Yorkshire happy to throw Guy in at the deep end

The 32-year-old wicketkeeper is in the squad for today’s County Championship match against Lancashire at Liverpool as cover for injured wicketkeeper Gerard Brophy.

Brophy suffered a bruised thumb batting in last week’s Championship game against Hampshire and is rated 50-50 to play today.

As first-choice wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow is on England Lions duty, it means Yorkshire have been forced to take desperate measures.

Guy last played for Yorkshire in a Twenty20 game against Nottinghamshire at Headingley Carnegie in June 2009.

His last Championship appearance was way back in July 2007, against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

Guy was released by Yorkshire at the end of 2009 and has since been working as a cricket coach.

But Yorkshire have registered him for the fixture in Liverpool after deciding against signing a loan player.

Yorkshire’s director of professional cricket Martyn Moxon said: “The ECB were going to give us special dispensation to have an emergency loan player but, having rung around and looked at the various options, we decided to go for Simon instead.

“It’s 50-50 whether Gerard will be fit and we’re going to leave a decision until the last possible minute, but Simon was more than happy to step in as cover.

“At worst, we’re hoping Gerard will be back for Sunday’s CB40 match at Worcester, so Simon is just going to cover for the four-day game.

“We’ve certainly no qualms about throwing him in against Lancashire.”

Yorkshire’s predicament highlights the lunacy of England Lions’ games being staged alongside Championship fixtures.

The Lions’ four-day contest against Sri Lanka at Derby, starting on Thursday, has also deprived them of pace bowler Ajmal Shahzad.

Yorkshire’s only other option would have been to call-up 15-year-old wicketkeeper Barney Gibson, who last month became the youngest cricketer to play a first-class match in England when he took part in the second team friendly at Durham University.

But Gibson was never seriously in the frame for a game of Roses magnitude, while he has school exams in any case.

Bairstow’s absence has left Yorkshire short not only in the wicket-keeping department but also in the top-order, with Gary Ballance set to come into the team.

The Zimbabwean impressed during Sunday’s CB40 game against Kent with a fluent 47 and has been in excellent form for the second team of late.

Anthony McGrath (sciatica) and Rich Pyrah (knee) are also unavailable for the first XI this week.

McGrath is due to step up his comeback in today’s Second XI Championship game against Warwickshire at Coventry, but Pyrah might not return to action until the start of the Twenty20 campaign in early June.

Today’s fixture is historic as it represents the first time Lancashire have taken a Championship Roses match away from Old Trafford. They are playing seven of their eight Championship games away from their headquarters this year due to the reorientation of the square, with the pitches now running from north to south.

The only Championship game scheduled for Old Trafford this season is Lancashire’s final home game against Hampshire in September.

The ground is still being used for two international one-day fixtures this summer plus all Lancashire’s home CB40 and Twenty20 games, with Yorkshire due there on June 10 for a Twenty20 match.

Yorkshire have played two first-class games at Liverpool outside of the County Championship.

A Yorkshire team including Wilfred Rhodes and George Hirst lost by three wickets at the Aigburth ground in July 1913, while a Yorkshire side captained by Dickie Bird lost by 248 runs there in August/September 1958.

Lancashire welcome back Sri Lanka all-rounder Farveez Maharoof and former England seam bowler Sajid Mahmood for today’s game following minor niggles, while England pace bowler James Anderson is also available.

Today’s game marks the first of three back-to-back Championship away matches which will take Yorkshire to the halfway point of their four-day campaign.

Yorkshire visit Somerset (May 24-27) and Sussex (May 29-June 1) before the Twenty20 jamboree begins on Friday, June 3 against Warwickshire at Headingley.

“These three Championship games promise to be very important,” said Moxon, whose side sit seventh in the First Division after one win in their opening five matches.

“It will be challenging to have back-to-back games against in-form sides and it will be interesting to see how we cope with those.

“If we can play well, it could be a really productive three weeks and set us up nicely for the second half of the summer.

“We were disappointed not to beat Hampshire last week and we need to be a bit more ruthless to make sure we take our opportunities when they come along.”

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