Yorkshire Vikings v Derbyshire Falcons: David Willey’s return is timely lift for T20 Blast Headingley clash

TWENTY20 is a game of fine margins and Yorkshire believe that their returning captain David Willey can help provide the “one-percenters” to get them over the line on a frequent basis.
BACK ON HOME SOIL: Yorkshire Vikings' David Willey. Picture: Allan McKenzie\SWpix.com.BACK ON HOME SOIL: Yorkshire Vikings' David Willey. Picture: Allan McKenzie\SWpix.com.
BACK ON HOME SOIL: Yorkshire Vikings' David Willey. Picture: Allan McKenzie\SWpix.com.

Willey is set to make his first appearance of the season in Tuesday’s game against Derbyshire at Headingley after two months away at the Indian Premier League.

The club is confident that the experiences he gained with Royal Challengers Bangalore - the learnings accrued both on-and-off the field - will have a positive knock-on effect as Yorkshire chase their minimum goal of a place at Finals Day.

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“The captain is back, so that’s great news for us, and he’s raring to go,” said Ottis Gibson, the Yorkshire head coach.

OTTIS GIBSON: Is pleased to have David Willey back in the fold. Picture: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.OTTIS GIBSON: Is pleased to have David Willey back in the fold. Picture: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.
OTTIS GIBSON: Is pleased to have David Willey back in the fold. Picture: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.

“He’s just gone to the play-offs with RCB (Royal Challengers Bangalore), so he might have picked up a few different things that they’re doing over there in the IPL that he might be able to come and add to what we’re doing here.

“Little one-percenters, you know. We’ve got a good squad, but it’s those little one-percenters that can make us better for the games ahead.

“We’ll be missing Rooty (stand-in captain Joe Root, who is preparing for the first Test against New Zealand along with Harry Brook), but it’s great to have Dave back at the helm, and Finals Day is something that we believe that we can achieve with the squad that we have, and that’s our focus really.”

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Any bond between captain and coach is clearly important and there seems a good rapport between Gibson and Willey, who were together with Multan Sultans at the Pakistan Super League earlier this year.

They have been in regular touch throughout the IPL, exchanging ideas and information about tactics and selection.

“Dave and I have spoken a lot about the game and the team and the characters within the team,” said Gibson.

“He knows the lads well and how to get the best out of them and stuff like that, so I think it’s going to be great.

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“Dave will bring fresh legs and enthusiasm and hopefully he’ll come and be a breath of fresh air around the place. Even though it’s only the end of May, we’ve had a lot of cricket up to now and it would be nice to have his fresh approach to it and see how he can energise the lads for the next couple of weeks and try and see how far we can go in this competition.”

Yorkshire will be aiming to bounce back from a surprise 31-run defeat to Leicestershire at Headingley on Sunday - a reminder, if one were needed, of those fine margins adduced in the game’s shortest format, and the fact that any side can beat any other on their day.

It followed a tie against Lancashire at Old Trafford last Friday and an impressive seven-wicket win over Worcestershire at Headingley last Wednesday that got Yorkshire’s competition off to a successful start.

“We’ll get back on the horse now and try and continue the momentum that we created before the Leicestershire game, as opposed to dwelling on that one defeat,” added Gibson.

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“Of course we’d have liked that it hadn’t happened, but it did. We’d also like for it to be the only one (defeat) of the season, but we know that anything can happen in this game.

“We just want to look forward to this match now and try and play as best we can.”

Gibson continued: “The one thing I always say to the lads is ‘never too high, never too low’.

“We have to stay positive and look forward to the Derbyshire match. At the end of the day, we’ve got a very good team. Yes, we got beat deservedly (on Sunday), but now we’ve got an opportunity to put things right.”

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Derbyshire go into the game having won one and lost one in the fledgling North Group.

They opened their tournament with a three-run defeat to Birmingham Bears at Derby before bouncing back with a 70-run hammering of Leicestershire at Grace Road after bowling them out for just 89, a result that rendered Leicestershire’s victory at Leeds 24 hours later the more impressive.

“Mickey (Arthur) is obviously a very experienced coach,” said Gibson of his Derbyshire counterpart. He’s got a decent squad of players and, if I know Mickey like I do, he’ll galvanise those guys very well and get them playing.

“They will have solid plans and so on, but hopefully we can execute better on Tuesday night than we did against Leicestershire. We’re really looking forward to it.”

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Haris Rauf, the Pakistan pace bowler, and his international colleague Shadab Khan, the leg-spinning all-rounder, are set to make their final appearances before returning home for a three-match one-day international series against the West Indies. Shadab is expected back at Yorkshire after the final ODI on June 12.

Finn Allen, the New Zealand batsman, is due to debut in Friday’s home match against Durham.

Yorkshire squad versus Derbyshire: Bess, Fraine, Hill, Khan, Kohler-Cadmore, Lyth, Malan, Rashid, Rauf, Revis, Tattersall, Thompson, Willey.

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