Yorkshire recruit Poysden will play in Roses battle at Old Trafford

Poysden, 26, has been recruited for the County Championship game against Lancashire at Old Trafford starting on Sunday.

England’s Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow will also play in that match as they prepare for next month’s Test series against India, along with Lancashire’s Jos Buttler and James Anderson.

Root will also feature in Friday’s T20 game at Old Trafford along with county and international team-mates Liam Plunkett, David Willey and Adil Rashid, with that trio now available to Yorkshire for the rest of the season.

Plunkett and Willey will not be considered for the Championship, however, until they have built up their bowling workloads, while Rashid is now a white-ball specialist, prompting the move for Poysden.

Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, said: “The Old Trafford pitch will probably need a full-time spinner, and, of our existing spinners, Azeem Rafiq hasn’t played that much red-ball cricket for the second team lately and Karl Carver is working on various things, so we want to go into the game with someone who we’re confident is at a level that will give us the best chance of winning.

“It’s an area that we are looking at, our spin bowling in Championship cricket, and one we need to find a solution to. If Josh does well, who knows where it will go, but that’s for the future really.”

Poysden has found chances hard to come by at Edgbaston due to the presence of New Zealand off-spinner Jeetan Patel. He has played only seven Championship games, but took a career-best 5-29 against Glamorgan on his most recent outing at Edgbaston last month.

“To make my Yorkshire debut in such a big game, a Roses game, is very exciting,” he said. “Hopefully I can contribute to a win.”

Yorkshire have reappointed Robin Smith as chairman. Smith, a club director who previously served as chairman from 2003-2006, replaces Steve Denison, who stepped down last week.