Determined James Wharton his own fiercest critic as Yorkshire CCC targets Scarborough tonic

The 23-year-old made the highest score of his one-day career against Gloucestershire in York on Friday, striking 56 and sharing in a century stand with his captain, Shan Masood.

But it was not enough as the hosts snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, sliding to a second loss in four that has left them with little margin for error in their last four group games.

“It’s frustrating,” said Wharton of the latest setback. “I should be getting a hundred not out there and seeing us home.

“I feel good, but it’s not resulting in what I want it to. That’s the next big step - to get match-winning hundreds.”

It is refreshing to hear a young player speak in such terms.

Wharton’s competition has been one of consistent starts - 22 against Surrey, 21 against Notts, 38 against Sussex and then the 56 on Friday.

His entire season, in fact, has typified that trend.

Wharton’s County Championship scores read: 21, 18, 21, 20, 19, 188. His T20 returns were: 0, 29, 5, 22, 24, 52.

In 16 innings in total, across all cricket, that equates to one hundred but also to just two single-innings scores, an impressive level of reliability.

It is a solid base on which to build, with Wharton having reached 20 in exactly three-quarters of those innings.

“We’ve all got to look at ourselves as a batting and bowling unit,” he added.

“We’ve all got to take ownership - otherwise we won’t get any better. But we’re not far off. We know what our batting group is capable of, what our bowlers can do, and we’ve just got to remain positive and back ourselves.”

Yorkshire go into the Essex game sixth in Group B, two points behind Nottinghamshire in the third and final qualifying place with a match in hand, with Essex in seventh after three defeats in four.

On Thursday, Yorkshire entertain fourth-placed Leicestershire at Scarborough before taking on second-placed Warwickshire at Rugby School on Sunday, followed by leaders Glamorgan in Cardiff on Wednesday week.

“We’re going into the Scarborough matches full of confidence,” said Wharton.

“The last result isn’t going to set us back at all in terms of our mindset and what we want to do.

“Yes, we were disappointed to lose, but we’ve got to put it to bed now and crack on at Scarborough.

“We’ll be going into those games looking to win and to batter the opposition.”

One aspect of Yorkshire's cricket that has impressed in this tournament is their fielding, epitomised by Wharton and his sensational catch in the first match at the Oval, when he somehow took the ball one-handed over his shoulder on the cover boundary.

“I needed to catch it after I dropped a sitter earlier,” he said.

“We’re a team of good fielders - ‘Bessy’ (Dom Bess) is probably the best fielder in the country - and we work hard on it and learn off each other.”