It has been an unusually quiet off-season at Headingley. If the off field stability transfers onto the pitch, it could be a season to remember.
2008 in a Nutshell
Yorkshire scored more batting points than anyone else, despite playing most of the season with only four specialist batsmen. However, an inability to take the first innings form into the second innings was Yorkshire’s basic problem. The season wasn’t helped by a never ending stream of injured pace bowlers or the weather which curtailed some promising situations while also partially negating the effect of Adil Rashid.
Top of the table at the 20:Twenty break, and still in with a shout of honours with three games to go, Yorkshire went into the last match in the relegation places, although a winning draw made sure of their continuing Division 1 status.
On the limited overs front, the 20:Twenty debacle was the lowlight of the season. Promotion to Division 1 of the Pro 40 was one of the highlights. Getting to the semi-final of the FP Trophy was a bonus and Essex were by far and away the better team on the day.
2009 Prospects
I hate myself for saying this, but I think Yorkshire are the team to beat in the Championship this season. The batting line up looks longer than last season, with Michael Vaughan having plenty to prove to the England selectors, while Andrew Gale and Adam Lyth will be looking to play themselves onto a tour next winter. Joe Sayers seems to have regained some form over the winter and will be challenging the other batsmen for a place. With Tim Bresnan likely to come in at 8, runs should not be a problem. The position of 4th seamer is up for grabs with Amjal Shahzad and Steve Patterson battling it out. David Wainwright will come into the team when spin becomes a weapon, and he scored a Championship century from number 10 last season.
Likely Championship team
Michael Vaughan
Andrew Gale
McGrath
Rudolph
Lyth
Brophy
Rashid
Bresnan
Naved
Hoggard
Shahzad/ Wainwright
The team looks to be on an upward curve with limited overs cricket too, although Division 1 of the Pro 40 will be much tougher than Division 2 last season. However, the knock out stages of the FP Trophy and the 20:Twenty should be the target.
Key Man
Probably the same as last year in that Adil Rashid is most likely to bowl teams out. He had a slow start to the season last year, but still ended up with 62 wickets. He will also need to improve with the bat as he averaged just 23, despite a century in the last match of the season. The emergence of Graeme Swann as an International spinner means that Rashid should not be required by England this summer. However, his time is coming and Yorkshire will be hoping for as much as possible from him.
Rising Star
I was tempted to go with last year’s choice again, as Adam Lyth made his breakthrough last season and aged just 21 has a bright future ahead of him. However, of those looking to make a breakthrough this season, my choice is Jonathan Bairstow. With Simon Guy recovering from brain surgery and Greg Wood being released, Bairstow (son of David) is the second choice wicketkeeper and a very talented batsman, winning the Wisden school cricketer of the year award last year. Expect to see him feature in some limited over cricket and if Gerard Brophy doesn’t recapture his form of a couple of years ago, this could be his year.
Coach and Captain
Antony McGrath officially takes the reins this season, although as Darren Gough only managed to play half of last season, the transformation has been gradual. Martyn Moxen is the reason that Mags stayed at Yorkshire and the two of them have a close bond.
Showing posts with label Adam Lyth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adam Lyth. Show all posts
Friday, 17 April 2009
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
2008 Season Review: Yorkshire
Final Placings
Championship – 6th
FP Trophy – Semi-finals (walloped by Essex)
Pro40 – 2nd in Division 2
20Twenty – Thrown out of the quarter finals
A frankly bizarre season, even in relation to what has happened in the past couple of years. Had the Championship been a single innings competition, Yorks would have won it by a country mile. The strength was supposed to be in the bowling, yet Yorks finished with more batting points than anyone else. Even so, they were only topped by Hampshire on the bowling point front. However, when it came to the second innings, the aging seem attack were impotent and the plan seemed to be throw the ball to Rashid and see what he can do.
A remarkable run of injuries also hampered matters on the seem bowling front. During the first half of the season, Rana Naved, Morne Morkel, Darren Gough, Matthew Hoggard, Dion Kruis and Amjal Shahzad were all injured. This led to a debut for the promising Oliver Hannon-Dalby, but for most of the first half of the season, the bowling was carried by Tim Bresnan, especially as Adil Rashid was struggling for form.
Despite the injuries, Yorkshire topped the table at the 20Twenty break. However a mixture of poor weather and appalling 2nd innings performances – notably against Kent, where the teams were tied after the first innings and Kent ran out 10 wicket victors, meant that there was not another win in the Championship. The best performances came when the likes of Gough, Kruis and Naved were unavailable which augers well for the future.
Batting-wise, Yorks often went into matches with just four specialist batsmen, with the likes of Gerald Brophy, Rashid and Bresnan going in at 5, 6 and 7. The bonus point situation shows that this tactic had some merit as Jacques Rudolph, Andrew Gale, Antony McGrath and Adam Lyth all contributed well, despite none of them being specialist opening batsmen. Rudolph has taken the headlines, but it is the transformation of Gale from promising youngster to regular which has pleased the Yorkshire faithful most. Less pleasing is the transformation of Joe Sayers from gritty opener to walking wicket and hopefully he can recover his game over the winter.
There was much more success on the limited over front. Despite his aging years, Gough is still one of the canniest One Day bowlers around and has passed much of his experience onto Bresnan, who was rewarded with an England recall. Rudolph and McGrath in particular showed the benefits of building an innings, although this fell apart in the FP Trophy semi final, which saw the worst limited over performance of the season. Promotion to Division 1 for the final season of the Pro40 was merited and this competition saw the best of Rana Naved, particularly with the bat.
The 20Twenty farce has been done to death. However, it is worth repeating that it seems bizarre that Azeem Rafiq was eligible to play for England schools, but not Yorkshire. An administrative cock-up by Yorkshire, dealt with very poorly by the ECB.
2009 will see a new captain, with Jacques Rudolph having put his hand up for the job. A hopefully refreshed Michael Vaughan will be looking to score big runs to get back into the England team, taking the pressure off the current four batsmen. Yorkshire nearly got relegated this season despite being on top of many of their games. It won’t take a big shift to be challenging at the top of the table again.
Player of the Season
Rudolph and Rashid have taken all of the headlines. However, for his contribution throughout the season, the Player of the Season has to be Tim Bresnan. He’s only 23 but has been around for years and has become the on-field leader that everyone hoped he would. He scored less runs and took less wickets than Rashid, but he held the team together as all around him fast bowlers dropped like flies.
Most Disappointing Player
Rana Naved was supposed to create a cutting edge, but ended up with just 16 wickets at nearly 40. Yorkshire looked a better team when he wasn’t playing and Steve Patterson was.
Highlight
The win against Somerset was a brilliant team effort. Also days 2 and 3 in the last game which saw Rashid and David Wainwright score tons before Sussex were forced to follow on, securing safety. The same eleven players played in both games, with Naved and Gough among those missing.
From a personnel point of view, the emergence of Adam Lyth and Andy Gale, who along with Bresnan and Rashid give a young Yorkshire spine to the team.
Lowlight
The FP Trophy semi-final was disappointing, but we didn’t play well enough and got what we deserved.
More disappointing was the 20Twenty - Rafiq farce, which robbed Gough of a fitting climax and has wrecked the confidence of a promising young player who was blameless in the whole affair.
Championship – 6th
FP Trophy – Semi-finals (walloped by Essex)
Pro40 – 2nd in Division 2
20Twenty – Thrown out of the quarter finals
A frankly bizarre season, even in relation to what has happened in the past couple of years. Had the Championship been a single innings competition, Yorks would have won it by a country mile. The strength was supposed to be in the bowling, yet Yorks finished with more batting points than anyone else. Even so, they were only topped by Hampshire on the bowling point front. However, when it came to the second innings, the aging seem attack were impotent and the plan seemed to be throw the ball to Rashid and see what he can do.
A remarkable run of injuries also hampered matters on the seem bowling front. During the first half of the season, Rana Naved, Morne Morkel, Darren Gough, Matthew Hoggard, Dion Kruis and Amjal Shahzad were all injured. This led to a debut for the promising Oliver Hannon-Dalby, but for most of the first half of the season, the bowling was carried by Tim Bresnan, especially as Adil Rashid was struggling for form.
Despite the injuries, Yorkshire topped the table at the 20Twenty break. However a mixture of poor weather and appalling 2nd innings performances – notably against Kent, where the teams were tied after the first innings and Kent ran out 10 wicket victors, meant that there was not another win in the Championship. The best performances came when the likes of Gough, Kruis and Naved were unavailable which augers well for the future.
Batting-wise, Yorks often went into matches with just four specialist batsmen, with the likes of Gerald Brophy, Rashid and Bresnan going in at 5, 6 and 7. The bonus point situation shows that this tactic had some merit as Jacques Rudolph, Andrew Gale, Antony McGrath and Adam Lyth all contributed well, despite none of them being specialist opening batsmen. Rudolph has taken the headlines, but it is the transformation of Gale from promising youngster to regular which has pleased the Yorkshire faithful most. Less pleasing is the transformation of Joe Sayers from gritty opener to walking wicket and hopefully he can recover his game over the winter.
There was much more success on the limited over front. Despite his aging years, Gough is still one of the canniest One Day bowlers around and has passed much of his experience onto Bresnan, who was rewarded with an England recall. Rudolph and McGrath in particular showed the benefits of building an innings, although this fell apart in the FP Trophy semi final, which saw the worst limited over performance of the season. Promotion to Division 1 for the final season of the Pro40 was merited and this competition saw the best of Rana Naved, particularly with the bat.
The 20Twenty farce has been done to death. However, it is worth repeating that it seems bizarre that Azeem Rafiq was eligible to play for England schools, but not Yorkshire. An administrative cock-up by Yorkshire, dealt with very poorly by the ECB.
2009 will see a new captain, with Jacques Rudolph having put his hand up for the job. A hopefully refreshed Michael Vaughan will be looking to score big runs to get back into the England team, taking the pressure off the current four batsmen. Yorkshire nearly got relegated this season despite being on top of many of their games. It won’t take a big shift to be challenging at the top of the table again.
Player of the Season
Rudolph and Rashid have taken all of the headlines. However, for his contribution throughout the season, the Player of the Season has to be Tim Bresnan. He’s only 23 but has been around for years and has become the on-field leader that everyone hoped he would. He scored less runs and took less wickets than Rashid, but he held the team together as all around him fast bowlers dropped like flies.
Most Disappointing Player
Rana Naved was supposed to create a cutting edge, but ended up with just 16 wickets at nearly 40. Yorkshire looked a better team when he wasn’t playing and Steve Patterson was.
Highlight
The win against Somerset was a brilliant team effort. Also days 2 and 3 in the last game which saw Rashid and David Wainwright score tons before Sussex were forced to follow on, securing safety. The same eleven players played in both games, with Naved and Gough among those missing.
From a personnel point of view, the emergence of Adam Lyth and Andy Gale, who along with Bresnan and Rashid give a young Yorkshire spine to the team.
Lowlight
The FP Trophy semi-final was disappointing, but we didn’t play well enough and got what we deserved.
More disappointing was the 20Twenty - Rafiq farce, which robbed Gough of a fitting climax and has wrecked the confidence of a promising young player who was blameless in the whole affair.
Monday, 28 July 2008
Championship Review - Week 12
In all of the 20Twenty excitement, it’s all change at the top of both divisions of the County Championship as Notts and Worcester take their chances, while Lancashire are frustrated/ hang on (delete according to viewpoint) against Hampshire.
Division 1
Only two games in the top division, and with Durham not playing Nottinghamshire had the chance to return to the top – as did Yorkshire, mathematically. Notts decision to bat first looked to have backfired as they were bowled out for 213. However, this was enough for a decent first innings lead, as Yorkshire, missing Antony McGrath who was injured in the warm up, made just 161 with Charlie Shrek taking five wickets. Batting got easier second time round, particularly as Rana Naved picked up an injury which restricted his bowling and Notts made 350, leaving Yorkshire needing 403. Despite an outstanding 132 (his maiden first class century) from Adam Lyth, it was a player at the other end of his career that took the plaudits as Mark Ealham finished up with seven wickets in the total of 290 and Notts ran out comfortable winners to top the table. Yorkshire are beginning to look over their shoulders.
Lancashire could have gone top with a win over Hampshire and started well with 357 in their first innings, Imran Tahir taking five wickets on debut for Hants. A stand of 145 between Michael Brown and Chris Benham rescued Hants from 35 for 3, but their total of 288 still gave Lancs a decent lead. However, Tahir went two better second time round, taking 7 wickets as Lancs struggled to 155, leaving Hants needing 225 for victory in 71 overs. A poor start meant that the chase was more about survival. However, at the close of play they had reached 215 for 7, only 10 runs short of an unlikely victory. They stay in the bottom two, while Lancs move up to 2nd.
Division 2
With Warwickshire having a week off, Worcestershire had the chance to go top against a Middlesex team who’s mind was on the 20Twenty finals. Indeed Middlesex were indebted to a fine 91 from Shaun Udal to get them to 300, Kabir Ali taking 5 wickets. Worcester went 61 runs better, with Ben Smith getting out in the 90s again. In the second innings, it was only a century partnership between Dawid Malan and Ben Scott that got Middlesex to 164, with Gareth Batty taking 5 wickets. Worcester knocked off the 105 needed for victory without losing a wicket to go top while Middlesex’s challenge is faltering.
Also keeping up the pressure at the top are Essex, who restricted Gloucestershire to 275 in their first innings, despite Marcus North getting 98. However, at 109 for 6 Essex were struggling and only a lower order rally, centred around James Foster took them to a four run first innings lead, Steve Kirby taking five wickets. Danesh Kaneria took five wickets second time round as Gloucester struggled to 184. Essex were quickly 7 for 2, but then reached the 181 needed for vitory without losing another wicket, Ravi Bopara getting a hundred with support from Neil Dexter. Essex are 4th, but with a game in hand over Worcester and Northants, who are also still in the hunt.
Northamptonshire stayed in contention with a Kolpakshire derby win against Leicestershire. Northants made 373 first time round with David Sales contributing 151. this was enough for a lead of 200 as Leicestershire struggled to 173. Following on they had reached 92 for 6 before Paul Nixon’s 73 at least meant that Northants had to bat again, ending on 226. Northants lost 2 wickets in their chase of 27, but still ran out comfortable winners to move 3rd in the table.
England Player Watch
Another century for Ravi Bopara who is having an excellent season for Essex. In contrast Owais Shah made just 7 runs in his two innings.
On the bowling front, Adil Rashid is back in the wickets, taking 6, while Matthew Hoggard took five wickets. Charlie Shrek took a 5-fer and given the selector’s current love of Notts bowlers, he time may come soon!
Player of the Week
Not many matches, but some outstanding performances. Adam Lyth deserves credit for his maiden century as does David Sales for his 151. Mark Ealham turned back the years with his 7-fer, however it was another 7-fer that almost took Hampshire to an unlikely victory that wins the award. Last season he played one game for Yorkshire and looked out of his depth. This season he’s started his Hants career with 12 wickets in a match and the Player of the Week is Imran Tahir.
Division 1
Only two games in the top division, and with Durham not playing Nottinghamshire had the chance to return to the top – as did Yorkshire, mathematically. Notts decision to bat first looked to have backfired as they were bowled out for 213. However, this was enough for a decent first innings lead, as Yorkshire, missing Antony McGrath who was injured in the warm up, made just 161 with Charlie Shrek taking five wickets. Batting got easier second time round, particularly as Rana Naved picked up an injury which restricted his bowling and Notts made 350, leaving Yorkshire needing 403. Despite an outstanding 132 (his maiden first class century) from Adam Lyth, it was a player at the other end of his career that took the plaudits as Mark Ealham finished up with seven wickets in the total of 290 and Notts ran out comfortable winners to top the table. Yorkshire are beginning to look over their shoulders.
Lancashire could have gone top with a win over Hampshire and started well with 357 in their first innings, Imran Tahir taking five wickets on debut for Hants. A stand of 145 between Michael Brown and Chris Benham rescued Hants from 35 for 3, but their total of 288 still gave Lancs a decent lead. However, Tahir went two better second time round, taking 7 wickets as Lancs struggled to 155, leaving Hants needing 225 for victory in 71 overs. A poor start meant that the chase was more about survival. However, at the close of play they had reached 215 for 7, only 10 runs short of an unlikely victory. They stay in the bottom two, while Lancs move up to 2nd.
Division 2
With Warwickshire having a week off, Worcestershire had the chance to go top against a Middlesex team who’s mind was on the 20Twenty finals. Indeed Middlesex were indebted to a fine 91 from Shaun Udal to get them to 300, Kabir Ali taking 5 wickets. Worcester went 61 runs better, with Ben Smith getting out in the 90s again. In the second innings, it was only a century partnership between Dawid Malan and Ben Scott that got Middlesex to 164, with Gareth Batty taking 5 wickets. Worcester knocked off the 105 needed for victory without losing a wicket to go top while Middlesex’s challenge is faltering.
Also keeping up the pressure at the top are Essex, who restricted Gloucestershire to 275 in their first innings, despite Marcus North getting 98. However, at 109 for 6 Essex were struggling and only a lower order rally, centred around James Foster took them to a four run first innings lead, Steve Kirby taking five wickets. Danesh Kaneria took five wickets second time round as Gloucester struggled to 184. Essex were quickly 7 for 2, but then reached the 181 needed for vitory without losing another wicket, Ravi Bopara getting a hundred with support from Neil Dexter. Essex are 4th, but with a game in hand over Worcester and Northants, who are also still in the hunt.
Northamptonshire stayed in contention with a Kolpakshire derby win against Leicestershire. Northants made 373 first time round with David Sales contributing 151. this was enough for a lead of 200 as Leicestershire struggled to 173. Following on they had reached 92 for 6 before Paul Nixon’s 73 at least meant that Northants had to bat again, ending on 226. Northants lost 2 wickets in their chase of 27, but still ran out comfortable winners to move 3rd in the table.
England Player Watch
Another century for Ravi Bopara who is having an excellent season for Essex. In contrast Owais Shah made just 7 runs in his two innings.
On the bowling front, Adil Rashid is back in the wickets, taking 6, while Matthew Hoggard took five wickets. Charlie Shrek took a 5-fer and given the selector’s current love of Notts bowlers, he time may come soon!
Player of the Week
Not many matches, but some outstanding performances. Adam Lyth deserves credit for his maiden century as does David Sales for his 151. Mark Ealham turned back the years with his 7-fer, however it was another 7-fer that almost took Hampshire to an unlikely victory that wins the award. Last season he played one game for Yorkshire and looked out of his depth. This season he’s started his Hants career with 12 wickets in a match and the Player of the Week is Imran Tahir.
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