Chris Waters: Sorry saga must not be repeated for good of the game

There is no more proud, passionate or popular wearer of the White Rose emblem.

The 1,500 Yorkshire supporters who travelled to the SWALEC Stadium on Saturday, to watch Yorkshire take part in their first finals day, had been looking forward for weeks to seeing him in action.

The muscular all-rounder did not disappoint, taking 2-22 from four overs in the semi-final win against Sussex and returning 0-18 from three overs against Hampshire in the final.

And yet it could just so easily have been a different story.

Bresnan’s participation in the event was only confirmed on Friday afternoon.

England were waiting to see how much work he did during the first one-day international against South Africa at Cardiff before giving him the go-ahead to represent his county.

They were concerned about not overburdening the 27-year-old pace bowler.

As it turned out, Bresnan neither batted nor bowled during the opening ODI.

Only 5.3 overs were possible due to bad weather, England reaching 37-0.

But that England even considered pulling him out was utterly preposterous.

It would have cheapened the competition and penalised the player.

In those 11 years with his native county, Bresnan has never won a trophy.

In 2002, when he was nowt but a rookie, he did not play when Yorkshire won the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy, their last domestic silverware.

To have deprived him of the chance to win his first cup with Yorkshire would have been heartless in the extreme – not to mention having a potentially adverse effect on the player’s morale.

It reflected poorly on the England management and it was a relief when common sense finally prevailed.

Of course, England team director Andy Flower is rightly concerned about Bresnan’s workload.

There is too much international cricket and, in fairness to Flower, he has always tried to accommodate counties as best he can – certainly far more than Duncan Fletcher ever did.

But the facts show that Bresnan had bowled only 387 overs in all cricket since the start of April.

If that is over-work, then I would respectfully suggest that England are mistaken.

Of course, no blame should be attached to Bresnan himself.

The player wanted to take part in finals day and is believed to have pressed his case strongly with the powers-that-be.

But whether that made a jot of difference is open to question.

And although Flower ultimately saw sense, it should not be forgotten that he reserved the right to reassess Bresnan’s situation if finals day spilled over into Sunday due to bad weather – something which, despite unpromising forecasts, it thankfully did not.

If this sorry saga has taught us anything, it is that players should automatically be released for domestic cup finals.

Be it a Twenty20 finals day or the CB40 final, it is grossly unfair on individuals and spectators if a player is not released to represent his club.

Participation in domestic finals should be a no-brainer.

And with the second ODI not starting until tomorrow, it is as well to remember that Bresnan had four days to get over any exertions in that opening fixture.

Yorkshire were understandably unhappy about the whole kerfuffle.

Having initially been led to believe that Bresnan would play, they were taken aback to the extent that director of cricket Martyn Moxon had no idea the ECB had issued a statement on Wednesday which said that Bresnan would not, after all, be released to take part.

Although that decision was ultimately reversed, and although the confusion could be attributed to a simple breakdown in communication, the wider issue is that Yorkshire’s preparations were disturbed and they were delayed in determining their final XI.

It was an inconvenience they could have well done without.

Yorkshire’s irritation was evidenced by a club statement released on Thursday morning.

This concluded with the classic sentence: “The club remains hopeful that Tim will be able to represent Yorkshire Carnegie on finals day but will also respect any decision made that furthers the chances of the England national side.”

In other words: “We’re not happy about this but we have to say that we respect England’s decision because counties are subservient to the national team.”

The Yorkshire hierarchy were in a no-win situation.

Fortunately, all’s well that ended well and the Yorkshire supporters in Cardiff were able to give Bresnan a splendid reception.

Most were congregated in the stand side-on to the pitch opposite the pavilion to create a loud but well-behaved atmosphere.

Those Yorkshire fans joined in the “fun” of the mascot race – won, apparently, by the Welsh Dragon – and lapped up the pre-final entertainment provided by Cirque Bijou, who put on a spectacular audio and visual display.

But most of all they enjoyed the cricket and seeing players such as Bresnan.

It is what Twenty20 finals day should always be about.