Dubai tour is ideal preparation for Yorkshire CCC

Gary Ballance captains Yorkshire for the first time this year. (Picture: Tony Johnson)

Yorkshire travel to the United Arab Emirates a week tomorrow for a fortnight’s trip ahead of their Championship opener against Hampshire at Headingley on April 7.

The White Rose missed out in their bid to claim a hat-trick of Championships last summer when they were pipped by Middlesex.

It capped a frustrating end to the season for director of cricket Moxon and the players, with Yorkshire also losing semi-finalists in both one-day tournaments.

However, optimism is high that Yorkshire can rediscover the silverware trail this year and claim their third Championship in four years.

There is extra anticipation following the appointment of Andrew Gale as first-team coach and Gary Ballance as captain.

Yorkshire have only one first-class warm-up at home – a three-day fixture against Leeds-Bradford MCCU at Headingley from April 2.

As such, Moxon insists that this latest visit to the UAE will be perfect preparation.

“When we start the season on April 2, the chances of having any outdoor match practice here before then are highly unlikely, so the trip to Dubai is key to finalising our winter preparation,” he said.

“At this stage, it’s about providing the best standard of preparation and, therefore, improving the team’s chances of being successful.

“The facilities are excellent. The practice facilities and pitches are all very good and we’re looked after very well out there.

“Everything is in place for a really good period.”

Yorkshire’s fast bowlers fly out on Thursday ahead of the rest of the squad, who leave on March 19.

Jack Brooks, Steve Patterson, Ben Coad, Josh Shaw, Ryan Sidebottom and James Wainman will all undertake extra practice under the watchful supervision of coach Rich Pyrah and physio Kunwar Bansil.

During their tour, Yorkshire will play a two-day match against Papua New Guinea (March 22-23), a two-day game against Lancashire (March 26-27), a one-day match against Papua New Guinea (March 29) and a one-day game against UAE Blues (March 30).

The players return home on March 31.

Yorkshire squad: Ballance (captain), Bresnan, Brooks, Coad, Callis, Carver, Fisher, Hodd, Leaning, Lees, Lyth, Patterson, Rafiq, Read, Rhodes, Shaw, Sidebottom, Wainman, Waite.