LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!
One-Day Cup gets off in thrilling fashion
IN MAKING the semifinal of last year’s One-Day Cup, Yorkshire were not far off being in a position to once again challenge for silverware in a limited-overs competition.
It so transpired that they would fall to a 19-run semi-final loss to Surrey at Headingley, with brave knocks of 104 and 93 from Steven Davies and Ben Foakes respectively denying them a place in the final.
That loss stretched the drought of limited-overs trophies winging their way to Leeds into a 14th year – Yorkshire having last lifted the C&G Trophy in 2002 with victory over Somerset at Lord’s.
Despite all their County Championship success over the years, those at Headingley have become accustomed to lengthy waits to win the premier one-day competition, with their 2002 triumph preceded by the Gillette Cup way back in 1969.
However, Yorkshire’s Tim Bresnan doesn’t believe that his team have any mental barrier to overcome as they prepare to open up their 2017 campaign at Trent Bridge on Saturday.
“Last season was a good season,” said the 32-year-old, who believes that this year’s One-Day Cup schedule is more forgiving than previous years.
“We’ve lost in a couple of semifinals and once you reach the knockout stages, that’s where you have to really turn up
“We’ve been lacking in that in the past couple of years but hopefully this year, we can turn that around, though we know we have to work very hard just to get out of the group stage.
“I don’t think our problems are anything mental. We’re usually challenging for all three trophies, so the way the schedule has been set up has made it very tough heading into semi-finals.
“We’d had really tough County Championship games in the week before the [2016] semifinal, which is tough in itself – then, doubling back on the whiteball stuff makes it even harder.”
Nottinghamshire, who went to Worcestershire yesterday, have their big guns – namely Stuart Broad, Alex Hales, Jake Ball and James Pattinson – available for their opening One-Day Cup
games. And bowler Luke Fletcher is backing Australian ace Pattinson, who was rested for the Worcestershire game, to make his mark on the competition this year.
“He is an absolute superstar,” said Fletcher of the 26-year-old. “He is one of the best cricketers I have ever played with – he is an absolute freak
“He is a top lad. I spent time with him in Australia when I went to train with Victoria.
“I know his brother [Darren] quite well and having that connection means he has not taken long to settle in.
“The impact he has had with both bat and ball is ridiculous. He is an absolute superstar. He is that good.
“He bowls over 90mph and he can bat. He is a proper batsman with real talent.
“When we have Stuart Broad and Jake Ball around, then we are going to have an insane attack.”