Yorkshire in Dutch dilemma as crunch time looms

MARTYN MOXON admits Yorkshire Carnegie must win both of this week’s CB40 games to maintain any realistic hope of reaching the semi-finals.

The White Rose county travel to Hove today to take on Sussex Sharks in a day-night encounter sitting third bottom of Group A with just two wins from six outings.

With their hosts leading the table after taking 10 points from the same number of matches, Yorkshire cannot afford another defeat ahead of Sunday’s trip to the Netherlands in the same competition.

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Moxon is well aware of this, even admitting that should the Sharks prevail tonight then serious thought will have to be given as to whether certain players should be rested for the game in Amsterdam due to the need to be fresh for next week’s crunch County Championship match with Hampshire.

Yorkshire’s director of professional cricket said: “It is fair to say that we need to win both games this week to keep our hopes alive.

“In terms of the CB40, it has been a disappointing season due to not being able to put a complete game together. We have not been able to close games out, either. We have just been too inconsistent.”

Yorkshire, whose game at Hove gets underway at 4.40pm today, have had an indifferent season in all three forms of the game with Andrew Gale’s side having already been knocked out of the Twenty20 Cup.

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In the Championship, the county have won two games, both against Worcestershire, and sit just above the relegation zone.

However, with both Worcestershire – who are one day into their Championship encounter with Somerset at New Road – and bottom club Hampshire having two games in hand, Yorkshire’s First Division status is far from secure.

The upshot is that next Tuesday’s Championship meeting with Hampshire at the Rose Bowl is of paramount importance.

With that in mind, Moxon admits the result tonight on the south coast could have a major bearing on the make-up of the squad for the trip to the Dutch capital.

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He said: “At the moment, the Sussex game is the most important and all our concentration is on winning. After that game, though, we will then assess what we do with regards Holland.

“Next week’s game against Hampshire is a big one so maybe we will have to look at what would be the best use of our personnel.

“We will probably need to win at least two of our last five games to get out of trouble (in the Championship).

“We have just got to cut out those bad periods of play that keep costing us dear.

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“Against Lancashire (last weekend when Yorkshire lost by 23 runs), we left ourselves a mountain to climb at 45-8 and very nearly climbed it. But we shouldn’t have had to climb that sort of mountain in the first place.”

Yorkshire’s form in 2011 may have not been a patch on that of last year when the county came within a whisker of winning the Championship and reached the semi-finals of the CB40.

But that has not prevented a couple of their most promising players this week receiving deserved international recognition by being called up to the England A squad.

Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root have both been named in the squad that will take on Sri Lanka A at Scarborough’s North Marine Road in a four-day game that starts on Tuesday.

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Bairstow has also been named in the squad for the three-match one-day series against the same opponents, which begin at New Road on August 12.

The upshot of Bairstow’s and Root’s inclusion in the Scarborough encounter is that the pair will be unavailable for Yorkshire’s visit to Hampshire in the Championship.

Moxon said: “It is something of a double-edged sword, seeing as we will be without both of them for such an important match.

“Of course, everyone is delighted for them – especially Joe Root as this is the first time he has been named in the squad. But, by the same token, we will miss them against Hampshire.”

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One player who will, barring injury, be involved in both of this week’s CB40 games plus the Championship fixture at the Rose Bowl is Jacques Rudolph, who returned to the county last week in time to face Lancashire in what turned out to be a thrilling Roses encounter at Headingley.

Moxon added: “It is great to have Jacques back. It has been such a seamless transition that it is almost as if he has never been away and now we hope he can go on a good run.”

Squad: Gale, Sayers, Rudolph, Lyth, Ballance, Bairstow, Shahzad, Rashid, Pyrah, Sidebottom, Wainwright, Sanderson.