By Gary Watton
June 7 2016

Jason Gillespie and Alex Lees and assorted cronies can come out with all the standard fighting talk that they like before and after one-day matches, but the reality remains considerably different. Although the Tykes have given a good account of themselves in the One-Day Cup in the last two years, they look light years away from limited overs success, on the evidence of today's crushing defeat at the hands of an excellent Worcestershire who thereby completed a limited overs double over the flagging Phoenix in the last week.

In spite of possessing an apparently progressive coach, the hosts look to be locked in the same time zone that England occupied up to and including the last shambolic World Cup campaign. Alarmingly the Phoenix are not heeding England and other county teams who now play fifty overs cricket with abandon and go for broke right from the off. Unfortunately the home support were treated to a limp display of batting in which we seemed intent on shackling ourselves to the outdated strategy of risk-free cricket for about forty overs followed by belligerent batting in the final ten. This approach has now run its course. Worcestershire in fact made such light work of the target that it only served to add further mockery to our batting fragility. In this day and age, cautious batting which results in five maiden overs for the opposition is frankly outrageous. To make matters worse, the Yorkshire brains trust fail to grasp the need to load the top order with our most aggressive batsmen. Keeping Plunkett, Willey, and Bresnan way down the batting order in a limited overs tussle is an exercise in sheer stupidity. Unless the Phoenix start to think outside of the box, then they will continue to be swept aside, even if Lees again wins the toss.

The bottom line is that Yorkshire should be more keen to be bowled out for 250 off thirty overs than to bat out their full allocation and only hit about two hundred. Gillespie and Lees need a fresh strategy and not just empty words, or else Yorkshire will be a punch bag in one day cricket for the foreseeable future.

The Royal London One-Day Cup: YORKSHIRE versus Worcestershire; in Leeds; Tuesday the seventh of June. YORKSHIRE won the toss.

YORKSHIRE: 170 (off 45.2 overs)

Lyth c Cox b Shantry 9 (13-1)  

Lees lbw b Rhodes 19 (54-3)

Leaning c Cox b Barnard 23 (50-2)

Ballance lbw b D'Oliveira 30 (94-4)

Rhodes c Mitchell b Rhodes 17 (109-6)

Rashid c Barnard b D'Oliveira 9 (108-5)

Bresnan c Clarke b Shantry 24 (170)

Willey c and b Mitchell 15 (136-7)

Plunkett b Leach 19 (166-8)

Hodd lbw b Leach 2 (170-9)

Patterson not out 0

Extras: three

Worcestershire: 171 for three (off 25.3 overs)

Leach c Ballance b Rashid 63 (111-2)

Kohler-Cadmore lbw b Plunkett 42 (107-1)

Mitchell not out 23

Clarke c and b Rashid 26 (148-3)

Kervezee not out 13

Extras: four

Worcestershire win by seven wickets. YORKSHIRE nul points, Worcestershire two points.