Sidebottom proving to be shrewd signing by Yorkshire

Rudolph, who decided to return to his native South Africa in an attempt to resurrect his international career, took with him the virtual guarantee of 2,000-plus runs in all competitions.

His departure was akin to an orchestra losing its lead violinist.

The decision to sign a bowler to fill the void was a bit like replacing said violinist with a viola player.

Ryan Sidebottom was the bowler snapped up – and Yorkshire took a gamble on enlisting his services.

At 32 (he has since turned 33), Sidebottom was no spring chicken and his salad days were clearly behind him.

To hand a thirty-something pace bowler a three-year deal seemed risky in itself, given potential fitness concerns further down the line.

But when Yorkshire had only home-grown youngsters to fill the gap left by Rudolph, it appeared doubly hazardous and gave rise to understandable fears among the club’s support.

Those fears would not have been allayed during the first half of a season in which Yorkshire’s batting was collectively fragile.

Take out Jonny Bairstow and there has not been too much to write home about – although youngsters such as Joe Root and Gary Ballance have shown tremendous promise and will only benefit from greater exposure.

But whatever one thinks of Yorkshire’s strategy (and the club have argued it would have been a risk not to have signed a bowler given the potential loss of Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad to England), it is only fair to acknowledge Sidebottom’s contribution.

The left-arm seam bowler has performed well not only with the ball but also with the bat on a successful return to the county of his birth.

Sidebottom may be no spring chicken but nor is he ready to be put out to pasture.

On the contrary, a man who helped Nottinghamshire to two Championships after leaving Yorkshire in 2004 has led the attack in purposeful fashion, in the process demonstrating the value of experience.

Going into the current Championship match against Durham, Sidebottom had taken 27 wickets at 25.59 at the halfway stage of the four-day programme.

Only Adil Rashid (28 wickets at 33.78) had claimed more victims, while equally encouraging was that Sidebottom had stayed on the park for all eight fixtures – in the process bowling 238.3 overs, only eight fewer than Rashid.

Unlike Rashid, who has two five-wicket hauls to his name, Sidebottom has not yet managed a five-wicket return.

His best was 4-30 against Nottinghamshire at Headingley when his match haul of 8-97 did not deserve to be in a losing cause.

Sidebottom has been extremely consistent and picked up wickets in most situations. Only three times in 14 Championship innings has he gone wicketless and, in eight of those innings, he claimed two wickets or more.

Sidebottom was straight into his stride in the opening game away to Worcestershire. He picked up four wickets and scored a career-best 61, helping Yorkshire to a nine-wicket victory.

Sidebottom’s seventh-wicket stand of 149 with Gerard Brophy at New Road swung the balance after Yorkshire slipped to 155-7 in reply to 286.

He has chipped in with other useful runs and has claimed important wickets in one-day cricket. In four CB40 games, Sidebottom has taken seven wickets at 16.85.

Although he is yet to make an impact in the Twenty20 Cup (two wickets in five matches at 67.00), he remains a valuable performer in the game’s shortest form.