Gavin Hamilton says Yorkshire CCC ready to embrace T20 challenge

Who knows.

The club has certainly left no stone unturned.

A raft of new signings, a clear focus on attempting to attack this format of the game, it will not be for want of trying should Yorkshire fall down.

That said, it is a notoriously fickle type of cricket. You need luck, momentum and the stars to align. There is no magic formula, in other words.

Gavin Hamilton, Yorkshire’s general manager of cricket, is realistic about the challenge and the need for improvement.

“I’ve made it very clear that we've not been good enough for, well, forever really,” he said of Yorkshire’s T20 record, with the club one of only four never to have won the tournament along with Derbyshire, Durham and Glamorgan.

“We just haven't been good enough in T20 cricket. So, we couldn't keep doing the same thing. We couldn't keep sticking to the same process, to the same teams, to the same batting orders. And ‘Mags’ (head coach Anthony McGrath) is fully on board.

“We're all fully on board and thinking, look, we just need to mix stuff up, and I'm a firm believer that you need to mix stuff up with experience. You like to, fingers crossed, know what you're going to get so there's no unknowns.

“That way, you can start shaping the side around people who know their roles and can adapt because in Blast stuff, they’ve got to be able to adapt.”

Hamilton is referring to the likes of Moeen Ali, the former England all-rounder; A.J. Tye, the Australian seamer; the new Pakistan overseas signings Hasan Ali and Faheem Ashraf; the club’s other overseas option Logan van Beek, and the new all-format batsman Sam Whiteman. All are on the wrong side of 30 years old but on the right side when it comes to having experience.

Throw in young batsmen such as Will Luxton and the promising leg-spinner Jafer Chohan, and there is a decent blend of promise and nous.

“We’ve put a lot of thought into our T20,” added Hamilton. “On paper, and looking at what bases we’ve covered, in theory we should be very strong. But, as always, it's how we start and get out of the blocks, how we make that statement in the first couple of games.

“Because we all know in the Blast, if you lose a couple, it's tough to pull back, and that’s something that we haven’t done - start well - since I’ve been here.

“So, start strong, get off to a winning start, and everything changes, but in terms of the depth and covering all disciplines, there's nothing that I'm really concerned about because I think we’ve got wicket-takers, we've got spinners, we've got big hitters, and we've got good all-rounders, too.”

McGrath agrees that a good start is key. It is perhaps more so this time, with 12 group games instead of 14.

Yorkshire start their campaign with two matches in three days - against Notts Outlaws at Trent Bridge on Friday, and against Derbyshire at Headingley on Sunday.

“It’s a good chance to try and get two wins on the board,” said McGrath. “You want to start each competition well, and I think that’s what we’ve got to do.

“Trent Bridge is always a great place to play, so I think everyone’s excited about the start of the comp. It’s just a case of putting things into practice and hopefully we can hit the ground running.”

Both McGrath and Hamilton have an eye on the future.

They want to win in the short-term, as is obvious by their signings, but they have recruited players they believe can develop the squad.

“That’s the thought process really,” added McGrath.

“Moeen, AJ, Faheem, Hasan, and so on - all have played a hell of a lot of T20 cricket, so we’re hoping that not just their performances on the pitch but also in training and things like that can really accelerate the learnings of our younger players.

“They can teach them so much about what they need to do – about game management, all those kinds of things.

“It’s about what those players can bring as a package, and we’re hoping that their qualities will rub off on the rest of the guys through the next six-to-seven weeks.”

As ever, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

Hamilton is optimistic.

“I’m sure there’ll be a few changes to the batting order, to the way that we do things, because, as I say, we can’t keep doing the same old stuff.

“We’ll mix things up and do things differently at different times in games, and we’re looking forward to seeing how it goes.”​​​​​​​

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