I have a responsibility to Yorkshire CCC, says overseas linchpin David Wiese

The Namibia all-rounder is a key man as Yorkshire go in search of their first T20 title since the tournament started in 2003.

Wiese helped Yorkshire take another step towards that goal with a match-winning half-century at Leicester on Tuesday, but as the club eyes a fifth successive group victory against Worcestershire at Headingley on Friday evening, he said that he wanted his impact to be just as significant off the field.

“There’s always expectation on overseas players but ultimately it’s not just about the performances but also about the general impact that you can make,” he said.

“That impact can be off the field as well as on it, it can be at training, it can be just in terms of life in general.

“A lot of time, people get fixated on performances and overseas players to win games, and, yes, that is our job.

“But you’re also there to leave the club in a better place than it was when you got there, and for me that’s important - to help other people and hopefully contribute towards their success.”

As role models go, few come better than Wiese, 38, who has been there, done it and got innumerable T-shirts in T20 competitions all over the world.

He has played pretty much everywhere and will soon be heading to America for the new Major League Cricket (MLC), although he is staying with Yorkshire until the end of the Blast.

In August, another stint beckons in The Hundred with the Headingley-based Northern Supercharges, for whom he played last summer.

There is certainly no sign of him slowing down or indeed any desire to do so.

“At this stage, I’m still enjoying the game, I’m still going strong, and I’m still having that challenge of trying to get better every single day, and as long as I have that hunger and drive then I’m not even thinking about anything else,” he said.

“Every single year I think it’s my last, and then I think ‘why should you limit yourself?’ There’s always something coming up. Next year, there is a T20 World Cup which I’d like to play in for Namibia again, so that’s the immediate target.

“After that, it’s small victories. But why does age need to define you as a player? Could I be 40 years old and play on the circuit still?

“I think nowadays the game has become so much more professional, and guys have become so much better with their fitness, with their diet, with everything, that your career can be a little bit longer.

"Touch wood, as long as my body still holds up and I’m still enjoying the game, then I’ll keep going as long as I can.”

The shorter formats obviously help. It is clearly easier for “older bodies”, as Wiese puts it, to rock up and bowl four overs in a T20 than it is for them to come back for a third spell towards the end of a long day in the County Championship; the game has shrunk even further in time-span with the advent of T10.

For now, a man who feels fortunate that there are so many opportunities these days on the T20 circuit is focused on helping Yorkshire take the extra steps they were not quite able to take last year as beaten semi-finalists.

“We just need to keep picking up wins,” said Wiese, with Yorkshire having experienced a sharp change in fortunes after they started the tournament with three straight defeats.

“It’s a tight group so far - there’s not really any team that’s running away with it, so we definitely feel that we’re in with a shout.

“Also, it’s not how you start, it's how you finish in these things, and if we can just keep this momentum going towards the back end of the tournament, that will be important.

“We’ve got that bit of momentum at the moment, but we can’t take it for granted; there’s still a lot of cricket to be played and we’re just going to have to keep our heads down and trust in what we’re doing.”

The Worcestershire match is the eighth in the 14-game group stage, with Yorkshire seeking revenge for the two-wicket defeat inflicted on them a fortnight ago at New Road. They head into the fixture with confidence high after Leicester, where Wiese’s 50, allied to 30 from Ben Mike, helped Yorkshire from 78-7 to 156-7 before Jordan Thompson’s 5-21 closed out a 30-run triumph.

“Worcestershire are a team that’s got a bit of form, but I felt like we played a really good game against them last time and unfortunately it didn’t quite go our way,” added Wiese.

“Sometimes it doesn’t work out in the way that you want, but we’ll take confidence into that match and hopefully we can be successful and go out there and entertain the home crowd.”

Win, lose or tie these are good times for Wiese, who is thoroughly enjoying life at the club.

“It’s been really good so far,” he said. “I was fortunate to play for the Superchargers last year, so I was quite familiar with Headingley and with Leeds and everything, and I’ve settled in nicely.

“I’ve worked quite a bit with Ottis Gibson (the Yorkshire head coach) in various tournaments, and I think we gel quite nicely together. It was just such an easy decision for me to come over here and be part of the team, and the guys have welcomed me with open arms.”