Yorkshire CCC v Hampshire: White Rose urged to cast aside T20 hurt by attacking One-Day Cup

“I know the expectations are high and rightly so. We've been knocking on the door but again are missing that final piece of the jigsaw!

“That's where we have to go away, process it and find a way to get better.”

Those words, written by the England football captain Harry Kane on social media after the World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina on Wednesday, could have been penned just as easily by any of the Yorkshire players who lost their Vitality Blast quarter-final to Somerset a few hours earlier.

“Empty feeling”… “given everything over these last seven weeks and to fall short is hard to take”… “really close, but it wasn’t enough”… “again are missing that final piece of the jigsaw”…

Why, those sentiments apply just as well to Yorkshire in T20 cricket.

So near, and yet so far – again.

(Brian) Close, you might say, but no cigar.

Kane’s parting shot – “we have to go away, process it and find a way to get better” began, in England’s case, with a 6-4 win against France in the bronze play-off in Miami on Saturday.

Granted, that match carried scant significance and will count for nothing when England next reach the critical stages of a knockout competition, but it was a good response in the short-term at least.

So Yorkshire hope it will now be for them when they take the next step towards trying to negotiate those elusive final hurdles in knockout cricket when the One-Day Cup starts in Scarborough on Tuesday.

Their opponents are Hampshire in a repeat of last year’s 50-over semi-final at the same ground, a match which the visitors won before going on to lose the final to Worcestershire.

Hampshire’s disappointment going into this game will be even more fresh given that they lost the Vitality Blast final to Northamptonshire at Edgbaston on Saturday – albeit tempered, no doubt, by the fact that they have three times won the 20-over tournament and 12 times appeared at Finals Day too.

Yorkshire, for their part, have still to win a competition that started in 2003, while it was the previous year that they won their last limited-overs trophy of any description.

Even without Liam Dawson, who hit a hundred in last year’s One-Day Cup semi, and their talisman James Vince, who are among those involved in The Hundred which also begins on Tuesday, Hampshire are a quality side.

The Hundred features three of Yorkshire’s regular players in Jonny Bairstow, Matty Revis and Jafer Chohan, along with the club’s international stars.

For Anthony McGrath, the Yorkshire head coach, the One-Day Cup is a fresh start and a chance to get the Somerset defeat out of the system.

“It was obviously going to sting for a bit, but we can’t let any hangover come in,” he said ahead of the game at North Marine Road (11am start).

“Some of the guys we lose to The Hundred, but we've got to attack this competition like we did last year and make sure that the same mentality is there.

“My job is to reiterate what we've done really well in white-ball this year, and what we did well in the 50-overs last year and make sure that we start with that positive mentality.

“Because, as we’ve seen, when we have the right mentality and the belief we've got the makings of a good team.

“We're obviously not quite there yet. We're not quite getting over the line. But I think everyone can see how we've played this summer, so we've just got to keep building on that, starting with Hampshire.”

“Who motivates the motivator?” one often hears it said.

McGrath was as disappointed as anyone in the wake of Wednesday’s defeat, but it falls on him now to pick up the troops.

“Everyone is hurting, but what choice have we got but to keep trying,” he added.

“You can either talk about these things or use them as fuel, and we've got to learn from it.

“If we get in that position again, what do we do? Because the game’s never over, particularly when you’re up against a top team like Somerset.”

The format of the One-Day Cup remains unchanged from last year.

The counties are split into two groups of nine, with the top three from each progressing to the knockouts.

The group winners go straight through to a home semi-final, with the second and third-placed sides playing off for the right to meet them.

Yorkshire are in Group B with Derbyshire, Durham, Essex, Glamorgan, Hampshire, Middlesex, Worcestershire and Sussex.

“I think we've got a tough group,” said McGrath.

“We’ve got to try and make sure that we start well as the games come thick and fast.

“Hampshire is certainly a good test to start with.

“We were disappointed to lose to them in the semi last year, because we were probably, on form, the most consistent team (in the groups), so we want to attack this competition and make sure that we put on a really good show.”