Yorkshire will be looking to make it three in a row against the Division Two leaders
Just as Yorkshire seem to have got back on track they announced the departure of head coach Ottis Gibson as he comes to the end of his three year contract, having taken a pay cut at the beginning of the season to help out the cash strapped county. At the same time Richard Pyrah has been named as the county’s new women’s head coach, having been sacked in 2021 amid the Yorkshire racism scandal. Gibson’s departure comes on the back of disappointing white ball competitions, where they finished in the bottom half of their groups.
Yorkshire have however turned around their fortunes in the Championship, two wins in their last two games moving them up to third place, just four points below Middlesex. They have had issues with injuries to their seam bowling resources and brought in Sri Lanka’s Vishwa Fernando for three games. He rocked up and took 17 wickets at 13.35, including nine against Derbyshire, before returning home. Matt Fisher is reported to have recovered from an ankle injury that has kept him out of first team action since the beginning of May, although he has recently announced his departure, supposedly to Surrey, at the end of the season.
Ben Coad currently sit second in the wicket taking for Division Two with 28 at 17.39, while Jordan Thompson has 23 at 26.56. Spin has not been a major weapon for Yorkshire, Dan Moriarty having taken 10 wickets at 52.50.
Yorkshire will be without Shan Masood who is involved in Pakistan’s Test series with Bangladesh, but have Jonny Bairstow available. Adam Lyth has been as reliable as ever at the top of the order, leading the run scoring with 770 runs at 59.23, alongside Finlay Bean who has made 580 runs at 41.42. In Masood’s absence, Jonny Tattersall has taken over the captaincy.
While Sussex managed just one win in the One Day Cup, they secured a home quarter final in the Blast and are 23 points clear at the top of Division Two with five wins from their nine games. Their young side has come of age, helped by the introduction of the experienced John Simpson at the helm. Ollie Robinson sits third in the wicket taking standings for Division Two with 27 at 24.33, but they are now without Jayden Seales, who had taken 24 wickets. Sussex have signed left-arm quick Jaydev Unadkat as a replacement. The 32-year-old has played three Tests for India and taken 403 first class wickets at 23.94. Promising off spinner Jack Carson has also stepped up, taking 21 wickets at 31.61 so far this season.
As well as benefiting from his leadership, Sussex are also indebted to Simpson for the runs he has been scoring. He currently leads the way with 728 at 66.18, ahead of Tom Haines with 528 at 37.71. Cheteshwar Pujara has been replaced by Daniel Hughes, who made a mark in the Blast, but it is unclear as to how long he will around given the tendency of the Australian players to return home at the beginning of September for pre season training.
When these two sides met at Hove back in May it was Sussex who came out on top in a low scoring thriller. 17 wickets fell on day one and Yorkshire built a 45 run first innings lead. 86 from Tom Alsop in Sussex’s second innings helped them set a target of 183 and four wickets from Robinson meant Yorkshire fell 21 runs short.
Much may depend on how quickly players reacquaint themselves with red ball cricket, but with both teams having serious Division One aspirations it should be an excellent contest.
Key players:
Finlay Bean continues to build a reputation as a top order batter with a healthy first class average of 41.48 from his 25 games. At 22 he will be on England’s radar, although he is a more traditional opener than currently seems in favour. He has been in the runs in the Championship this season, but had a disappointing One Day Cup, scoring just 78 runs from seven innings. He will be keen to start finding the middle of the bat again.
Fynn Hudson-Prentice has made useful contributions with both bat and ball this season for Sussex, coming in at seven and bowling first change. He has perhaps not quite reached the levels he would have wanted, averaging 29.47 with the bat and 35.54 with the ball in first class cricket. Nevertheless he effectively fills the all rounder role for the club.
Team News:
Yorkshire will be hopeful that Fisher can line up alongside Coad.
Yorkshire Squad (from): Jonathan Tattersall (c, wk), Finlay Bean, Dom Bess, Ben Coad, Matthew Fisher, George Hill, Will Luxton, Adam Lyth, Dan Moriarty, Matthew Revis, Jordan Thompson, James Wharton
For Sussex, Unadkat comes in for Seales alongside Robinson.
Sussex squad (from): John Simpson (c, wk), Tom Alsop, Jack Carson, Oli Carter, Tom Clark, James Coles, Henry Crocombe, Tom Haines, Fynn Hudson-Prentice, Daniel Hughes, Sean Hunt, Aristides Karvelas, Danny Lamb, Ollie Robinson, Jaydev Unadkat
Weather and Conditions
There is a risk of showers on all four days, but hopefully there will be enough brighter interludes.
The two One Day Cup games played at Scarborough have seen first innings scores around 250. Given the weather forecast, the captain winning the toss will likely bowl first..
Date: 22nd August 2024
Time: 11:00
Ground: Scarborough, Yorkshire
Odds (SkyBet): Yorkshire 4/5; Sussex 1/1
