BLAST PREVIEW: McGrath says Vikings confidence ‘high’ despite early season struggles
Yorkshire head coach Anthony McGrath insists his team's 'confidence and belief should be high' ahead of their Vitality Blast opener against Northants Steelbacks on Friday night despite selection issues and their struggles in the Rothesay County Championship.
Following their promotion last season, Yorkshire find themselves second bottom in the top flight of English four-day cricket having won just one of their opening seven matches.
They also go into the Headingley date against Northants without the senior England trio of Harry Brook, Joe Root and Adil Rashid, while all-rounder George Hill is also absent as he is being rested having played all seven of his side’s Championship matches.
He was initially selected to play for the England Lions squad in their four-day clash with India A at Canterbury that starts on Friday, but has been instead told to take a break from playing.
Former England batter Jonny Bairstow is also unavailable as he has headed out to the Indian Premier League on a short-term contract to play for Mumbai Indians in their delayed play-off clash with Gujarat Titans.
The Vikings will be bolstered by Australian overseas signing Will Sutherland, while New Zealander Will O'Rourke is also expected to feature having completed his IPL stint with Lucknow Super Giants.
Also set to join the Vikings ranks is former Kent pace bowler Matt Milnes, who has recovered from a long-term injury, and Yorkshire can still also call on the likes of former England men Adam Lyth, Dawid Malan, who is the new Blast skipper, and Dom Bess – and there could even be a spot for former Northants seamer Jack White.
It means they are still a formidable proposition despite all the absentees, and McGrath said: “T20 is something we’ve spoken about and worked quite hard on in the winter.
“Obviously, we’ve had a few moving parts with this IPL stuff and a couple of injuries.
"But Sutherland and O’Rourke coming in will give us that real star quality, and the players we’ve got within our own ranks as well.
“Confidence and belief should be high because I think we’ve got that balance. That’s what we’ve tried to do in the additions we’ve made.
“The spin, we’ve got left-arm spin, leg-spin and off-spin. We’ve got pace with O’Rourke and Sutherland with his all-round power. Obviously, Matt Milnes.
“We’ve got options in all the different facets of the game.”
Fast bowler Sutherland has two ODI caps for Australia, and is looking forward to making his debut for the White Rose.
“I just want it to be Friday already,” he told yorkshireccc.com. “I’m super-excited, and hopefully the boys can get off to a hot start.
“I’ve had a bit of time to get to know the group, and they’ve been very welcoming. It was nice to watch the county game and to get to know the boys and see how they go about it.
“I’m not coming off heaps of cricket. We finished mid-March (with Victoria), so it’s been nice for me to get outside.
"But the 10 days I have had here has definitely been the right amount of time for me to get ready.”