Yorkshire confident Lyth will force his way back

TWO years ago Yorkshire’s Adam Lyth was the first man in the country to reach 1,000 first-class runs.

Just 22 at the time, he was even spoken of as an outside chance for that winter’s Ashes tour.

Now Lyth has lost his place in the Yorkshire first team and found himself demoted to the second XI.

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It shows the fickle nature of professional sport – feted one minute, frustrated the next.

Lyth, however, remains an integral part of Yorkshire’s plans.

So much so that rumours of a loan move to another county – like reports of Mark Twain’s death – have been exaggerated.

Yorkshire say Lyth is going nowhere, and, if the left-hander does not force his way back into the County Championship team in the foreseeable future, he could well be wanted in one-day cricket.

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The club start their CB40 campaign against Kent at Headingley on Sunday week and Lyth is sure to come into consideration as he attempts to regain a first-team place.

“There are no thoughts of Adam going out on loan,” confirmed Yorkshire’s director of cricket, Martyn Moxon. “He is a very important member of our squad and someone we regard extremely highly. We know the talent he’s got and I’m sure he will have a big part to play as the season goes on.

“At the moment, Adam finds himself out of the team, but that’s the way it goes in professional sport and he’s working hard to get back in.”

Lyth’s predicament is not so much a reflection of personal struggles as the collective strength of Yorkshire’s batting.

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The arrival of Phil Jaques has effectively meant eight batsmen are vying for six spots, and Lyth is simply one of the unlucky ones.

“There’s a lot of competition for places at the moment,” said Moxon.

“Adam’s been a little bit unfortunate this year because he played well for us in pre-season.

“His challenge now is to do well in second team cricket.

“We’ll then have a look at the one-day side because he could play a part in one-day cricket.”

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Second-team duties are not unfamiliar to Lyth, who was dropped last summer after a lean run of form at the start of the season.

He scored good runs for the seconds and regained his place, making half-centuries in each of the last two Championship matches.

However, a final return of 553 runs from 11 games at 26.33 was some way down from the high peak of 2010, when he was Yorkshire’s leading scorer in the four-day tournament with 1,509 at 52.03.

In the space of a year, Lyth’s batting average effectively halved as he struggled to recapture his previous consistency.

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“Early season last year, Adam kind of got in and got out,” added Moxon. “He would be the first to admit he was a little bit careless.

“He was never really out of form as such; he just got in and then got out carelessly.

“Eventually, when we left him out, it gave him a bit of a jolt and he went away and got runs in the second team.

“I’ve just told Adam to continue playing the way he did at the end of last season and also in pre-season, which is basically to work on that balance between playing his shots and not being careless and giving his wicket away easily.

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“To be fair, he’s got that balance right at the moment and is working hard to improve his game.

“If he learns the lessons, he’ll be better for it, and it’s for all our younger players to really grasp the nettle and realise what is required to win four-day County Championship matches. Holding your wicket dear is a big part of that, and that’s what Adam is striving to do.”

The pursuit of greater consistency is by no means something isolated to Lyth.

It is a target Yorkshire as a whole are endeavouring to achieve as they seek to fulfil pre-season expectations.

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Going into today’s game against Kent at Canterbury, Yorkshire know they have yet to sparkle.

However, there were signs of improvement with the ball in their last game against Essex, and Moxon is confident they will keep getting better.

“We definitely bowled a lot better against Essex and with more consistency,” he said.

“There were some very good individual performances and I thought we bowled much better as a unit.

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“From a batting point of view, we were hugely disappointed with the way we subsided in the first innings from 184-2 to 246 all-out, but it was pleasing to have got that platform in the first place.

“Phil Jaques scored a fantastic hundred and the batters, generally, are in good form.

“The bottom line is that we know what we’re capable of but we’ve just got to show it.

“We keep saying that when we’re on top of teams we have to keep on top of them and not let them back in.

“It’s all about nailing those times when we are on top.

“I’m confident it will come with time because we’ve got a very talented squad.”