Yorkshire set to take part in new T20 cup
JACK BROOKS is hoping for a decent run in Yorkshire’s Vitality Blast team in order to prove he shouldn’t be pigeon-holed as just a red ball specialist.
Thursday’s outing in the win over Durham Jets at Emerald Headingley was Brooks’s first T20 appearance since mid-June 2015, and he impressed with 3-21 from four overs.
Brooks, 34, played again in Sunday’s defeat to last year’s runners-up Birmingham Bears at Edgbaston without striking.
However, he is confident there are more good things to come, having taken a T20 five-for in his first season at Yorkshire in 2013 and gained second-string international recognition with England in one-day cricket.
“My last appearance was around three years ago, I can’t remember exactly when,” he said.
“I’ve certainly not played anything in the last two seasons having been injured and rested due to the scheduling, and it’s been really frustrating.
“I don’t see myself as just a red ball bowler, and you kind of get pigeon-holed once you miss a little bit. It was nice to come back in and bowl well in the first game last week, get some wickets and remind people what I’m capable of. I’ve been involved in England Lions squads, so it’s not as if I’ve never bowled with a white ball before.
“I back my skills. It’s just that my red ball skills have been really good for the last few years, and I was rested for a few white ball games on the back of that.
“We’ve got a really strong white ball team, so when you do get your chance you have to take it.”
Brooks is two appearances away from the 50-mark in his T20 career and nine wickets away from the same milestone. The former could realistically come in Sunday’s trip to face Worcestershire at New Road.
“It’s been difficult to do real quality practice because of the scheduling, but the last few weeks and coming into this season I’ve put more emphasis on my white ball skills.
“If you’re confident in your skills and have a clear plan coming into a game, then it just comes down to how you execute.” YORKSHIRE director of cricket Martyn Moxon says the club’s participation in the inaugural Abu Dhabi T20 Trophy in October is an opportunity for the club to further develop its game in the shortest format.
Yorkshire are one of six teams to take part in the round-robin event, which will run from October 4-6.
As well as Yorkshire, Australia’s Hobart Hurricanes and the Lahore Qalandars, a mainstay of the Pakistan Super League, will also take part.
South Africa’s Multiply Titans and Afghanistan’s Boost Defenders are also taking part, with a sixth team yet to be announced.
West Indies’ batsman Chris Gayle is earmarked to play for the Defenders, while England pace bowler Tymal Mills is set to play for Hobart.
“It’s tremendous that we’ve been asked to take part in this,” said Moxon. “With all 18 firstclass counties available, for us to be asked is a feather in our cap. It gives us the opportunity to pit our wits again some of the best players in the world.
“It’s similar to the Champions League back in 2012, so we’re all really looking forward to it.
“The way cricket is going, for us to be involved in these tournaments such as this, with our future in mind, is very promising.
“It will be a short trip and we’ll have three days over there to prepare, but it will be very interesting. It will be great to test ourselves against the best in the world.”
England Women defeated New Zealand by 123 runs at Derby after winning the toss to secure victory in their one-day international series with a game to spare.