Yorkshire’s hard work is paying one-day dividends
YORKSHIRE captain Gary Ballance believes the club’s increased focus on one-day cricket is paying off as they stand on the brink of qualification for the Royal London Cup knockout stages.
Yorkshire would all but guarantee a knockout berth with victory in today’s floodlit match away at Northants.
It would represent a fifth victory in six games for the North Group leaders, who have England stars Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett and David Willey back to help their cause.
With that quintet also available for the penultimate group game at Warwickshire on Sunday, Yorkshire look nailed-on to reach the business end of the competition having worked particularly hard on their limited-overs cricket during the winter.
“We put in a lot of work on the white-ball stuff over the winter,” said Ballance, as Yorkshire chase their first one-day trophy for 15 years.
“We’ve been very consistent in one-day cricket in the last few years, getting to quarter-finals and semi-finals, but we want to go that step further.
“One more win would put us right up there (in terms of qualification), and we’ve played good cricket in all of the games so far.
“Unfortunately, we lost the match at Worcester, but we didn’t play badly in that game and I’m really pleased with the performances overall.”
A key feature of those performances has been Yorkshire’s dynamism with the bat.
They are fully embracing the new era of one-day cricket in which totals are rising as a knockon effect of T20 and a more positive approach to batting per se.
Only once have Yorkshire failed to post 290-plus, and that only because their target in the opening match at Notts was 186.
Otherwise, they made 296-9 to beat Lancashire by 79 runs; 3394 to beat Durham by six wickets; 291 in the 51-run defeat at Worcestershire, and 349-7 to beat Derbyshire by 15 runs – the highest one-day total at Headingley, smashing a record going back to 1996.
“Our aim this year was to be more consistent with the bat,” said Ballance.
“So far, in the first five games, we have been consistent and batted very well.
“We’ve got big scores, we’ve chased well, and it’s given the lads a lot of confidence.
“Hopefully, we can keep it going and build on what we’ve achieved.”
Ballance said he could see confidence oozing through the batting line-up.
Peter Handscomb has been its lynchpin (he is the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 407 at 101.75), while the likes of Root and Bairstow have also produced match-winning contributions, along with Ballance himself.
“All the hard work is really paying off,” said Ballance.
“When it does pay off, you can see that it gives everyone massive confidence knowing that big totals can be achieved.
“It’s good that it’s happening at the moment, and I know what these lads are like.
“No one wants to take anything for granted, and everyone wants to keep improving and keep putting those big totals out to give the bowlers something to work with.”
Ballance is not taking Northants lightly as Yorkshire look to maintain their momentum.
Although Northants are thirdbottom after one win in their opening five games, they are the defending T20 champions and a useful side in white-ball cricket.
“They’re a good team,” said Ballance.
“They won the Twenty20 last year and have got some good oneday players.
“We can’t take them for granted, and, hopefully, with the England boys coming back, we can put in another good performance.
“But Northants are playing good cricket in all forms, and we need to be mindful of that.”
The return of Yorkshire’s England contingent means there will be changes at Wantage Road (2pm start).
Tim Bresnan is rested, while Alex Lees, Steve Patterson, Karl Carver, Ryan Gibson and Will Rhodes also go out of the squad named for the previous match against Derbyshire.
“When you’ve got England players coming back, that’s just how it is and people accept that,” said Ballance.
“We don’t have them available very often, so it’s nice to have them around at the moment.
“The good thing is that guys who have come in for the England lads in recent games have contributed and done a good job.
“We need players to step up and perform when our internationals are not available, and they’ve done that.”
Ballance, who has scored 202 runs in the tournament at 50.50, to go with 508 Championship runs, will be aiming to preside over Yorkshire’s 11th successive win over Northants in oneday cricket, a run dating back to 2001.
Yorkshire (from): Ballance (captain), Bairstow, Coad, Fisher, Handscomb, Leaning, Lyth, Plunkett, Rafiq, Rashid, Root, Waite, Willey.