Yorkshire receive welcome boost to title hopes

It was Sidebottom’s first appearance in first team cricket since June 24 when he sustained a calf injury playing in a Twenty20 match against his former county Nottinghamshire.

After several weeks spent working with physiotherapist Scot McAllister and strength and conditioning coach Tom Summers, who played their part in helping him back to fitness, the left-armer showed no ill effects as he returned 2-28 from seven overs.

The boost to Yorkshire of having Sidebottom back for the last month of the season does not need stating as they go in search of Championship promotion and the Twenty20 Cup.

“It’s been a frustrating six weeks but my rehab’s gone well and it’s great to be back,” said Sidebottom ahead of today’s Championship match against leaders Derbyshire.

“It’s obviously towards the business end of the season now which I’m really looking forward to and hopefully I can contribute and add to the team environment.

“The injury was pretty innocuous to be honest but that’s just the way it goes sometimes and it’s part and parcel of professional sport. You do all the gym work, you sit on a bike, but there’s nothing like being back with the lads and being back on the pitch.”

It was a measure of how much Yorkshire rely on Sidebottom – and how much they missed him – that his injury compelled them to sign his former England team-mate Steve Harmison on loan.

Harmison served up something of a mixed bag during his time with the club, taking eight wickets at 24 in 42 Championship overs, which also included 18 wides and 11 no balls.

Although Harmison retains the happy knack of taking wickets, which had led to some talk of possibly bringing him back for the rest of the summer, Sidebottom offers wicket-taking threat and accuracy to boot.

And with three of Yorkshire’s last four Championship games at home (two at Headingley, one at Scarborough), his expert knowledge of conditions – and ability to exploit them – could well be a vital factor in the season’s run-in.

“We’re playing good enough cricket to do well and force wins and having three of our last four games at home certainly helps,” said Sidebottom, whose injury kept him out of four Championship matches.

“I think we’ve played pretty well in the competition this year and we would have won more games had it not been for the weather.

“Obviously you don’t want to blame the weather but the fact is that it’s not been great, and we’ve been on top on numerous occasions only for the conditions to curtail us.

“It’s vitally important now that the weather is kind and that we play good cricket and go out and enjoy it.”

The stop-start nature of a summer decimated by rain is evidenced by the fact that Sidebottom has taken 16 wickets at 35 in 11 Championship games, compared with 62 at 22 in 16 games last year.

The 34-year-old has produced plenty of impressive spells and is Yorkshire’s second-highest wicket-taker in the competition behind Steve Patterson (29), but, in common with bowlers up and down the country, he has found it difficult to build up a head of steam.

“To be honest, I’ve found it tough sometimes this year,” said Sidebottom. “You need rhythm as a bowler and you need to keep playing, but the Championship has almost been non-existent.

“It’s been a bit like pre-season in some ways in that you bowl a few overs and then the weather turns bad, you bowl a few more overs and then the weather turns bad again.

“A lot of the time you’re only bowling indoors and you can’t replicate being out in the middle, and I think a lot of the lads have found it quite tough.”

Unlike Harmison, who by common consent needs regular cricket to perform to maximum capacity, Sidebottom has always appeared capable of slipping seamlessly back into his stride.

He may only have been bowling against the Unicorns on Sunday, a team made up of batsmen who struggled to play him, but he was immediately back on a good line and length in a useful spell from the Kirkstall Lane end.

“It came out pretty well,” he reflected.

“I played a second team game at York last week to get some overs under my belt and then I was pleased with how I performed against the Unicorns.

“As a team, I just think we’ve done all we can this year considering the weather.”

n Yorkshire batsmen Joe Root and Gary Ballance have been short listed for the inaugural LV= County Championship Breakthrough Player Award.

Root has scored 644 runs in 11 Championship games at 53.66, while Ballance has made 427 runs in 12 matches at 42.70.

They are joined on the list by Lancashire left-arm spin bowler Simon Kerrigan, Surrey fast bowler Stuart Meaker, Derbyshire batsman Dan Redfern and Kent all-rounder Matt Coles.

The award, which can be won by any England-qualified player aged under 24 on September 14, is designed to celebrate the most promising young players in county cricket and specifically looks beyond certain eligible players who have already made significant contributions at international level.