Yorkshire looking at top-order to fuel title push

Andrew Gale and his players have laid the foundation for a serious title challenge in this, the club’s 150th anniversary year, an achievement deserving of credit and admiration.

However, if Yorkshire are to sustain that challenge they recognise the importance of rigorous self-examination and a commitment to improving every facet of their play.

For that reason greater contributions from some of their top-order batsmen are a clear priority, beginning with today’s visit of Nottinghamshire to Scarborough.

Collectively, little criticism could be levelled at Yorkshire’s run-making.

After a disappointing start to the season, when they scored 96 and 248 in their opening match against Sussex, followed by 177 in their first innings at Durham, they have generally been excellent.

Yorkshire made 339-6 in their second innings at Chester-le-Street before racking up 677-7 declared against Derbyshire at Headingley.

They followed up with 505-9 declared against Somerset at Headingley and then made 407 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

Their latest total was 450-5 declared against Somerset at Taunton.

Individually, however, there is room for improvement.

Take out Adil Rashid, Gary Ballance and, to a lesser extent Adam Lyth, and there is more to come from the current top-order.

Rashid has scored 509 Championship runs at 254.50, Ballance 393 at 43.66 and Lyth 311 at 38.87, with 162 of Lyth’s runs arriving at Taunton last week.

With Joe Root having contributed the small matter of 467 runs at 155.66 in his two Championship games, and with Jonny Bairstow having made 275 at 55.00 in his three appearances, a grand total of 1,251 of Yorkshire’s 2,848 Championship runs this year have been scored by three men – Rashid, Root and Bairstow, two of whom are now away with England.

The other 14 Yorkshire players who have batted in the tournament – including Ballance and Lyth – have contributed 1,597 runs between them, emphasising that Yorkshire have been indebted to outstanding performances from certain individuals.

If last week’s trip to Somerset was a turning point for Lyth, then Gale will be hoping that his first innings 75 in the South West is the kickstart he needs.

The captain looked good as he recorded his first half-century in this year’s competition and Scarborough is a ground where he has done well in the past.

Phil Jaques will also be targeting a big score having made 198 Championship runs at 22.00 with one half-century.

And Jason Gillespie, the Yorkshire first-team coach, is backing his batsmen to showcase their skills. “We know we’ve still got a bit of improvement to do,” he said.

“Certainly our top-order hasn’t fired as much as we’d like, but there are some fantastic players in there and they’ve performed well for Yorkshire in the past, and I’ve got no doubt they can perform well in the future.

“Those lads are working incredibly hard.

“I’m sure that some runs are just around the corner.”

Yorkshire’s determination to discover solutions has been evidenced by their decision to drop Joe Sayers for this game in place of Alex Lees, with Sayers having scored 27 runs in four innings.

“It was a difficult decision to replace Joe Sayers with Alex Lees,” conceded Gillespie.

“Alex’s performances in the second team have demanded his selection and he deserves his chance.

“Joe hasn’t grasped his opportunity since returning to the first team and with strong competition for places across all areas of the team, Alex’s consistent efforts with the bat warrant his selection.”

With sentiment playing no part in team selection, Lyth admitted he had been feeling the heat prior to Taunton.

“I knew the pressure was starting to build on me and I had to perform,” said Lyth, who went into that match with 149 runs at 21.28.

“That is the strength of the team this year; if you start to struggle there is someone waiting to take your place. Taunton is always a good place to play and the deck helps the batsmen.

“I set myself a personal goal of a big score before the game and to get to three figures was very satisfying.”

Gillespie was full of praise for Lyth’s contribution.

“Adam was brilliant,” he said.

“He batted very well and with good intent, and he coped superbly with very good bowling.

“Adam changed the game in many respects and, having scored a hundred in the first innings, he backed it up in the second.

“He hasn’t stopped talking about the two wickets he took either, so we’re going to have to put up with that for a while,” added Gillespie.

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