Yorkshire’s Moxon maps out route to anniversary celebrations

Second-placed Yorkshire go into today’s game against Sussex at Hove 14.5 points behind Durham with three matches to play.

But rather than dwell on the bigger picture – and the prestige of winning the Championship in the club’s 150th year – Moxon insists Yorkshire must “focus on the processes that have got us to where we are in the first place”.

The county’s director of cricket makes no apology for highlighting the humdrum and said Yorkshire did not do the basics sufficiently well in their last Championship match against Durham at Scarborough, where the visitors’ seven-wicket win turned the title race upside down.

“We’ve got to get back to doing the boring stuff,” said Moxon.

“We don’t want to be going into the game at Hove thinking, ‘Crikey, we’ve got to win this match’, because then you start to panic and you can easily find yourself bowled out for a low total.

“On the other hand, if you take it ball-by-ball, session-by-session, and you simply set out your stall to bat for a day and a bit, you give yourself the foundation you require.

“That’s what we’ve been drumming into the players since Scarborough, the importance of focusing on the here and now and the dangers of looking too far ahead, trying to force the issue or worrying about how Durham are getting on.”

For that reason, you will not hear Moxon trumpeting the fact that Yorkshire won their final three games last year to secure Championship promotion.

Although he accepts that is a positive memory, he does not want his players thinking beyond Hove.

“It shows it can be done, but it’s all about building partnerships, getting 400 on the board, and so on,” he added.

“It’s about bowlers doing their jobs and not trying to bowl magic balls to get wickets but being patient with their line and length.

“If we get the basics right, the rest will take care of itself.

“It’s all the boring stuff, essentially, but it’s absolutely crucial.”

England’s Jonny Bairstow is included in Yorkshire’s 14-man squad.

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Spotlight on the County Championship Division One title race: Page 23.