It’s good to talk as Yorkshire CCC targets more of the same against the champions
JONNY BAIRSTOW has revealed that some honest conversations behind the scenes helped to get the second half of Yorkshire’s County Championship season off to a solid start and that he has challenged his men to keep their foot on the throat of opposition sides.
The Yorkshire captain told his players to park a disappointing first half of the campaign that saw them win one, draw two and lose four of their opening seven matches on a difficult return to the tournament’s top-flight.
Since then, it has been more encouraging from Yorkshire, who have achieved a high-scoring draw against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, followed by a potentially crucial ten-wicket win over Essex at York.
That result saw Yorkshire leapfrog Essex and climb out of the relegation zone as attention now shifts to back-to-back matches in Scarborough where Yorkshire take on champions Surrey and then a Sussex team who also won promotion last season.
“It was basically the halfway point in the season, just prior to the York game, and we had a good chat around everything,” said Bairstow.
“It was kind of putting aside what's happened in the first half of the season and really concentrating and focusing on what can be done in the second half.
“I think that's a really positive way of looking at it. Yes, there haven’t been some of the performances in both formats that we would have liked (Championship and T20), but you can’t rest on your laurels or feel sorry for yourself.
"All the could haves, would haves, should haves - you have to park that, understand what you can do better and then move forward from it.
“And that was what I've asked of the lads - to put our best foot forward, because we've been gaining parity in games, but then giving the ascendancy back to the teams that we've played against, whether that's through a soft dismissal, or a bad half an hour, or an hour of bowling. That's plain to see.
“And when you do that in Division One, cricket teams hurt you, because that is the difference between Division One and Division Two. You don't get as many chances.
"When you create a chance, you've got to take it, and it’s about being relentless with that.”
Bairstow felt that the win at York was a prime example, when Matty Revis and Ben Coad shared in a record ninth-wicket stand of 169. It changed the match, gradually tipping the balance of power as both men struck career-bests - Revis 150, Coad 89.
“That’s exactly what we want and what I’m talking about,” said Bairstow.
“Those two lads, when they got in, they kept it going and they kept the momentum.
"It wasn’t a case of someone chipping one up in the air and giving back the ascendancy.
"It shows massively as to how that then can affect the game, which is exactly what they did.”
That win over Essex proved something else - that Yorkshire can win with the Kookaburra ball.
The machine-stitched Australian ball was in use at Clifton Park and also at Trent Bridge - and will be used again for both fixtures at Scarborough.
The experiment, which the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) believes can better prepare players for Test cricket, has been widely derided throughout the country.
Nevertheless, Yorkshire took 20 wickets with it at York and did so through a fine collective effort.
“It showed that we can win with the Kookaburra ball, and I think that’s important,” added Bairstow.
“That will give us belief going into two more rounds of it, that’s for sure, and is certainly a positive.
“We’ll keep trying to do things in the right way, trying to play the game in the right way and see where it takes us.
“Whether that’s leaving more grass on which has meant that there have been more results this year, even if some of those results haven’t gone our way, we will always try and take the positive option.”
Yorkshire face a stiff test against a Surrey side who have yet to lose in this year’s tournament.
Three wins - one of them against Yorkshire at the Oval in May - to go with six draws has left them top of the league by one point over Nottinghamshire with five games left.
Anthony McGrath, the Yorkshire head coach, echoed Bairstow’s comments and said consistency was key.
“We know how we want to play, we know the template we're trying to get to, it's just about being consistent,” he said.
“If individuals play well and buy into what we're trying to do as a team, then, as I've said countless times, we're going to be a good team.
Yorkshire’s Jafer Chohan has been named in a PCC Select XI squad for a three-match ODI series against Pakistan A, starting on Tuesday.