Yorkshire v Warwickshire: Praise for unsung heroes Root and Ballance

First, and most obviously, the form of Jonny Bairstow.

The 21-year-old, who hopes to make his one-day international debut against Ireland on Thursday, has had an outstanding season with the bat and the gloves.

Bairstow has scored nigh-on 2,000 runs in all cricket and been a model of consistency behind the stumps.

Elsewhere, Rich Pyrah has developed into a quality all-rounder, responding to the opportunities he found difficult to come by earlier in his career.

Ryan Sidebottom has performed admirably with the ball, while captain Andrew Gale continued to blossom until a broken forearm curtailed his season.

But while such as Bairstow and Pyrah have grabbed the headlines, there have been a couple of unsung heroes in the ranks.

When Jacques Rudolph left at the end of last summer, only to unexpectedly return last month on a short-term contract, the question Yorkshire faced was simple: who was going to score the South African’s runs?

The answer, they decided, was Joe Root and Gary Ballance, two of their highly promising young batsmen.

No-one expected Root and Ballance to produce Rudolph-esque returns, but both have done a terrific job.

Root, 20, achieved his maiden Championship century last week and is Yorkshire’s second-highest run-scorer in first-class cricket with 771 at 38.55.

Ballance, 21, has struck 664 first-class runs at 51.07 – the best average of all Yorkshire’s frontline batsmen.

Such has been Ballance’s reliability, he has scored nine half-centuries in as many Championship games – not to mention 306 List A runs at 51.00.

With Adam Lyth and Anthony McGrath having struggled to recapture their form of last year, when they joined Rudolph in passing the 1,000-run mark, the performances of Root and Ballance have been even more important.

Lyth has experienced the proverbial second season syndrome, while McGrath has battled injuries and technical issues.

But Root and Ballance have stepped up in a manner that gives Yorkshire genuine hope for the future.

It is a feeling echoed by Martyn Moxon, the county’s director of professional cricket.

“Joe and Gary have been brilliant for us this year,” said Moxon, whose side will be looking to pull further clear of the relegation zone when they host title-chasing Warwickshire at Headingley Carnegie today.

“They have been very consistent and, regardless of where we finish in the table, they have been a big bonus.

“It’s always exciting to see young players coming through and both have the talent to go a long way.

“They have been two of the biggest positives this year, without a doubt.”

Moxon was highly impressed with Root’s first hundred at Scarborough last week.

The young man arrived at the crease with Yorkshire 6-1 in their first innings and with the talismanic Rudolph back in the pavilion.

But he fought through a tough period with the new ball and also impressed during a testing phase of the game when Yorkshire could easily have subsided after slipping to 81-3 in reply to Sussex’s first innings 398.

Root came through that challenge in the company of Bairstow before finding another accomplished ally in the form of Ballance, who made a polished 87.

“Joe’s first Championship century was a magnificent innings,” said Moxon.

“Make no mistake, it wasn’t easy out there; they bowled some challenging stuff with the new ball and he did brilliantly to cope with that.

“Joe had to hang in there for a little while but he showed all his qualities – courage, concentration, technique.

“All of those were in abundance, along with his stroke play.”

Root reacted in modest manner to his maiden three-figure score.

Like Ballance, he had several times passed fifty in the Championship, with a best of 95 against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in May.

“It was a special feeling to get that first century and the season has gone pretty well for me,” he said.

“But it’s only a start.

“It’s very early in my career and I’m just trying to put together as many consistent performance as possible.

“I know I’ve still got a lot to learn and a long way to go.”

Root stressed his main focus was to help Yorkshire stay up in the Championship’s First Division.

“I think we’ve got to look at the bigger picture,” he added.

“The fact is we’re in a challenging position and we need to get ourselves out of relegation trouble.

“But I do think the club are in a good place in terms of the fact a lot of young players are coming through.

“The likes of Jonny and Gary have been superb this season, and, hopefully, everyone can go from strength to strength.”

Yorkshire aiming to come out on top as three-way relegation dogfight goes down to the wire

THIS time last year, Yorkshire’s supporters were earnestly assessing the mathematical permutations near the top of the Championship as Andrew Gale’s men challenged for the title.

Twelve months on, it is a different story as the club face a fight to avoid relegation. Yorkshire go into today’s match against Warwickshire precariously positioned near the foot of Division One.

They are just one point and one place above the relegation zone –- and have only three games left.

Yorkshire are third-bottom with 107 points from 13 games. Below them sit Worcestershire (106 points from 12 games) and Hampshire (85 from 12 games).

Sussex (132 points from 13) are not entirely safe, but it would appear a three-way scrap between Yorkshire, Worcestershire and Hampshire to avoid the two relegation spots.

The importance of the game between Hampshire and Worcestershire that starts at the Rose Bowl this morning consequently does not need stating.

A Worcestershire win would see Yorkshire seriously imperilled, although a Hampshire victory would make the three-way tussle even more of a dog-fight. A draw in that match would appear the most favourable outcome for Yorkshire, who surely need to win at least one of their remaining fixtures.

Yorkshire play the return match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston next week before taking on Somerset in their final game at Headingley Carnegie (September 7-10).

Worcestershire and Hampshire each have a match in hand on Yorkshire and, arguably, a tougher run-in.

After this week’s round, Hampshire play Somerset at Taunton (August 31-September 3), Lancashire at Liverpool (September 7-10) and Warwickshire at the Rose Bowl (September 12-15).

Worcestershire take on Lancashire at New Road (August 31-September 3), Sussex at New Road (September 7-10) and finish with a trip to play Durham at Chester-le-Street (September 12-15).

With Yorkshire completing their fixtures one week earlier than the rest of the league, they could end up sweating on events elsewhere.

Today, Yorkshire are without injured captain Andrew Gale and Jonny Bairstow, who is on England duty in Ireland along with Warwickshire’s Jonathan Trott, Boyd Rankin, Will Porterfield and Chris Woakes.

LOOKING AHEAD TO YORKSHIRE V WARWICKSHIRE

Squad

Rudolph (captain, pictured), Sayers, Root, McGrath, Ballance, Brophy, Rashid, Pyrah, Sidebottom, Patterson, Ashraf, Shahzad, Wainwright.

Head-to-Head

Of the 180 County Championship matches between the sides, Yorkshire have won 80, Warwickshire 30 and 70 games have been drawn.

Form

Jim Troughton’s Warwickshire go into the game on the back of a disappointing defeat to bottom club Hampshire.

They lost by 209 runs despite holding a first innings lead of 109, collapsing to 98 all out in their second innings after being set 308 to win. The result left Warwickshire fourth with seven wins from 12 games. They are 26 points behind leaders Lancashire with a game in hand.

Warwickshire’s victories have come against Somerset (twice), Worcestershire (twice), Sussex (twice) and Nottinghamshire.

One to watch

Varun Chopra: The former England U-19 captain began the season in explosive style.

He scored 210 against Somerset at Taunton and 228 against Worcester at New Road.

Has tailed off since then but has still managed an impressive 1,061 runs in 13 first-class games at 48.22. That is over twice as many as any of his team-mates, Tim Ambrose the next highest scorer with 573 at 38.20.

Last time at Headingley

July 5-7, 2010. Yorkshire 425 (GL Brophy 103, A Lyth 84, A McGrath 57) and 200-4 dec (JA Rudolph 80, JM Bairstow 64*) beat Warwickshire 253 (IJ Westwood 66) and 371 (R Clarke 127*; AU Rashid 5-137) by six wickets.

Weather

Don’t forget your brolly.