The White Rose county are swiftly becoming our second favourite team for their exciting young side and a seemingly endless supply of talented English cricketers. They were in the mix for the title right up until the final round of matches in 2010, before finishing third. Can they climb the final two steps in 2011?
Strengths
One would think that such a young side can only get better. The squad certainly looks well-balanced with a good leader in Andrew Gale and an abundance of talent in the batting ranks with the likes of Gale himself, Adam Lyth, Jonathan Bairstow, Anthony McGrath and the dogged Joe Sayers.
The bowling looks strong also with England stars Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad, backed up by the returning Ryan Sidebottom, Steven Pattinson and Oliver Hannon-Dalby. That’s the pace department taken care of and then you have spinners Adil Rashid and the hopefully rehabilitated David Wainwright.
All in all Yorkshire have the look of a side that could go all the way.
Weaknesses
The loss of Jacques Rudolph is massive – whereas as last season the likes of Lyth and Bairstow provided support to Yorkshire’s main batting star, this time they will have to be the ones getting the big hundreds. The talent in the squad means the likes of Bresnan, Shahzad and possibly Rashid and Gale will be called away by England.
Main man
After being messed around a bit by England, Adil Rashid took some time to get started last season but when he did wickets and runs flowed in equal measure. Expect the upward curve to continue in 2011.
Look out for…
A serious tilt at the title and more plaudits for Gale’s captaincy.
Prediction
3rd – If Rudolph was still around then we’d be backing them for the title, but otherwise we expect them to fall a bit short.
Where next?
County Championship Preview - Division 1: Sussex
County Championship Preview - Division 1: Somerset
County Championship Preview - Division 1: Nottinghamshire
County Championship Preview - Division 1: Lancashire
County Championship Preview - Division 1: Hampshire
County Championship Preview - Division 1: Durham
Read all our 2011 World Cup posts here
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Just thoughtI'd pop in to say:
Yorkshire is superpower.
Ee, lad, superpower.
Posted by: Howe Zat | Tuesday, April 05, 2011 at 00:55