Yorkshire CCC’s England stars step up pace in readiness for international duty

JONNY BAIRSTOW and Dawid Malan are due to step up their training this week as England continue their preparations for the international summer.
STEP IT UP: Yorkshire and England's Jonny Bairstow. Picture: Mike Egerton/PASTEP IT UP: Yorkshire and England's Jonny Bairstow. Picture: Mike Egerton/PA
STEP IT UP: Yorkshire and England's Jonny Bairstow. Picture: Mike Egerton/PA
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The Yorkshire duo are set to face their England team-mates Ben Stokes and Mark Wood in practice sessions in Durham.

Until now, bowlers have mostly been bowling into empty nets instead of at batsmen due to the restrictions around the coronavirus.

BACK IN THE GAME: A number of England players will take part in expanded nets sessions at Durham's Riverside this week. Picture: Stu Forster/Getty Images.BACK IN THE GAME: A number of England players will take part in expanded nets sessions at Durham's Riverside this week. Picture: Stu Forster/Getty Images.
BACK IN THE GAME: A number of England players will take part in expanded nets sessions at Durham's Riverside this week. Picture: Stu Forster/Getty Images.
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But as those begin to lift ahead of the three-match Test series against the West Indies starting on July 8, the transition is underway for bowlers to bowl at batsmen in the nets, with Test captain Joe Root having already received deliveries from England team-mate Stuart Broad in practice at Trent Bridge, where Root is training as it is nearer to his south Yorkshire home.

“Malan and Bairstow are going to go up to Durham to have a hit up there against Stokes and Wood,” said Andrew Gale, Yorkshire’s first-team coach.

“That’s another stepping stone in the right direction for them.

“Rooty’s been based at Trent Bridge, so he’s been facing Broad down there.

HELPING HAND: Yorkshire first-team coach, Andrew Gale. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.comHELPING HAND: Yorkshire first-team coach, Andrew Gale. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
HELPING HAND: Yorkshire first-team coach, Andrew Gale. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
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“Our lads (Bairstow and Malan) haven’t had the chance to face any bowlers yet because we’ve only just got our two (England) bowlers back (David Willey and Adil Rashid), who are easing in having not done anything for a while.”

Gale has been throwing deliveries at Bairstow and new signing Malan at Headingley for the past couple of weeks, with Willey and Rashid starting their individualised practice sessions there last week.

Batsman Tom Kohler-Cadmore will join in next week, with all five Yorkshire players, plus Root, part of England’s 55-man back-to-training group for the summer games.

It is expected that England will name separate squads from this large pool of players to cope with the glut of fixtures to come in both red and white-ball action, with Ireland, Pakistan and Australia due to visit later in the season.

Ben Stokes, middle, and Mark Wood, left, will begin bowling at England team-mates Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan at Durham's Riverside ground this week. Stuart Broad, right, has already bowled at England Test captain joe Root in the nets at Trent Bridge. Picture: AP/Themba Hadebe.Ben Stokes, middle, and Mark Wood, left, will begin bowling at England team-mates Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan at Durham's Riverside ground this week. Stuart Broad, right, has already bowled at England Test captain joe Root in the nets at Trent Bridge. Picture: AP/Themba Hadebe.
Ben Stokes, middle, and Mark Wood, left, will begin bowling at England team-mates Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan at Durham's Riverside ground this week. Stuart Broad, right, has already bowled at England Test captain joe Root in the nets at Trent Bridge. Picture: AP/Themba Hadebe.
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Gale said that the training at Headingley has been going well, with most of the Yorkshire squad still on furlough as county cricket eyes an August return.

“It’s been nice to have the four Yorkshire lads back in training at Headingley with Tom joining us soon,” he added.

“We’ve had some really good sessions, and it’s been nice to reconnect with Bluey (Bairstow) again because I haven’t seen a lot of him over the last three or four years due to him being involved with England.

“It’s been nice to get to know Dawid on a one-to-one basis, know about his game and what he likes and what he doesn’t like, his strengths and what have you.

BACK SOON: Yorkshire's Tom Kohler-Cadmore is set to join in with the England back-o-training squad next week. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.comBACK SOON: Yorkshire's Tom Kohler-Cadmore is set to join in with the England back-o-training squad next week. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
BACK SOON: Yorkshire's Tom Kohler-Cadmore is set to join in with the England back-o-training squad next week. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com

“And it’s been good to see Rash and Dave as well.

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“We’ve got four support staff back in now (Gale, bowling coach Rich Pyrah, strength and conditioning coach Ian Fisher and physiotherapist Kunwar Bansil) so there’s a bit of a buzz around the place.”

Part of that “buzz” is the light-hearted joking and mickey-taking that is an established part of sporting environments.

Gale has missed the craic, as they say, and although he naturally has to distance himself from the players in his capacity as coach (that’s distance as opposed to socially distanced), he still enjoys the camaraderie as much as he did in his playing days.

“I’ve been lucky coming out of playing and going straight into coaching – you still get that sort of banter,” he said.

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“It’s obviously very different when you’re the coach, but it’s nice to be back in that environment again.

“You get a bit of banter flying around again which you miss, don’t you, banter that you don’t always get with the missus.”

West Indies head coach Phil Simmons, meanwhile, has revealed how “explosive” games of dominoes are playing their part in helping his players avoid cabin fever during their quarantine at Old Trafford.

The squad headed straight there and are combining a training camp with a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

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By training and staying on-site in a ‘bio-secure’ bubble for the duration of the trip, the possibility of restlessness is one Simmons is well aware of.

“The biggest challenge is boredom,” said Simmons.

“We have to make sure practice is entertaining and the down time is entertaining too.

“There’s always dominoes – as you can imagine if you’ve been to the Caribbean that is a highly explosive form of entertainment, especially when you’re playing Six Love.”

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