Can Sussex Do it Again?

LV County Championship

It is seven years since Yorkshire won the County Championship. Yorkshire

coach and ex England & Yorkshire wicketkeeper batsman Richard Blakey

however, believes this the year the title could go North.

His former County finished a competitive fourth last season in Division 1.

However for much of the time they were in contention to be crowned

Champions, and for a small period even led the division, before falling

away towards the end. ‘The squad is relatively young and full of promising

talent’ stated Blakey. A major plus and part of the reason why Yorkshire

did so well last season was the performances of a number of these youngsters.

‘For too many years Yorkshire have relied on the runs and wickets of just one or two’ commented the former glove man. It seemed last year Yorkshire had finally started to perform more as a team. Collective contributions from the majority of the team on the day made a massive difference. Youngsters such as opener Joe Sayers and bowler Amjal Shazad are just two examples of players who played key roles in making Yorkshire into a force to be reckoned with.

Richard Blakey picked out two men to watch in 2008; Tim Bresnan and Adil Rashid. ‘Adil was outstanding last season; he took both wickets and scored lots of valuable middle order runs’. The young leg-spinning all rounder was a real threat at times and could be just as influential with a bat in his hands. The 20 year old already has a century to his name and has amassed a total of 905 runs at an average of just under 40. His performances last year earned him his first cap for the England Lions. It is mind blowing to think that he is only 20 and is still learning. ‘Adil can be as good as he wants to be’ stated Blakey, who has no doubts that Rashid will one day play for England. No wonder then that there is much talk in the press of him even now putting Monty Panesar under a great deal of pressure.

Tim Bresnan also had a big hand in Yorkshires relative success last season. ‘Tim has been around a bit longer than some of the other youngsters but last year he really moved on a level’ said Blakey. He also earned a call up with Rashid for the England Lions game against India. This then led to Bresnan making his full international debut in England’s one day game with Sri Lanka. Richard Blakey had this to say on his international call up, ‘I was chuffed to bits for the lad. He fully deserved his cap and by no means disgraced himself on the day’. It will be interesting to see if Bresnan can produce his best more consistently at Headingly this year and play a crucial role in helping Yorkshire compete for the Division1 title.

Yorkshire has brought in experienced Pakistani bowler Rana Naveed who was instrumental in helping Sussex regain their title during 2007. He is a proven wicket taker in all formats of the game and alongside captain Darren Gough will form a great bowling partnership. ‘He is a proven international bowler’ said Blakey, however he went on to say: ‘although he makes our bowling seem strong, his signing may well leave the batting slightly short. Younus Khan was a massive for us last year and we will miss his runs’.

Yorkshire is valued at 10/1 but remain many people’s dark horses. They look very strong bowling wise, but as Richard Blakey said, they may well regret not going for an overseas batsman after plumping for a bowler, which puts a lot of pressure on vice-captain McGrath, Craig White and star man Jaques Rudolph. ‘It will be a real challenge for the squad in 2008, and a chance to see how much our young talent has progressed. They must perform this year if Yorkshire is to stand any chance of competing with last seasons Champions Sussex.’