran Tahir plucked from League Cricket obscurity for the Championship run-in.
After lots of head scratching and some indignation the signing of Tahir begins to make a little more sense. With Sussex almost certainly creating a spinners paradise for the Mushtaq's (Ahmed and Saqlain) playing two or three spinners is a distinct possibility. With Mark Lawson out for 'personal reasons' it leaves the promising finger spin of David Wainwright as the only option to accompany Adil Rashid. Bringing in an experienced, in-form, leg spinner seems reasonable.
Despite him excelling at limited overs cricket, Gough and Moxon have decided Wainwright is not yet ready for the step up to four day, title-deciding, cricket. The coach and captain still have faith in the slow left armer, shown by him bowling at the death against Glamorgan in the Pro40. Wainwright must know he has bright future at Yorkshire. He's emerged from the shadows and has made great progress in one season. Once Rashid gets snapped up by England, Wainwright could be Yorkshire's first choice spinner in all forms of the game.
However it's the pace bowling that needs serious attention. If sources are to be believed Kruis has been offered a contract for 2008 and Bresnan, Gough and Hoggard will all still be on board. Should the county's overseas player be a fast bowler of genuine wicket taking ability, on paper, that quintet of quicks could be adequate.
However Gough has already started to bowl shorter spells and may not be able to play such a substantial season in 2008. Kruis has been plagued by injury and lacked the fire of previous years. Hoggard will probably be only partially available and Bresnan blows hot and cold. Shahzad and Pyrah have shown promise but are they good enough to be relied upon? If Yorkshire suffer injuries like 2006 the attack would begin to look less than healthy. The bowlers seem to be either ageing pro's on the wane or raw, young quicks not yet ready to carry the bowling.
Therefore, if Shahzad fails to have a destructive finish to the season, the Yorkshire hierarchy could look to bring in either an English, or controversially a Kolpak, pace bowler of quality. They are out there. Durham have a plethora of quick bowling talent, of which Moxon will be familiar, a reasonable chunk of which have missed first team games this season. Graeme Onions, Mark Davies, Stuart Broad and a rejuvenated Steve Kirby would all consider moves to Yorkshire.
An attack led by two new strike bowlers, supported rather than carried, by Gough, Bresnan, Kruis and Shazhad would provide a more rounded quick bowling unit, offering genuine depth and better able to respond to injury and loss of form.
Some committed Yorkshire supporters will be horrified by the thought of bringing in the required players from beyond the borders of the Broad Acres. This view is an honourable one however if Yorkshire's bowling resources need improving and the required quality is not to be found in the Second XI, 'outsiders' must be considered.
Whatever occurs in the off-season Yorkshire's pulling power would be considerably increased with a Championship title to point at. Whether Tahir can help secure this time will tell. In the meantime the usual suspects will have to try and find wickets on a Scarborough pitch likely to be full of runs.
Sunday 19 August 2007
Maybe we were hiding behind the clouds after all.
So the wheels seem to have come off Yorkshire's fine season with back to back defeats against a good Lancashire side and bottom of the table Worcestershire. The weather has certainly given Sussex the chance to win the title, but they still have to grasp the opportunity and win matches, something Yorkshire have failed to do recently. Blaming the weather doesn't hold water if you get beat.
At least the equation for Yorkshire is now straightforward. Gough and his cohorts most likely need to win their three remaining matches. Warwickshire blow hot and cold, Sussex are top and Hampshire are the form team of the Division. However with Hoggard, Vaughan and Inzi in the team, on paper we should be able to compete.
Alas cricket is not played on paper. Gillespie should tear county batting line ups to shreds, yet he doesn't. Younus Khan, despite two matches of brilliance, has not had the consistent match winning effect that was hoped for. Bresnan, a player with all the attributes to succeed, has rarely bowled match turning spells. Yet Pyrah and Wainwright have come through and done well when given the chance.
Is it now time to give these youngsters a run out? Pyrah, after spending a few years on the fringe, has now begun to really shine in limited overs cricket. Wainwright has burst from nowhere and has already nudged ahead of Lawson in the pecking order. His lower order batting shows promise and he offers Gough some control with his bowling, something Rashid seems to have lost this season. Poor old Lawson has really gone off the boil. His season never really got started. Out of the team on early season pitches, the rain then disrupted the mid summer fixtures and now his form seems to have deserted him. A loan spell would do him good, or a winter tour down-under.
Still, there is still hope. Vaughan's return should shore up the opening partnership. Inzi may offer more consistency than his countryman. Rashid has finally begun show his all round capabilities. Brophy is still churning out runs and Mags, after slowly moving through the gears, is up to full power.
However wickets will be needed. Sixty of them.
At least the equation for Yorkshire is now straightforward. Gough and his cohorts most likely need to win their three remaining matches. Warwickshire blow hot and cold, Sussex are top and Hampshire are the form team of the Division. However with Hoggard, Vaughan and Inzi in the team, on paper we should be able to compete.
Alas cricket is not played on paper. Gillespie should tear county batting line ups to shreds, yet he doesn't. Younus Khan, despite two matches of brilliance, has not had the consistent match winning effect that was hoped for. Bresnan, a player with all the attributes to succeed, has rarely bowled match turning spells. Yet Pyrah and Wainwright have come through and done well when given the chance.
Is it now time to give these youngsters a run out? Pyrah, after spending a few years on the fringe, has now begun to really shine in limited overs cricket. Wainwright has burst from nowhere and has already nudged ahead of Lawson in the pecking order. His lower order batting shows promise and he offers Gough some control with his bowling, something Rashid seems to have lost this season. Poor old Lawson has really gone off the boil. His season never really got started. Out of the team on early season pitches, the rain then disrupted the mid summer fixtures and now his form seems to have deserted him. A loan spell would do him good, or a winter tour down-under.
Still, there is still hope. Vaughan's return should shore up the opening partnership. Inzi may offer more consistency than his countryman. Rashid has finally begun show his all round capabilities. Brophy is still churning out runs and Mags, after slowly moving through the gears, is up to full power.
However wickets will be needed. Sixty of them.
The return of The Yorker.
Apologies for my extended disappearance. I've been away from home on work at the Times having lots of late evenings and early starts. In the busyness I've neglected The Yorker, but now I'm back and look forward to finishing the season strongly. Let's hope a certain county cricket team do likewise.
Wednesday 1 August 2007
Hiding behind the clouds.
After Yorkshire's early season form catapulted them to the top of the Championship table fans of the White Rose were looking forward to watching the county get more wins under their belt. However the rains have curtailed almost all of their matches since the opening salvo which saw Yorkshire win 3 of their opening 4 games.
Worrying though is the thought that the rain has actually helped Yorkshire preserve their top spot rather than halt its charge to the title. Yorkshire's three wins have come against the bottom two side in the Division, the hapless Worcestershire and a Surrey team without the prolific Nicholson and dangerous Harbhajan. The other win was against Durham. All three were based on brilliant bowling performances by Matthew Hoggard.
Without the England seamer Yorkshire have failed to take 20 wickets in a match, in part certainly due to the weather. However the defeat by Durham, just before the rains came and washed out most of June and July, showed Yorkshire had weaknesses and could be defeated, pretty easily as it turned out.
Then came a series of tough games against Sussex, Lancashire, Warwickshire and an improved Surrey. All these games were washed out draws. Is it possible that the rain actually saved Yorkshire from a string of defeats against their table topping rivals just at a time when without Hoggard they were beginning to struggle and had suffered their first loss?
Now with the England fixture list releasing Hoggard and Michael Vaughan for the run in has the rain frozen the Division 1 table in time for our England players to return and complete a Championship win?
Let's hope so.
Worrying though is the thought that the rain has actually helped Yorkshire preserve their top spot rather than halt its charge to the title. Yorkshire's three wins have come against the bottom two side in the Division, the hapless Worcestershire and a Surrey team without the prolific Nicholson and dangerous Harbhajan. The other win was against Durham. All three were based on brilliant bowling performances by Matthew Hoggard.
Without the England seamer Yorkshire have failed to take 20 wickets in a match, in part certainly due to the weather. However the defeat by Durham, just before the rains came and washed out most of June and July, showed Yorkshire had weaknesses and could be defeated, pretty easily as it turned out.
Then came a series of tough games against Sussex, Lancashire, Warwickshire and an improved Surrey. All these games were washed out draws. Is it possible that the rain actually saved Yorkshire from a string of defeats against their table topping rivals just at a time when without Hoggard they were beginning to struggle and had suffered their first loss?
Now with the England fixture list releasing Hoggard and Michael Vaughan for the run in has the rain frozen the Division 1 table in time for our England players to return and complete a Championship win?
Let's hope so.
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