Coach Andrew Gale has reasons to be cheerful over Yorkshire CCC’s youngsters

The Yorkshire first team coach saw his plans ripped apart when the first four months of the campaign were lost to coronavirus.

A strong squad featuring international stars such as India spinner Ravi Ashwin and West Indies batsman Nicholas Pooran never took to the field as overseas deals were cancelled due to the pandemic.

Yorkshire also lost players to England at various stages due to fixture clashes and the desire to cram in as many international and domestic matches as possible.

But one unexpected consequence of the annus horribilis was that Gale was able to give more opportunities than he had envisaged to several young players, none of whom let the club or their team-mates down.

He believes this will serve Yorkshire well in the coming years.

“We’ve had a chance to look at a number of players who wouldn’t have had an opportunity in a normal season,” said Gale.

“They’ve stood up and shown glimpses of what they can do.

“That’s what’s been so positive about the season from my point of view.

“Without this, who knows, we might not have had someone like (all-rounder) Jordan Thompson coming into the side and performing the way that he did.

“I think (batsman) Harry Brook showed a lot more consistency than he has done in previous years too.

“You can see that the young lads are starting to forge a backbone of the team, and our challenge (as a club) is to improve them and then fast-track them on the back of what they have learned.”

Gale admitted that there were certain players picked for T20 who would not have been in his thinking going into the season.

However, the loss of key men such as captain David Willey and dynamic opening batsman Tom Kohler-Cadmore led to a particularly young Yorkshire team in the tournament’s back end.

“It was great experience for those lads to get a taste of it,” added Gale.

“It highlighted the difference in class between first-team cricket and second-team cricket, but by being exposed to the first-team those lads can go away and think about the areas they know they need to work on.

“In the short-term, some of the results hurt but, in the long-term, it can only be good for the club moving forward.

“Those lads will be better off for the experience and can put into practice in the winter the areas that they know they need to improve, and it gives them a benchmark of where they need to be at.”

Gale was largely pleased with Yorkshire’s overall performance.

They won the Bob Willis Trophy North Group and although their T20 form was the proverbial curate’s egg, Yorkshire were especially affected by the loss of key players in the second half of that competition, which gave youngsters who are particularly inexperienced in that format of the game their chance.

“Coming into the season I challenged the players to compete in both trophies,” said Gale.

“We didn’t do that in the Blast, but we were excellent in the Bob Willis.

“We won the regional group and, but for weather, I don’t think we could have done any more to get to the final of that competition.

“In the T20 we were sat nicely at the halfway stage, but when you lose three bowlers in one day to Covid and an opening batter, it doesn’t help and was always going to make the situation a lot tougher.”

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Thank you, James Mitchinson. Editor.