"I wasn’t picked ahead of Dom Bess and we complement each other well" - Dan Moriarty
Moriarty was preferred at the start of the season before both spinners played against Glamorgan last week.
“I wouldn’t look at it that way,” said the former Surrey man. “I think I was picked as a change of angle.
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Hide Ad“Obviously, I bring in the left-arm attack and, early-season, even if it’s not really spinning, I still think there’s a role for me where I can hold the batters and look at containing.
“‘Bessy’, I think, is probably more of an all-rounder (as opposed to just an off-spinner), and we attack both edges of the bat from our different angles.”
Yorkshire’s decision to play Moriarty and Bess on a used pitch against Glamorgan was a sensible one that played to their strengths.
Eyebrows had been raised in some quarters that a cricketer as good as Bess - he played for England as recently as 2021 - had been plying his trade in the second team.
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Hide AdThe move was especially successful in the Glamorgan first innings, when the spinners each took four wickets.
They claimed two wickets between them in the second innings as a combination of valiant batting and a pitch that seemed to have all the life taken out of it by the heavy roller thwarted the hosts.
Moriarty, 25, believes that he and Bess, 26, complement each other well.
“I think having two spinners in a side, two out-and-out spinners, takes a lot of pressure off the other one,” he said.
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Hide Ad“If there’s a partnership, then having the different dexterity as well really helps, I think.
“We bounce ideas off each other, so if something is working well for me, I’ll feed that back to him.
“We can bowl from different angles, different ends, and it’s almost like sharing the workload, so it’s really nice to have.”
Moriarty is grateful for the support that he has received from the Yorkshire coaches.
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Hide AdAlthough he may not consider himself to have started the season as the first-choice spinner, it was certainly a show of faith in his credentials.
“One of the big reasons that I moved here was because I felt like I was going to be backed, and the decision-making has kind of proved that a little bit,” added Moriarty, who signed a three-year contract in August.
“I can take a lot of confidence from that, definitely. They’ve given me the responsibility to try and bowl a team out twice to win a game for the club, and that’s a massive honour in itself.
“I came here to play cricket and they’ve seen that, and they want to give me that opportunity, so it’s been fantastic so far and hopefully I can pay that back with results and wickets.”
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Hide AdOwing to the nature of the fixture list, Yorkshire do not play another Championship match at Headingley until August 29.
It will be interesting to see how often they play two spinners in the interim, with the club back in action on Friday against Sussex at Hove.
“If we opt to play again with this kind of formula, this kind of attack, it would certainly be nice,” said Moriarty.
“It’s a fantastic problem to have when good players are missing out. It just shows the depth of the squad and the strength of the squad.
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Hide Ad“It’s difficult to pick the XI; I missed out (against Derbyshire at Headingley the previous week, when the club went all seam), and I was disappointed to miss out, but you have to buy into what’s right for the team.”
Moriarty believes that if Yorkshire are to win the title, their stated aim, it will take a full squad effort.
The club is seeking its first win of the season after four draws and a defeat, with the early weeks blighted by adverse weather.
“At the end of the day, we are one team,” he stressed.
“We opted for a slightly different approach (against Glamorgan), and we all agreed that we would go all-in with that approach.
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Hide Ad“At the end of this year, it will be more than just 11 guys who’ve made contributions to winning. That’s what it’s all about.”
Moriarty has taken 10 wickets in his four Championship appearances this season, with a best of 4-74 in that first innings against Glamorgan.
He is still learning his trade having played only 17 first-class games, which have brought him 59 wickets at an average of 32.77.
Reflecting on his form, Moriarty said: “It’s difficult. I was trying to reflect on that after I missed out (against Derbyshire). I haven’t necessarily got the outcomes I would have wanted, but again it’s a process game for me.
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Hide Ad“I felt like I had a few opportunities to take a few wickets, but the race has barely started and there’s still a lot of cricket to be played.
“I think if I can continue doing good work, I’ll reap the rewards from that as the season goes on.”
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