Yorkshire could be denied chance to utilise Bresnan in Twenty20 Finals Day due to ECB’s concerns

TIM BRESNAN’s participation in Twenty20 Finals Day tomorrow could farcically depend on whether or not it rains today in Cardiff.

The England management, having initially indicated that the Yorkshire all-rounder would be unavailable for the domestic showpiece due to concerns over his workload (he has bowled just 387 overs since the start of April), have delayed a decision until after today’s first one-day international against South Africa at Cardiff.

The Yorkshire Post understands that England are waiting to see how much work Bresnan does today – he can bowl up to 10 overs – before making a final call on whether he is too tired to bowl a maximum of another eight overs for Yorkshire.

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Today’s forecast for South Wales is poor (tomorrow’s is not much better, although Sunday has been set aside as reserve day), while the player himself is thought to be desperate to represent Yorkshire as they go in search of their first domestic silverware since the 2002 Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy.

Yorkshire were utterly taken aback by an England and Wales Cricket Board statement on Wednesday which said Bresnan would not be available for Cardiff after they were previously led to believe otherwise.

The club yesterday put out a carefully worded statement that failed to mask their frustration – nay anger – at a state of affairs which has disrupted their preparations for the event at SWALEC Stadium.

“The club remains hopeful that Tim will be able to represent Yorkshire Carnegie on Finals Day but will also respect any decision made that furthers the chances of the England national side,” read the statement.

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Today’s game in Cardiff commences a five-match ODI series which, allied to subsequent England Twenty20 fixtures, means Bresnan and county colleague Jonny Bairstow – who definitely plays at Finals Day – will not represent Yorkshire again this season beyond the weekend.

Rich Pyrah is likely to deputise for Bresnan if England decide the 27-year-old needs a breather ahead of the second ODI at Southampton, which does not start until Tuesday.

Victory for England today would see them equal their 20-year-old record of 11 successive ODI wins.

England have soared to No 1 in the world in 50-over cricket somewhat ahead of schedule and captain Alastair Cook admits he has been surprised by the speed of their ascent.

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Asked yesterday if the England team felt like the world’s best 50-over side, Cook said: “No, I don’t think we do. I think we have a long way to go to do that.

“It was certainly a surprise when it came through (earlier this month) that we were No 1.

“As a side it was something we were aiming for a bit later on but it’s credit to the way we’ve played over the last year or so that we’ve had some really good results.

“But for me we’ve got such a long way to go in terms of where we want to get to and the amount of improvement we’ve got to make.”

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Cook is confident England can cope without star batsman Kevin Pietersen, whose international future remains uncertain.

Pietersen has not played for England since the Headingley Test earlier this month following issues relating to his availability for the Indian Premier League, provocative text messages allegedly sent to South African players and because he is thought to be persona non grata with most – if not all – of his England team-mates.

“The one-day side has played without Kevin for a while and been successful,” said Cook.

“We’ll have to wait for all those issues to be resolved before we can make decisions.

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“For me personally it’s obviously a sad situation but as a side we need to put it to one side.

“As always when a player leaves, another has to stand up and be counted, and one of the strengths of this side is people have done that and filled those holes better than we could have hoped for.”

Yorkshire squad for Twenty20 Finals Day: Gale (captain), Jaques, Root, Miller, Ballance, Bairstow, Bresnan, Rashid, Rafiq, Sidebottom, Ashraf, Pyrah, Lyth, Patterson, Wardlaw, Hodgson.