The YP’s cricket correspondent, Chris Waters, joins host Phil Harrison to look at the year ahead, which sees Yorkshire with a new coaching team and two new captains.
Anthony McGrath has been handed the task of restoring the glory days for the White Rose, aided by bowling coach Micky Lewis and batting coach John Sadler, among others, while Jonny Bairstow has been instilled as the new captain for the County Championship.
Dawid Malan, meanwhile, will don the armband for the T20 Blast as Yorkshire look to end the wait for their first piece of silverware since 2015.
Anthony McGrath has been handed the task of restoring the glory days for the White Rose, aided by bowling coach Micky Lewis and batting coach John Sadler, among others, while Jonny Bairstow has been instilled as the new captain for the County Championship.
Dawid Malan, meanwhile, will don the armband for the T20 Blast as Yorkshire look to end the wait for their first piece of silverware since 2015.
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00:00YorkshirePost.co.uk
00:03OK, we're joined by Chris Waters, the Yorkshire Post cricket correspondent,
00:07who is set to embark on a new season, 25 campaign,
00:12Yorkshire back in the county championship, two new captains, a new coaching set-up,
00:17and Chris, plenty to look forward to this year for Yorkshire cricket fans, presumably.
00:21Yeah, I think it is, Phil, and not least, I think, it's quite an unpredictable year, really,
00:27with a new coaching team in place at the club,
00:31and having undergone quite a lot of transformation behind the scenes,
00:35I think there's a sense of, you know, we don't exactly know what we're going to get.
00:39I notice that the bookmakers are quite down on Yorkshire's chances, in fact,
00:43but I think, you know, looking at the squad,
00:46I see no reason why they can't be very competitive across the board.
00:51And I know that Anthony McGrath, the head coach, has already said, you know,
00:55we're going into Division 1 of the county championship to try and win it.
00:59We're not just going up there to survive or make up the numbers.
01:03So I think that's a very positive mindset that they take into the campaign,
01:08but I do think it's a very difficult one to call.
01:11You know, there are some very good sides in that championship top flight.
01:15In one day cricket, Yorkshire have struggled for a long time now.
01:19They haven't won a trophy, in fact, for 23 years, I think, off the top of my head.
01:25So, you know, you can't just say, oh, yeah, they're going to go out
01:29and rip it up in white-ball cricket.
01:31But, as I say, I do think looking at the squad, the changes that they've made,
01:36there's every reason to be optimistic.
01:39You mentioned the change in the coaching set-up.
01:42Well, I did first.
01:46Obviously, you mentioned McGrath, well-known to Yorkshire fans,
01:51spent the vast majority, in fact,
01:53virtually all his playing career at Yorkshire, if I remember correctly.
01:57He's brought up Mickey Lewis from Essex with him,
02:00and John Sadler, who was briefly head coach at Northamptonshire,
02:04but John Sadler's come in as batting coach.
02:10He's in a good position, isn't he, McGrath, coming back into Yorkshire?
02:13There's been a lot of disappointment, obviously, over recent years,
02:16both on and off the pitch, and a lot of frustrations.
02:19But he'll have a lot of credit in the bank
02:21with a lot of the Yorkshire supporters, won't he?
02:23Well, yeah, I think he will have a lot of natural goodwill from his playing days.
02:27Obviously, he was a very loyal servant and a very fine servant for many years,
02:31and part of the successful side that won the County Championship in 2001, of course.
02:37So, his credentials as a player and his loyalty to the club are there.
02:42He's got a good coaching team in place, as you say,
02:45people that he knows and trusts, people like Mick Lewis,
02:50who's followed him up from Essex,
02:52and I notice he's also very optimistic and talking about
02:56how he wants to make the bowling attack the most feared attack in the country,
02:59and speaking very highly of the players.
03:01I think Ashton McGrath comes back to the club at a really exciting time
03:08because there are a lot of good young players in that side,
03:11in the batting order, perhaps in particular.
03:15When you throw in the likes of Berstow, Millan, and maybe a bit of Joe Roots,
03:20perhaps at some time as well in the next couple of months,
03:23it's a strong-looking line-up.
03:25So, I can see why he's very optimistic and confident.
03:30As I say, I find it slightly surprising that the bookmakers seem to be quite down
03:35on Yorkshire's chances because I do think there's the nucleus there
03:38of a very competitive team.
03:41You mentioned some of the players there,
03:44but two of the players that Yorkshire are perhaps going to see more of,
03:47certainly in the initial part of the season,
03:49and certainly in formats of the game that they haven't seen a great deal in,
03:53in one case, Jonny Berstow, made captain of the four-day for Red Bull cricket,
03:59and Dowie Millan, who's going to be captain of the T20 team.
04:02Just a quick word on Berstow.
04:04You spoke to Geoffrey Boycott earlier in the week,
04:08and he was very much a fan of the decision to make Berstow captain.
04:13Do you share his optimism in that the England international
04:17is going to prove to be an inspiring leader?
04:20Well, I do.
04:21I mean, I think he's got…
04:23I mean, Boycott spoke about his energy and his positivity on the field,
04:27and I think that's something that we've seen throughout his career.
04:31I think he, as well, in addition to that,
04:33he rises to challenges, as we've seen over many years,
04:36and clearly with his England situation in a bit of flux at the minute,
04:41and perhaps that's the way it's going to be from now on,
04:44I think this is just the kind of challenge that's likely to ignite him.
04:48And, you know, it's 10 years now since Yorkshire won the championship,
04:52and he played an important part in that era with his own batting.
04:57I think he had a very good season in 2015,
05:00not too many games off the top of my head,
05:02but, yeah, I think he is a good choice.
05:05I think the players respect him.
05:07Obviously, his track record across cricket speaks for itself.
05:10So, if you're a young player at Yorkshire,
05:13you can only be impressed by that.
05:15I think he's got a real fire about him, as well.
05:19You know, he's a Yorkshireman through and through,
05:21and it's, as I say, a good time, a good challenge.
05:25And, you know, in terms of David Milan, as well,
05:28I think it will be good for him to take that leadership.
05:31You know, he's an experienced white ball player.
05:34I think, at one point, he was the world's number one T20 batsman.
05:38So, he's been there, done it,
05:39knows everything that there is to know about that, as well.
05:42So, I think they've got two really strong leaders in the side,
05:47but, you know, just as importantly, they've got their runs.
05:49Yeah, definitely.
05:50You mentioned Milan.
05:51Just quickly on him, as well,
05:53he's going to be available, I understand, for six, I think,
05:55of the first seven championship matches.
05:57He's sort of taken a step back from red ball cricket for Yorkshire,
06:00due to the hundred or so other commitments that he no doubt had
06:05around the world for some time.
06:07But he is going to be available for the first few games,
06:09and that's going to be a massive bonus for Bairstow and the team,
06:12isn't it?
06:13I think definitely.
06:15You know, again, without actually looking at the stats,
06:18I think his championship record for Yorkshire is very good, indeed.
06:22So, again, you know, he's just a quality player
06:26across all formats of the game.
06:28I think, you know, it's probably surprising, in a way,
06:31that he's played as little test cricket as he has,
06:34because I think he's probably been a little bit unfortunate in that respect.
06:39I think he's a better player than his kind of test record might suggest.
06:44So, yeah, he will add an enormous amount to the top of the batting order,
06:49and I think it will be good for him leading into the T20 blast, as well,
06:54you know, to get some runs under his belt and some time at the crease.
06:57Obviously, things have eased off for him a bit in terms of international
07:01and franchise cricket as well, which have enabled him, in effect,
07:06to reverse this decision to play red ball cricket.
07:09So, I think, you know, the stars have aligned in that regard for him.
07:14So, yeah, I think it's very exciting, and, you know,
07:17what he will bring not only to the T20 team,
07:19but, as you say, for the championship one.
07:22Now, Yorkshire lost Matthew Fisher, a long-time servant in the closed season,
07:26who's gone to Division One rival Surrey, who are obviously going for,
07:31I think they're going for a fourth straight Division One title, aren't they, Surrey?
07:34Is that right?
07:35Yeah.
07:36But Yorkshire are going to bring in a number of new faces to sort of cope,
07:40not just with the Fisher exit, but just generally.
07:42I mean, Jack White has come in from Northamptonshire,
07:45New Zealand quick Ben Sears, and Jordan Buckingham
07:48in the bowling department, as well as Will Sutherland,
07:50and they're going to fulfil various duties throughout the year.
07:54They seem to have quite a lot of debt for Yorkshire this year.
07:58Is that fair to say?
07:59Yeah, I mean, I think they do.
08:01I mean, as ever with these things, you've got to be lucky with injuries and fitness,
08:06i.e. not get injuries, because I think, you know,
08:10Ben Sears has had a few injuries in recent times, unfortunately.
08:14So, having available potentially for six games
08:18in that first block of Championship matches,
08:20if they can keep him on the field, that'll be a massive boost.
08:23Yeah.
08:24So, yeah, there's certainly depth there.
08:26And then you've got, obviously, your homegrown players
08:30and the regular features such as Ben Code.
08:34I mean, you know,
08:36why he never seems to come into consideration for England is beyond me.
08:40You know, he's just like an outstandingly consistent bowler.
08:45So, yeah, I'd say it's easy to say.
08:48And, you know, you'd probably say, well, the Yorkshire pros might say this.
08:51But you look at the squad and you don't see too many weaknesses in there all round.
08:57Yeah. You mentioned Code.
08:58Obviously, I think he took 56 wickets last season in the County Championship.
09:02I think it was joint top across the two divisions.
09:05He's obviously been there, been into Division One
09:08and been and done it and proved himself at this level.
09:11He's going to be key, isn't he, to Yorkshire's chances in the bowling department?
09:14I think absolutely, yeah.
09:16I mean, you know, clearly you're hoping that the likes of Sears and Buckingham
09:20will add something extra and bring a bit of international quality, if you like.
09:25And then, you know, Sutherland and O'Rourke did so in the T20 Blast.
09:29But your banker, if you will, is Code, particularly with Fisher having left.
09:35Yeah.
09:36I think it's unfortunate, really, that he's gone now
09:38because, you know, if you had him with Code back in Division One
09:43and with Fisher hopefully back-fit himself, it could have been really good.
09:48But that's obviously water under the bridge and not relevant now.
09:52But Code certainly is, I think he's getting better.
09:56I think he's one of these players, maybe like a Ryan side-bottom,
09:59who just keeps going year after year.
10:01You don't really see any drop-off in performance whatsoever.
10:04So, I mean, he will take to Division One like a duck to water.
10:11I mean, he's already proved himself at that level, clearly.
10:14So, yeah, he'll hang it together and he's still a top-class player.
10:19Yeah.
10:20They start on Friday down at Southampton against Hampshire.
10:25Three games in three weeks coming up.
10:27There's not much let-up, is there, in the first few weeks of this season for Yorkshire?
10:31But then, given the way cricket's gone over recent years,
10:34there's not much let-up, full stop, is there, for many teams?
10:37It's going to be a frantic start, isn't it?
10:39And how do you fancy their chances in that first game down at Southampton?
10:43Well, I mean, it's difficult to call.
10:47I mean, obviously, Hampshire are a very good team.
10:50There's not many poor sides in that division, really.
10:53I mean, again, just off the top of my head,
10:57I think there's been some pretty boring games down there over the years
11:02where Yorkshire have struggled to get results
11:05and the games have sort of petered out a bit.
11:07So hopefully that won't come into play as much at this time of year.
11:10You'd like to think there's a bit of assistance for the ball.
11:14But, yeah, absolutely no reason why they can't hit the ground running.
11:19As you say, it's a very difficult schedule for all teams.
11:23You know, six games, or is it seven games, sorry, in eight weeks,
11:27which tells you everything you need to know about how the game's leaders view the county championship
11:33and, in turn, the people who pay to watch it,
11:36the members who, unfortunately, are treated with contempt, really.
11:42So, yeah, I think it is a tough start.
11:46The schedule clearly makes...
11:49I mean, if you look at the county schedule overall,
11:52it's a lottery, really, given that schedule,
11:55which is why it's probably so difficult to predict who's going to do well.
12:02Yeah, I mean, I hate to use the old football cliche,
12:06it is what it is, but there's nothing that they can do, really,
12:10but just get on with it.
12:13But, clearly, with so many games in quick succession,
12:16you don't want to be lagging behind.
12:19But, no, I personally see no reason why they can't win the title
12:26if things go their way in terms of injuries.
12:30And they can find that penetration they need with the ball.
12:35Yeah, you mentioned silverware.
12:37There's obviously a lot of optimism and a lot of confidence at Yorkshire going into this season,
12:41and rightly so.
12:43Do you think this might be the year that they end their wait for a white ball trophy?
12:52Well, I mean, it could be.
12:54I mean, we say it every year.
12:57If you look at that, I mean, if you want to be really serious
13:00and look at their one-day record, it's actually the joint worst in the country
13:05since they last won the one-day trophy, which was in 2002.
13:09Yeah.
13:10I did a piece on this some time ago where, again, off the top of my head,
13:14I believe that they'd entered 50 tournaments, leagues or cups,
13:18since that 2002 trophy, and failed to win any of them,
13:23and only Derbyshire in that 23-year period had also failed to win the league or a cup.
13:30In excellent company then, Chris.
13:32Yeah, of course, your team.
13:34Yes.
13:35So that's the reality of the challenge that they face.
13:38You can all say, look at the squad on paper and it can win a white ball trophy,
13:42but the fact of the matter is they've got a dreadful white ball record.
13:46They've only three times got to finals day,
13:50and only once reached the final itself.
13:53So I don't think anybody can say, oh yeah, they're just going to go in there
13:57and win the T20 Blast.
13:59I mean, clearly the one-day cup is probably the biggest lottery of all,
14:04given the number of players that have whisked off to the 100,
14:07which clashes with it and has obviously contributed to the ruination of the schedule.
14:17So again, the one-day cup, you can't predict that.
14:22They could win the T20 Blast, but as I say, you have to be realistic,
14:26and I suppose from their point of view, humble about it,
14:29because the record shows that they've got a lot of work to do.