Leicestershire Foxes v Yorkshire Vikings - Andrew Gale hoping Joe Root, Adil Rashid and Dawid Malan can aid T20 Blast push

ANDREW GALE is calling on Yorkshire to turn “a good season into a great season” and revealed that England Test captain Joe Root is ready to finish what he started by helping the club in its quest for T20 glory.
TIMELY BOOST: Yorkshire’s England Test captain Joe Root is keen to get back in time to help the Vikings’ push to make the knockout stages of the Vitality T20 Blast after international duty. Picture: Ash Allen/SWpix.com.TIMELY BOOST: Yorkshire’s England Test captain Joe Root is keen to get back in time to help the Vikings’ push to make the knockout stages of the Vitality T20 Blast after international duty. Picture: Ash Allen/SWpix.com.
TIMELY BOOST: Yorkshire’s England Test captain Joe Root is keen to get back in time to help the Vikings’ push to make the knockout stages of the Vitality T20 Blast after international duty. Picture: Ash Allen/SWpix.com.

The Yorkshire first team coach takes his side to face Leicestershire tonight as they start the second half of their 10-match North Group campaign.

And although Root – along with fellow England star Adil Rashid – is unavailable until at least the penultimate group game due to the one-day international series against Australia that starts today, Gale said that he had “expressed an interest to come back and play”.

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He added that leg-spinner Rashid might also be available for the final two matches, against Lancashire at Old Trafford on September 17 and Derbyshire at Headingley on September 20, and that Yorkshire would “keep asking the question” as to whether Dawid Malan – named as a reserve for the ODI series – might be released back to play some part in the preceding three fixtures.

BIG HIT: England's Dawid Malan has proved a success for both Yorkshire and England this season. Picture: Dan Mullan/NMC Pool/PABIG HIT: England's Dawid Malan has proved a success for both Yorkshire and England this season. Picture: Dan Mullan/NMC Pool/PA
BIG HIT: England's Dawid Malan has proved a success for both Yorkshire and England this season. Picture: Dan Mullan/NMC Pool/PA

The ODIs finish on September 16, but Jonny Bairstow, another Yorkshireman involved in that series, is unavailable due to his involvement with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, which starts three days later in the United Arab Emirates.

Yorkshire go into tonight’s match – which is followed by games at Headingley against Lancashire on Monday and Durham on Wednesday – in third position in the six-team North Group after two wins, two no-results and one defeat, two points behind both Nottinghamshire and Lancashire.

The top-two in each of the three regional groups, plus the two-best third-placed teams, qualify for the quarter-finals on October 1.

Finals Day is at Edgbaston on October 3.

FAMILIAR FACE: Adil Rashid (left), could yet play a vital role in the T20 Blast for Yorkshire.  Picture: Gareth Copley/POOL/PAFAMILIAR FACE: Adil Rashid (left), could yet play a vital role in the T20 Blast for Yorkshire.  Picture: Gareth Copley/POOL/PA
FAMILIAR FACE: Adil Rashid (left), could yet play a vital role in the T20 Blast for Yorkshire. Picture: Gareth Copley/POOL/PA
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“It would be nice to get to a quarter-final and then to Finals Day in what’s been a good season to date, but it’s a big week for us and it can go from being a good season into a great season,” said Gale, whose side came top of the Bob Willis Trophy North Group but with insufficient points to progress to the final.

“We might have the England boys back after the one-day series – Rash, perhaps, and also Rooty’s already expressed an interest to come back and play, given that they (England) haven’t got cricket for a fair while – and we just need to get on a roll now.

“This game (at Leicester) is a big one for us, because to win two-in-a-row (after Yorkshire beat Durham last Friday) would give us huge confidence going into next week and the rest of the competition.

“If we continue to play in the manner that we have done, I’m confident that we can go on a really good run.”

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With fixtures coming left, right and centre, both internationally and domestically, it is difficult to keep track as to which England players might be available at any given time.

Gale and his fellow coaches have their work cut out as they try to navigate a path through the selection maze.

“I’m constantly in touch with England on when we’ll have players back and bubbles and all that sort of thing,” said Gale. “I’m unsure really.

“All I can keep doing is looking at their team, and if any of ours aren’t included, keep asking the question.

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“It will be interesting to see what they do with Malan if he’s not playing, whether they might release him back to us.

“If you don’t ask, you don’t get, so I’ll certainly be pestering them and keep ringing them.”

Malan this week moved to the top of the international T20 batting rankings, earning him a place on the fringes of the ODI team to boot.

The 33-year-old, who joined Yorkshire from Middlesex last November, has made an immediate impact at Emerald Headingley, scoring 332 runs in three appearances in the Bob Willis Trophy, including a career-best 219 against Derbyshire.

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“Malan has fitted in really well,” said Gale. “I like him as a character, he works really hard, he’s got a lot of skill and he’s good for the dressing room and has an abundance of quality.

“We saw in that knock against Derby what a class player he is.

“The way he speaks in the dressing room about batting, about never having enough runs and being relentless – it’s rubbing off on one or two of them.”

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Thank you, James Mitchinson. Editor.