Yorkshire production line can lift England to top ranking

A summer that sees current top-ranked country India visit England for what could be a defining Test series in that quest, begins against Sri Lanka this morning in Cardiff.

Former England captain Hussain, who is a big admirer of the White Rose production line that has produced Ashes winner Tim Bresnan and squad member Ajmal Shahzad, is further heartened by the amount of talent coming through the ranks at Headingley Carnegie.

Andrew Gale, Adam Lyth, Jonny Bairstow and Adil Rashid have all tasted England Lions duty in the past two years and the Sky Sports commentator said: “They say a strong Yorkshire usually results in a strong England and that is definitely the case at the moment.

“I’m very, very excited about what Yorkshire are doing up there, they’re picking Yorkshire players, they’re putting them through the Academy, they’re picking young lads.

“I do believe they miss their overseas player and I know there’s a bit of a financial crisis up there, and they’re one batsman short. But with the likes of Lyth, Gale, Bairstow, Rashid, Shahzad, Bresnan –- it is a mighty good side and Yorkshire are producing some fine cricketers.”

Indeed, Hussain’s confidence in the future of English cricket spreads beyond the boundaries of the Broad Acres and underscores his faith in a county cricket format that often takes a back seat to the importance of international cricket.

Hussain said: “From the games I’ve covered, it does seem that away from three or four first division sides there is a struggle to find a quality of bowling, but that’s a problem throughout world cricket.

“Because you haven’t got as many overseas player, because the IPL is underway and counties are not going with as many Kolpak and EU players, I do believe there is a slight drop in standards of bowling.

“Having said that, there is a group of about 15 youngish players; Ben Stokes, Alex Hales, James Hildreth, the Yorkshire lads for example, who are very exciting.

“There are 24, 25 extremely good cricketers out there at least. And then we also have some extremely good young lads coming out of club and schoolboy cricket and we have to wait to give them their time to progress.

“I much prefer it this way in county cricket than a whole heap of overseas, Kolpak and EU players.”

England’s Test summer begins with the three-match series with Sri Lanka and culminates with that four-Test programme against India.

For Hussain, the sub-continental opposition offers Andrew Strauss and his team the perfect opportunity to build on their memorable Ashes triumph in Australia last winter.

“It’s lucky to have both World Cup finalists over this summer,” said the former Essex batsman, who led England from 1999 to 2003.

“Sri Lanka are always a fun side to watch, they play fun cricket. They are missing two or three key players, the likes of Malinga and Murali, and are going to miss those cricketers desperately, especially with the ball.

“And they haven’t played a lot of Test match cricket, especially away from home so I think it’s a great opportunity for England to continue in their quest for No 1 status. It’s a good time to play Sri Lanka and it’ll be a cracking series.

“A lot of England’s side are in mighty good form, they’ve got good vibes about Test match cricket after walloping Australia.

“Even if the odd cricketer like Tim Bresnan is injured there are so many good young cricketers now and some old ones coming back, like Graham Onions, who can fill in that role very comfortably.

“The India series is the big series. India are No 1 in both forms of the game, and that is the big yardstick to judge how far England have come.

“Nothing else than a win will do for Andy Flower and Strauss against Sri Lanka. They’re a very confident bunch and will want to beat Sri Lanka to set up a series against India where they can push on in their quest for No 1.”

Nasser Hussain will commentate on an unrivalled summer of live cricket on Sky Sports with domestic, international, women’s and Under-19 matches available live on Sky Sports HD channels.