Yorkshire CCC look to legend Joe Root to help inspire lift-off
YORKSHIRE are hoping that the return of England’s greatest run-scorer can ignite their season at the third attempt after a stuttering start to the Championship campaign.
Joe Root is set to make his first appearance for the club in almost a year when they take on Sussex at Headingley from Friday.
It is the first of three matches that the 35-year-old is available for ahead of the Test series against New Zealand starting in June.
Root will also play against Somerset at Taunton from May 1, and against Surrey at Headingley from May 15.
His England colleague Harry Brook is available for two matches - the Surrey home game plus the fixture against Warwickshire at Edgbaston from May 8.
Anthony McGrath, the Yorkshire head coach, said Root’s return was a fillip as they target their first victory of the season after a draw at Glamorgan and home defeat to Hampshire.
“It’s a huge boost for us,” said McGrath, who also hopes to have captain Jonny Bairstow available following a thumb injury sustained in the Glamorgan game.
“Joe is excited to get going. He’s had a bit of a break now and is raring to go. For the next four games we’re going to have at least one of Joe and Harry, with both of them available for the Surrey game, and with Jonny as well they’re three batsmen who are going to help any batting line-up.”
Yorkshire’s is in need of some assistance - although it is much too soon to be pressing the panic button. They are the only side in Division One yet to record a batting point, scoring 226 in their first innings at Glamorgan and 177 in their first innings against Hampshire, so a little England stardust may not go awry.
“Joe and Harry now are the best around, so that will help us for sure,” said McGrath. “Obviously a couple of players will have to miss out when they’re both available, but unfortunately with the performances, that’s going to be a pretty easy decision.
“Hopefully that can give us a solid base to get some runs on the board and enable our bowlers to do their work. Unfortunately, it’s the basics of the game where we’ve been short so far, which is the disappointing thing.”
McGrath wants Yorkshire not only to score more runs but also to spend more time at the crease, objectives that go hand in hand.
Yorkshire batted 60.2 overs and 67.4 overs in their two innings at Glamorgan, and 65.4 overs and 69.1 overs in their two innings against Hampshire.
“It’s the basics of cricket that you’ve got to get runs in the first innings,” said McGrath.
“We haven’t batted past 60-odd overs yet in any of our four innings, which is poor on the pitches we’ve played on because Glamorgan was pretty flat and benign, and then the Hampshire wicket was a great wicket, which we saw when we bowled in their second innings and didn’t look like getting a wicket at times.
“We've had good conditions to bat in, we’ve just lost too many wickets in quick succession and that’s killed us, so it’s not just about getting more runs individually, it’s also about getting into the fight as pairs.
“We know the quality of the batters we’ve got, and that they've got runs before, but unfortunately so far we just haven’t found a method against the opponents we’ve played.”
Not many know their “method” better than Root.
In a 14-year international career he has scored more all-format runs than any other Englishman - 22,413, with Sir Alastair Cook the next highest with 15,737.
Almost 14,000 of Root’s runs have come at Test level, where he has made 41 hundreds and averages 51.
In his last four Championship appearances for Yorkshire, Root has scored two centuries and two fifties in six innings, the sort of return now that would suit McGrath well.
Root will face familiar foes from Sussex in the form of Ollie Robinson, his ex-Yorkshire and England colleague, who is the visitors’ captain, along with the former Yorkshire batsman Jack Leaning.
Ditto Paul Farbrace from the Sussex coaching staff, with whom Root also worked at Yorkshire and at international level.
Farbrace - in his final season at Hove - has masterminded two wins from two so far, despite Sussex starting the season with a 12-point deduction in the Championship due to financial mismanagement.
They hammered Leicestershire by 222 runs at Grace Road - Robinson taking a first innings five-fer - and followed that with a five-wicket triumph at home to Warwickshire, Leaning’s unbeaten 120 helping them to a target of 328.
“With the points deduction, I guess if they'd have started poorly they were staring down the barrel,” said McGrath.
“But to win two games is a great start for them, particularly chasing those runs against Warwickshire.
“They’ve had that great start and will be coming here on a high, but it’s a good game for us as well.
"Coming off the back of a draw and a loss, it’s another really good test for us, too.”