Where To Now For Yorkshire?

Headingley Stadium
By JMB
October 8 2006

Yorkshire County Cricket Club experienced a 'get out of jail' season in 2006. Take away Darren Lehmann's runs and supporters would be demanding heads on pikes. The good finish shouldn't cloud Yorkshire's poor performance over much of the summer where at times the county was not at the races.

There was a lot of good on display in 2006.

The club now control their own destiny in so much as they own the Headingley ground. Ambitious plans to improve the existing facilities have already been paraded. These are exciting times, but have the county bitten off more than they can chew? Already a lack of finances has been used in conversation about potential signings for 2007. It is essential that the club excites and entertains in more than just the bricks and mortar that surround the ground. In years to come it should be the players we are waxing lyrical about and not the stands.

The emergence of the young spin twins, Adil Rashid and Mark Lawson, has been exciting to put it mildly. The two bowled in tandem for the latter half of the season and promise huge things in the future. At Yorkshire we know that promise doesn't always turn in to wickets and runs but the county can be optimistic.

Elsewhere in the bowling attack Kruis, Bresnan and Gillespie were hit and miss. With Gillespie unlikely to return the club needs to tackle the issue of who is going to take the wickets next season. Rashid and Lawson are not going to roll through sides in early May and it would be unfair and premature to expect them to do so. The bowling undercard of Patterson, Shazad and Thornicroft have done nothing yet to show they can step straight in to the first team. For Yorkshire to be successful in 2007 it needs to find a bowler who can take at least 50 wickets in a season of Championship cricket.

Names like Brett Lee, Shane Bond and Glenn Mcgrath have been muted, but then we are forced to return to finances. Brett Lee doesn't bring his blonde har, white teeth and hundred mile an hour balls to England for just a pint of best bitter and a packet of pork scratchings. Does the club fork out serious money for a man that might sell ten extra membership tickets in the season?

Yorkshire's new chief executive Stewart Regan was not employed to turn Yorkshire cricket into Leeds United. He has a proven track record of ambition and astute management. That involves taking the club forward without breaking the bank, so it may be that spectators have to settle for the likes of Kruis instead of the Lee's or McGrath's for a few more seasons.

Making Headingley the Lords of the north will be Regan's legacy. As far as the county is concerned securing test match cricket at Headingley is more relevant than whether the club wins trophies or is in the first or second division. That is the stark relaity whether fans of Yorkshire cricket like it or not. The revenue that a sell out test match can bring is massive and Regan's drive towards making Headingley admired worldwide should be applauded. Having a successful county team too would be the icing on the cake.

When the squad was discussed at the start of 2006 it was the bowling that looked weak. In contrast the batting line up seemed strong and yet it was eventually the batting the disappointed most. If you take Lehmann's runs out of the equation the batting looked frail. The opening partnership of Wood and Sayers failed to deliver at the top of the order and although Sayers receovered Wood spent most of the summer out of the first team. Michael Lumb showed that he is maturing in to a solid batsman but the loss of Lehmann threatens to put an added burden on to his shoulders that may see him shrink or thrive.

The addition of Younis Khan in to the side next season appears to be a masterstroke. As vice captain of Pakistan he has become a world class batsman and also a fine tactician. The Pakistan side seems tactically stronger whenever Inzamam leaves the field. Younis is also a genuinely nice guy. If Younis backs up his words of excitement at the prospect of playing for Yorkshire with a signature on a contract it leaves the county with one question - do we employ two overseas players next season and if so who will the other one be?

The second overseas berth apears to between a bowler or a wicket keeper batsman. Gerard Brophy promised runs which he rarely delivered and Simon Guy is yet to make the job behind the stumps his own. Guy is the better glove man but has been unable to translate runs in the second team into consistent scoring in the first eleven. Basically it boils down to trust - does the club trust either of the two keepers to hold down a place behind the stumps for a full season and make valuable contributions along the way? If the answer is either question is 'no' or 'may be' then alternatives need to be found.

Filling the keeper role with an overseas player means looking at the likes of Gilchrist, Taibu, Sangakarra or Dhoni. Adam Gilchrist would be a star at Headingley but appears unwilling to spend his Australian winter away from his family, the pressures of international cricket making him enjoy what little time he has at home. Of the other three Sangakarra is the most exciting but none of them have made consistent runs in England.

A wildcard for the keeping slot could be Irishman Niall O'Brien who has been released by Kent who expect to see a lot more of Geraint Jones after the Ashes star lost his England place. O'Brien averages nearly 30 in first class cricket with a top score of 176.

So there's a lot to consider and plenty of other players released by other counties who may be worthy of consideration - Phil Weston (Glos), David Fulton (Kent), Aftab Habib (Leics), Scott Styris (Middlx), Melvyn Betts (Middlx), Will Smith (Notts), and many more.

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