Anthony McGrath pledging Yorkshire CCC to have a real tilt at ending trophy drought
ANTHONY McGRATH says that Yorkshire are going to have “a real crack” at winning the One-Day Cup as the club looks to end its long wait for a limited overs trophy.
The county’s head coach said that the 50-over competition is one that “we have to take seriously” as Yorkshire seek their first one-day silverware since 2002.
McGrath, who was part of the team that beat Somerset at Lord’s in the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy final 23 years ago, leads his men into their opening One-Day Cup match against Warwickshire at Scarborough on Tuesday.
The county will have a strong squad for the tournament with only their England players missing due to The Hundred plus T20 staples Dawid Malan, Jafer Chohan and Jordan Thompson.
“We want to make a statement early on and we want to try and have a real crack at this competition because it's a trophy to win at the end of the day,” said McGrath, whose side are seventh in Division One of the County Championship and finished eighth out of nine in the Vitality Blast North Group.
“We've only lost three or four players (from the regular squad due to The Hundred) and although there’s a bit of a doubt over Ben Coad (hamstring), we will have a strong squad.
“The 50-over Cup is definitely a competition we want to try and attack and we’ll be trying to play the best team that we possibly can.
“It’s a tournament we have to take seriously and, as I say, we want to have a real crack at it and try and get out of the season with some good feeling as well.”
Although McGrath has won a one-day trophy as a player, he has yet to do so in a coaching capacity. He won the Championship and the T20 as Essex head coach so it would be a good one to tick off on a personal level.
“Any trophy we would take at the current time,” he said.
“I’ve enjoyed the last few years coaching it (the 50-over Cup), and I think there’s been some really good cricket.
“Obviously, there’s been a lot spoken about this competition with it running at the same time as The Hundred and people saying that the 50-overs has been devalued and so on.
“We know that The Hundred is going on at the same time but we can't control that and we’ve just got to do the best for our team and the club and, as I say, we need to have a good 50-over competition for the sake of our season.”
Yorkshire will be led by Dom Bess, who took over the captaincy for last week’s Championship win against Sussex at Scarborough, with red-ball skipper Jonny Bairstow on paternity leave.
Bess is no stranger to the job having also filled in for Bairstow earlier in the summer when the former England man was at the Indian Premier League. He also stood in briefly as 50-over captain in 2021.
“Dom will lead us,” confirmed McGrath. “He's done a brilliant job when he's stood in for Jonny this season, and I thought how he captained against Sussex was fantastic
“You could see the efforts and atmosphere out there on the field and Dom was a big part of that so, yeah, he'll lead us in this one.
“I know he enjoys the captaincy stuff and I think he's got a good cricket brain, too.”
Yorkshire are in Group B of the tournament which sees the 18 counties split into two groups of nine, each playing eight matches (four at home, four away).
After Tuesday’s fixture, Yorkshire continue their programme against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road on Friday before facing two games at York next week – against Lancashire on August 12 and against Somerset on August 14.
Yorkshire then face Middlesex at Radlett on August 17, Durham at Scarborough on August 22, Sussex at Hove on August 24 and Kent at Canterbury on August 26.
The quarter-finals are on August 28, the semi-finals on August 31, and the final at Trent Bridge on September 20.
McGrath said that Yorkshire will need to juggle their resources given the schedule, with the club battling to retain their status in the Championship top-flight.
They have three games remaining in the four-day competition, away to Somerset (September 8-11), away to Sussex (September 15-18) and at home to Durham (September 24-27).
“I think the one-day competition is one of the hardest forms to play in terms of the intensity over a long period of time and the games come pretty thick and fast, so we'll have to juggle a little bit as well with an eye on those last three (Championship) games,” added McGrath.
“Inevitably, a couple of youngsters I'm sure will get a go, which is always exciting, but we want to do really well in this tournament.
“So, we'll be putting our best foot forward and hopefully we can start with a win against Warwickshire.”
Yorkshire (from): Bean, Bess (captain), Cliff, Duke, Hill, Imam, Luxton, Lyth, Milnes, Moriarty, Revis, Wharton, White.