Nottinghamshire Outlaws v Yorkshire Carnegie: We've let ourselves down with bat and ball – Gale

The White Rose county have endured a collapse in form during recent weeks with their last five outings in the competition having yielded just one point from a tie and four defeats.

Such a dismal return has seen Yorkshire slip out of contention for a place in the quarter-finals, much to captain Gale's dismay.

The 26-year-old, whose side were sitting second in the North Division before the slump in form, said: "We have not been consistent enough throughout the Twenty20 tournament.

"We have let ourselves down with both the bat and the ball, which is something we will review pre-season next year in an attempt to put it right.

"The bottom line is we have not been consistent enough in this form of cricket since it started and that needs to change."

Yorkshire's campaign in the 2010 Friends Provident Twenty20 Cup has certainly been a topsy-turvy affair, with impressive displays in wins over Nottinghamshire and Durham rubbing shoulders with distinctly less impressive efforts as Derbyshire and Worcestershire were allowed to post 200-plus totals.

The two meetings with Northamptonshire were also rollercoaster affairs, the rain and the Duckworth-Lewis Method intervening in favour of the visitors at Headingley before the return ended in a tie despite the final delivery of the game being bowled with the Steelbacks still requiring 13 runs to win.

Yorkshire's most impressive run of form came with a burst of four wins from five outings between June 17 and 24, only for the current slump to begin just three days later with a six-run defeat to Leicestershire.

The most recent loss came on Wednesday at Edgbaston, where Yorkshire's lack of a killer instinct was exposed again as Warwickshire rallied from 93-7 to reach 145-8 en route to a 14-run win.

Some profligate bowling late in the Bears' innings let Carnegie down as Rikki Clarke plundered an invaluable 39 runs from 29 balls, much to Gale's frustration.

He said: "We have performed well with the bat and ball at times in certain games, but not enough.

"A criticism would be that we have struggled with the ball in the first six overs.

"On a few occasions, we have also not quite executed our game plan towards the end of an innings despite some really good bowling in the middle – when Richard Pyrah and Adil Rashid have been exceptional.

"With the bat, we have thrown away winning positions and not been ruthless enough. Not sticking to the game plan has also been a problem with the bat.

"It is something we will review and put right in future years because this is a form of cricket that we have to improve in."

Yorkshire's group stage campaign draws to a close this weekend, when tonight's trip to Nottinghamshire is followed by a visit to Derbyshire tomorrow.

With Wednesday's defeat at Edgbaston having left Carnegie unlikely to reach the quarter-finals even before the subsequent Twenty20 results of the past two nights were taken into account, the debate among the Headingley coaching staff and Gale has centred on the make-up of the sides at Trent Bridge and Derby.

The Yorkshire captain said: "After our defeat at Edgbaston, it was decided that how the results went on the Friday night would dictate what sort of side we would play in our final two games.

"If we still had a chance of qualifying, it was going to be our best team. But if we were out then we decided it would be a good opportunity to look at some of the younger lads, the next generation.

"To me, it is pointless some of the senior lads playing once we are out. Quite a few have niggling injuries anyway, while someone like Steve Patterson has bowled a lot of overs in recent weeks so it will be a good chance for him to rest up over the weekend.

"The same goes for Jacques Rudolph and Gerard Brophy. A rest will help their preparations for the County Championship game at Essex.

"We told all the lads to keep their phone on (last night) and be ready to receive a text message."

Once the double-header is out of the way, Yorkshire's focus can switch to the County Championship and Tuesday's visit to Essex when Anthony McGrath (thumb) will return along with England pace duo, Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad.

Gale added: "Along with the Championship, we also have the 40-over league starting up again. We are top of both so that is two trophies up for grabs.

"As we go into the business end of the season it is going to be tough to keep everyone firing. That is why rest can be important."