Semi Final Preview: These are the matches you play cricket for - Harvey
5 September 2015
Gloucestershire assistant coach Ian Harvey says the team can’t wait for Sunday’s Royal London One-Day Cup semi-final against Yorkshire.
The Australian – who won six one-day competitions with Glos as a player – says the young squad have nothing to fear ahead of the club’s biggest match for six years.
He said: “These are the games you play for; a semi-final at Headingly in front of a big crowd, on Sky - it’s a great chance for the boys.
“As a cricketer you want to match your skills against the best players. We know Yorkshire have some quality players but we have quality too. It will be a good test but we can’t worry too much about who’s in their team.
“We are playing some really good cricket so we just need to keep it up.”
As a key part of Gloucestershire’s most successful period and having played in an Australian World Cup winning squad, Harvey knows more than most about what it takes to win big matches.
Despite this being the first semi-final many of the current squad have played in, he believes the experience they have gained winning close matches throughout the competition will give them a great chance of reaching a first Lord’s final since 2009.
As well as beating Hampshire with six balls to spare in the quarter final, the side has also enjoyed last gasp wins over Worcestershire, Somerset, Leicestershire and Derbyshire during the group stage.
Ian said: “It’s been about winning games under pressure. We’ve won games from positions that sometimes you wouldn’t win from and it is good for us having had that experience going into another big pressure game on Sunday.
“All the boys have put their hands up in the big moments at different times during the competition. It is good for us that when we have had injuries guys have come in and performed and it will make selection for the semi-final very difficult.”
Gloucestershire have received a huge boost with the news that Michael Klinger will fly back from Australia for the match – just a week after returning home.
The 35-year-old – who recently signed a new two-year contract - has been in magnificent form across all competitions this season and has scored 394 runs at 98.5 in this year’s RL Cup.
Ian said: “Having Maxy back is a bit of an unexpected bonus as he was originally due to fly home and not come back. You want your senior players to step in the big games and he is in fantastic form.
“We have won games without him this year and no one can say we are a one man team but it is fantastic to have him back.”
Gloucestershire have named a 14-man squad for the semi-final. It includes batsman Ian Cockbain for the first time since he suffered a broken wrist in the nets during the Brewin Dolphin Cheltenham Cricket Festival.
Squad: Chris Dent, Michael Klinger (c), Will Tavare, Ian Cockbain, Gareth Roderick(w), Hamish Marshall, Geraint Jones, Benny Howell, Kieran Noema-Barnett, Jack Taylor, James Fuller, Tom Smith, David Payne, Liam Norwell.
Yorkshire
The White Rose County are currently on the verge of securing a second successive County Championship title but have found success harder to come by in the shorter formats of the game.
After a disappointing NatWest T20 Blast campaign they finished third in Group A of the Royal London One-Day Cup, one place behind Sunday’s visitors after winning one fewer match.
However the Vikings underlined their undoubted potential in 50 over cricket with an impressive 20 run victory over Essex in the quarter finals. Liam Plunkett (pictured) starred with bat and ball, scoring an unbeaten 49 from 32 balls before picking up 3-58.
He is one of a trio of Yorkshire players who may miss the semi-final through international commitments, the others being Adil Rashid and Australia’s Glenn Maxwell.
Plunkett and Rahid have been named in a 15 man squad (see below) but the Vikings are awaiting confirmation from the ECB on the pair’s availability following England’s match against Australia on Saturday at Lord’s.
One international who is definitely missing is England batsman Joe Root who has been rested by the ECB.
As well as fighting a strong Gloucestershire team, Yorkshire are also battling against history. Since winning the Gillette Cup in 1965 Yorks have lost 15 of 21 one-day semi-finals and have won just three from seven at Headingly with the last coming in 2002.
With more than 5000 tickets already sold in advance of the match they will be hoping to turn this run around in front of a packed crowd.
Squad: Adam Lyth, Alex Lees (c), Richard Pyrah, Jack Leaning, Jonny Bairstow (w), Gary Balance, Will Rhodes, Tim Bresnan, Steven Patterson, Matt Fisher, Jack Brooks, Andrew Hodd , Kark Carver, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunket.
Key Man
With more than a thousand runs in the County Championship at an average of 107 Jonny Bairstow is the in-form batsman in domestic cricket.
His form earned him a call-up to England’s successful Ashes-winning team and many people were surprised that he was left out of the One Day International squad, having scored a series-winning 83 not out over New Zealand earlier in the summer.
England’s loss is undoubtedly Yorkshire’s gain with the ‘keeper/batsman posing a real threat in the home side’s middle order.
What They Say…
Speaking to the official Yorkshire CCC website Tim Bresnan said: “Gloucestershire are a good side. With their Yorkshire connection on their coaching team (Richard Dawson and Ian Harvey), they’ll want to come to Headingley and try and topple us. We will have to play some great cricket to win and we must ensure we work hard in areas of our game.”
Head coach Jason Gillespie added: “We had a great victory at Essex in the last round and we feel we can build on that win.
“We try to win every game we play. Each day we turn up and look to put in a solid performance. Every day’s play is crucial to us and that will be the case in Sunday’s semi-final.
“It would be a great achievement to reach a major final at Lord’s. It will be a difficult game against Gloucestershire but with a partisan Yorkshire crowd behind us at Headingly that can really help us.”
Opta Facts
- Yorkshire Vikings have reached the semi-final stage of the List A season for the first time since 2010, the last time they reached a final was in 2002.
- The last two completed matches between these sides in Yorkshire have been won by Gloucestershire.
- Gloucestershire have won 10 of the last 13 completed matches played against the Vikings.
- David Payne has bowled more deliveries (474) than any other bowler in the Royal London One Day Cup 2015.
- Gloucestershire have won six of their last eight; those two defeats have come in their last three matches however.
- All 12 of James Fuller’s (Gloucestershire) wickets this season have been of top six order batsmen; the highest ratio of any bowler to take at least 10 scalps.
- James Fuller (252) and David Payne (246) are third and fourth respectively for the most dot balls bowled in this year’s competition. Only Essex pair David Masters (279) and Reece Topley (255) have bowled more.
- Jack Taylor (Gloucestershire) has the highest batting strike rate of any batsman to face at least 50 balls this season (159.8, 82 balls).
- The batsman with highest ratio of attacking strokes so far this season is Yorkshire Vikings’ Liam Plunkett (80.4%, min 50 balls).
- Yorkshire Vikings have only claimed victory in one of their last five matches played on a Sunday; two of those four defeats coming against Gloucestershire.
- The last two matches played at Headingley have been won by the side batting first; both by the exact same margin (31 runs).
Head-to-Head
| Yorkshire | Gloucestershire | |
| Played | 50 | 50 |
| Won | 20 | 30 |
| Lost | 30 | 20 |
| Tied | 0 | 0 |
| Win % | 40 | 60 |
Last Time We Met
July 26 2015
Royal London One-Day Cup Group Match at Scarborough
Yorkshire 227 all out (50 overs) (Bresnan 43, Miles 4-29)
Gloucestershire 5-0 (2 overs)
No Result
