Lancashire v Yorkshire: Silencing home fans is key to success for Yorkshire

The Yorkshire first-team coach takes his side to Manchester to face Lancashire in a sell-out NatWest T20 Blast match.

Around 19,500 spectators will watch the Roses rivals slug it out – the biggest crowd for a county T20 game in England outside of London and Finals Day.

And with the atmosphere set to be even more electric than usual, with Old Trafford’s capacity raised by 4,000 due to temporary seating in place for next month’s Test, Gale believes his men must relish the occasion.

Asked what is the key to winning tonight, with Yorkshire having lost on three of their last four T20 outings at the ground, Gale said: “I think, firstly, it’s not to let the atmosphere get on top of you.

“It’s the type of occasion that you have to embrace.

“Don’t be a shrinking violet, really, and go out there and believe you can win.”

A star-studded Yorkshire side should not be over-awed by a fixture that is screened each year on satellite television.

Their side is packed with international and county experience, with six members of the 14-man squad having represented their country.

But with such a large crowd due, Gale believes that part of the challenge will be trying to silence the home supporters.

He knows from his own playing career that there is no love lost from Lancashire’s fans towards their Trans-Pennine visitors.

“You always get a lively reception, and you don’t want to be warming up by where the old dressing rooms are as you get called all sorts of names,” he said.

“It’s the closest thing you get to a football crowd.

“You want to keep them quiet as much as possible, because every wicket you take there’s silence, every six and four you hit there’s silence, and there’s no better feeling than walking up the steps at the end of the game to a silenced crowd.

“Hopefully, we can get our skills right on the night as there would be no better feeling than coming away with the points from Old Trafford.”

To do that, Gale believes that Yorkshire must be proactive against spin and look to raise their fielding standards.

Yorkshire were unhappy with their fielding in the three-run defeat to Derbyshire at Chesterfield on Sunday, which followed a splendid 48-run win over Notts at Headingley last Friday in their opening match.

Yorkshire were frustrated by the weather in their third scheduled group game at Northants on Tuesday, which was rained off.

With Lancashire often using spin to good effect (Yorkshire have three spinners in their squad, having added Karl Carver), Gale believes that success against slow bowling and better fielding could be particularly important.

“They use spin quite a lot throughout the middle overs, and when we have done well there in the past and been successful, we’ve looked to take that spin down and be really aggressive towards it,” he said.

“That will certainly be a period of play that we will look to take advantage of.

“Also, our fielding hasn’t been up to scratch, and I think we’ve just had a little bit of a negative mindset towards it.

“So I hope that we pump our chests out and show people what Yorkshire are about, and that’s being aggressive and being brave.”

Lancashire have played two matches in the competition so far, beating Durham by 52 runs at Chester-le-Street before a three-wicket defeat to Leicestershire at Liverpool.

They are boosted by the arrival of overseas player Junaid Khan, who landed in England earlier this week.

The seam bowler was part of Pakistan’s Champions Trophy-winning team in England last month, and he previously represented Lancashire in 2011 and 2014.

The hosts also have England star Jos Buttler in their ranks.

Gale believes that interest in tonight’s game mirrors a feelgood factor around cricket in general at present.

“We had over 10,000 for our first T20 game against Notts, which was the highest crowd that we’ve had for the start of a T20 campaign,” he said.

“I just think there’s a real interest and a buzz around cricket at the moment.

“There’s the women’s World Cup going on, we’ve just come off the back of the Champions Trophy, and England are playing some good cricket too.

“Interest is spilling over into all the formats.”

Yorkshire have now sold out the return T20 Roses match at Headingley for a fifth successive year.

The fixture on Friday, August 11, will be watched by some 16,000 spectators, while the club are also reporting a 34 per cent increase in T20 season ticket sales this summer, with more than 1,000 having taken up this option.

Andy Dawson, the club’s commercial director, said: “We are delighted that next month’s T20 Blast fixture against Lancashire is now sold out.

“The response to tickets since they went on general sale in March has been phenomenal, and we forecast further growth in T20 ticket sales this season.

“For the first time, Yorkshire have comfortably surpassed 1,000 T20 season tickets, and our junior membership is also showing significant growth.

“Friday nights at Headingley have proved extremely popular over the past couple of seasons, and we anticipate another bumper crowd for next Friday’s home fixture against Birmingham Bears.”

Yorkshire (from): Bresnan (captain), Carver, Coad, Fisher, Handscomb, Kohler-Cadmore, Leaning, Lyth, Marsh, Patterson, Rafiq, Rashid, Waite, Willey.