5:10pm Thursday 2nd September 2010
By Graham Hardcastle
Captain Andrew Gale says he may rest a few players for Saturday’s Clydesdale Bank 40 clash with Essex at Headingley.
With Yorkshire having already qualified for the semi-finals of the one-day competition, their closing Group B game is essentially a dead fixture for them.
And although the Tykes skipper wants to finish the group campaign on a high and continue their winning momentum in coloured clothing, he is mindful of the bigger picture with the final two County Championship matches to play in the next fortnight as well.
“We will not be going into the Essex game with any preconceived ideas though and it is very important to keep the winning habit,” said 26-year-old left-hander Gale.
“We need to make sure we are fully focused from the first ball. But there are a few niggles around the squad and it might be an idea to rest a few players.”
Yorkshire will definitely be without Tim Bresnan, who has linked up with England’s Twenty20 squad, but Ajmal Shahzad is set to play before joining Bresnan for the one-day series against Pakistan.
Gale has described qualifying for the semi-finals of the competition as a “proud” moment.
Yorkshire will find out the identity of their opponents for next week’s knockout match at Scarborough after this weekend’s final round of group matches.
Somerset have already made it through as the Group A winners and Yorkshire will definitely avoid Marcus Trescothick’s men.
“It feels great to be into the semi-final and I’m over the moon,” said Gale, whose side have won ten out of 11 group matches.
“To reach a semi-final after everybody wrote us off at the start of this season is a great feeling.”
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/trade_directory/