Yorkshire CCC: It was a solid display from the lads at Notts – Gale

LOOKING back at our County Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, overall I was pretty pleased – we got a good solid draw against a good team and we move on.
Yorkshire's Jack Leaning celebrates his century with Tim Bresnan.Yorkshire's Jack Leaning celebrates his century with Tim Bresnan.
Yorkshire's Jack Leaning celebrates his century with Tim Bresnan.

I guess the only thing we were disappointed about was not winning the game from the position we were in.

On the first day, we were pretty disappointed with the way we bowled. We thought it was perfect conditions for bowling with the lights on and it was overcast with a bit of damp in the air.

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That was our real chance to get into them and for 15 to 20 minutes, the ball went around and we thought that if we could bowl in good areas, we would bowl them out cheaply. But for whatever reason, we didn’t get it right.

I was really pleased with how honest the lads were. They held their hands up and said they didn’t get it right and the following day, we bowled really well on the second morning and that changed the momentum of the game and then we got stuck in with the bat and dominated the last three days really.

Obviously, Jack Leaning got his first County Championship century for Yorkshire and I was really pleased for him. He’s been in and around the squad for about a year now and after finding his feet in first-class cricket, he is now getting more confident and becoming a more vital part of the team.

He’s another guy from the academy who has come in and done well.

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On the final day, we were hopeful of getting the win. There was still enough in the pitch, but the bowlers had bowled a lot of overs by then. Going into the last day, we had three experienced bowlers there and could not have asked too much more from them.

We had Matthew Fisher at 17, but the other lads were seniors and they were totting up between 40 and 50 overs. It was always going to be a tough ask and we needed early wickets and it was the sort of wicket where if wanted to get stuck in, you could stay in for long periods of time, but as soon as you looked to score, it was hard at times.

Young Fisher was brilliant for someone who is 17 years old. He looked like he had been playing first-class cricket for ten years. There were no real nerves there you could see.

He bowled with good pace and put it in good areas and picked up a couple of wickets and I think he has got a real bright future.

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We start our County Championship season against Warwickshire at Headingley tomorrow and I am looking forward to getting back on home soil.

We know how the pitch plays at Headingley and how to play our cricket there. We did well there last year and got some good results, so we are looking to get stuck in tomorrow.

The pitches last year, given good weather, ensured the games went four days and they are conducive of a result. It is one of those where if you get stuck in, you can score big runs. Equally if you put the ball in good areas, you get your rewards.

Obviously, the injuries to Ryan Sidebottom and Aaron Finch are things we could have done without.

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It is disappointing, given the players we have got missing to England. Sidey is our most experienced player and someone who always gets us wickets, particularly with the new ball and we did miss him at Nottingham.

It is a blow he is going to be out for another five or six weeks. But it’s important a guy like him at his age when we bring him back, that he is right.

We don’t want to rush him back or we will end up in the same situation again.

With Finchy, we thought he’d be back a little bit sooner than 12 weeks and are still hopeful of that. But it still could be up to 12 weeks, so we will just have to keep an eye on that.

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Obviously, the club were refused permission for Adil Rashid to come back to Yorkshire with him not being used by England so far.

It is disappointing to be honest to see the lad carrying drinks and probably third in the cue for one spot.

My beliefs are Rash would be better back here playing some cricket, but the ECB seem to think he is better out there. So that’s up to them.

I haven’t had any contact with him. I am sure Martyn and Jason have, but one thing I am sure of is that he will be working hard.

***Andrew Gale’s column is in association with Blacks Solicitors***