Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Jonny Bairstow will captain Yorkshire at Chelmsford, starting tomorrow. He missed the opening pre-season friendly against Somerset in Spain last week.
Preparations for what Yorkshire hope will be a trophy-winning summer continue at pace over the next couple of days, with Anthony McGrath taking his players to familiar territory for their final pre-season friendly.
The White Rose county will face Essex at Chelmsford in a two-day friendly, starting tomorrow.
It represents their second and final friendly before the starter’s gun is fired on the new summer next Friday down at Cardiff, where newly promoted Glamorgan will be the opponents for the Rothesay County Championship opener.
Last week, Yorkshire played Somerset in a two-day game at the Desert Springs resort in Almeria, Spain.
“We’re going to take 14 down,” said head coach McGrath, the former Essex assistant and head coach.
“I think the weather’s set pretty fair, so it will probably be batting a day and bowling a day. We will probably just rotate people on and off and get through overs.
“It won’t be an 11 v 11, I wouldn’t have thought.
“I think they’ll want to do the same thing from the conversation we had a few weeks back, before they went to South Africa.
“We’ll take a squad down which is as close to Glamorgan as we can get it.
“We’ve had a little bit of illness in camp.
“The most important thing is to get through as much match practice as we can ahead of that game against Glamorgan.”
None of Yorkshire’s new signings will be involved; Jhye Richardson, Logan van Beek or Sam Whiteman, who are all due to land in England in the coming days.
McGrath and general manager of cricket Gavin Hamilton spoke at pre-season media day at Headingley on Tuesday and were asked whether all would be available for the trip to Cardiff.
“Yes,” said Hamilton. “But Jhye, we’re umming and arghing about. We’ll see how it pans out.”
They were also asked about the early-season availability of England duo Harry Brook and Joe Root.
Hamilton said: “We’re in talks. There’s every chance we’ll get them for one or two games, but what games they are I’m not sure.”
“I’ve spoken to the players. I’m presuming Rob (Key) is quite happy for those two to make their decisions in terms of what they need and what they want.”
England selection was a hot topic for discussion at media day, following on from the ECB’s review into the Ashes series defeat in Australia earlier this winter.
Hamilton is due to take part in a call with the England management and all of the county directors of cricket next week.
But he said there is an added incentive for all players during the early stages of the summer.
“Obviously, there could be one, two, even three positions available in the Test team, which is exciting. It’s like what county cricket used to be at the start of the year. Certainly, from our point of view, we’ve got a couple of lads that would be knocking on the door.
“How’s that for an incentive? You’re pushing for a Test spot. It’s good for the club.
“We want nothing more than for England to do well.”
Most importantly, though, McGrath and Hamilton were asked about Yorkshire’s aims for 2026.
“A trophy,” said the former. “I think that has always got to be the aim as a Yorkshire team.
“The fans expect that. I certainly expect that. Gav does, the coaches, the players. It’s not ok to just say we’ll finish third or fourth, and we accept that. We’ve always got to be pushing.
“It’s tough, obviously, to win a trophy. I think Yorkshire have only won two in the last 20-odd years, but that’s the aim.
“You’ve got to push for that, and I think once we get one with the group we’ve got, I believe we can go on and get a few more, but there’s only three up for grabs, so it’s not easy.
“However, having seen and experienced winning teams in the past, I think we have the raw ingredients to win.”
Hamilton added: “Just to be clear, the start’s going to be crucial.
“Last year was a bit of a staggered start for us. We started all right, then hit a bit of a lull for a few games. But to build that momentum, start well and snowball it positively is the key.
“Like Mags said, I think we’ve got all the tools to compete – and compete well.
“You look around the other counties, we are very happy with what we’ve got, pending injuries, but it’s all about momentum.
“We start well, and I think the season will come to us.”
Yorkshire Squad vs Essex
9. Adam Lyth
2. Dominic Bess
10. Ben Coad
18. George Hill
19. Jack White
21. Daniel Moriarty
22. Harry Duke
23. James Wharton
26. Ben Cliff
33. Finlay Bean
51. Jonny Bairstow (c)
64. Jay Singh
68. Will Luxton
77. Matthew Revis