Yorkshire to use Notts as yardstick

Yorkshire’s director of professional cricket has pinpointed the double-header as key to gauging his side’s chances of winning the Championship.

Yorkshire face Nottinghamshire at Headingley Carnegie today before visiting Trent Bridge (May 4-7).

With a flurry of Championship games once more condensed into early season, that will complete the opening quarter of Yorkshire’s programme as they look to build on last year’s third-placed finish.

“I think we’ll have a pretty good idea where we are after the two games against Notts,” said Moxon.

“Last year, I said let’s wait until halfway through the season before trying to properly assess our capabilities, but I guess after four games you have a fairly good picture of where things stand – particularly when two of those games are against the champions.

“They will be tough matches, make no mistake, and we will have to improve on what we’ve done so far. But we’re confident we can thrive at this level and it’s up to us to go out and show it.”

Yorkshire’s start to the season has resembled a curate’s egg – good in parts, less so in others.

They began with a nine-wicket win at relegation favourites Worcestershire before losing by 146 runs at home to Durham.

Pre-season fears they might struggle for runs in the absence of star batsman Jacques Rudolph have yet to be allayed.

Only Gerard Brophy and Ryan Sidebottom passed fifty at Worcester, while only Rich Pyrah and Jonny Bairstow recorded half-centuries against Durham, although it is, of course, still early days.

“Our first innings batting has been below-par,” conceded Moxon, whose side plunged from 100-2 to 149 all-out against Durham. “It was certainly the main reason we lost against Durham and it hasn’t quite come together for us yet.

“We need to get more first innings runs on the board to give ourselves a better chance of winning games. Gerard Brophy and Ryan Sidebottom saved us at Worcester, but we didn’t bat well enough against Durham and that’s something we’ll be looking to put right this week.”

Pyrah’s Championship-best 87 and Bairstow’s 81 were isolated highlights against Moxon’s former county, who won with 11.2 overs of the match remaining despite Yorkshire’s courageous attempt to salvage a draw.

Pyrah stepped up splendidly in the ongoing absence of Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad (the latter hopes to return for Sunday’s opening CB40 fixture against Netherlands at Headingley following a hamstring injury), while Bairstow looked back to his best as he again came close to a maiden hundred.

“Rich Pyrah was outstanding,” said Moxon. “That’s certainly the best I’ve seen him play and he was unlucky not to go and reach three-figures. He performed very well against Durham with bat and ball and was one of the big positives from our point of view.

“Jonny played a great innings as well and hopefully that will be the springboard for him to kick on and have a good summer.

“His footwork was perhaps a little bit tentative in the first match at Worcester, but he was moving well against Durham and looked back to his best.”

Moxon believes Bairstow’s maiden first-class century is just around the corner after the 21-year-old registered his 16th fifty on Sunday.

Bairstow’s score was just shy of his Yorkshire-best 84 not out against Nottinghamshire at Scarborough in 2009 and career-best 85 for England Lions against Combined Campuses and Colleges at Barbados last February.

“Jonny’s first hundred is just a matter of time,” insisted Moxon. “If he keeps playing like he did against Durham, he will get plenty of hundreds. He’s an exciting young cricketer and it was great to see him in such good form.”

Moxon acknowledged Yorkshire would have to raise their game against the defending champions, who began their season with a nine-wicket win against Hampshire but who appear to face a tougher test this time to win the Championship.

Not only have Notts lost pace bowler Sidebottom to Yorkshire, there are also question marks against their top-order batting.

Moxon, however, is keen his players concentrate on their own situation and do not dwell too much on the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses.

“We need to look at ourselves first and foremost and focus on doing things right session by session,” he said.

“The season has only just started and there have been plenty of plus points along the way.

“We weren’t at our best at Worcester but we still managed to win. We weren’t at our best against Durham but we didn’t fall far short of saving the game. We just need to be more consistent.”

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