New opening for Gale at Yorkshire

5:30pm Monday 18th August 2008

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Martyn Moxon does not want to label Andrew Gale as an opener or a middle order batsman, reasoning that the 24-year-old’s flexibility can help Yorkshire.

Left-hander Gale notched a brilliant 136 to help the White Rose to a much-needed County Championship draw against Lancashire last week, a result that lifted his side out of the LV Division One relegation zone.

Having batted at No 5 for much of the four-day summer, Gale has moved to the top of the order for the last four games against Kent, Surrey, Hampshire and most recently Lancashire at Old Trafford.

His opening partner for the last three games has been his close friend and business partner Chris Taylor, who has taken over from Adam Lyth.

And while Gale’s run of scores as opener has not set the world on fire, he has at least added some steel to Yorkshire’s innings.

“I certainly think that it’s a nice situation to see that he can score runs as an opener and in the middle order,” said Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of professional cricket.

“He’s been forced into it by lack of form from others and injury. Obviously, early season he got most of his hundreds and his runs batting at No 5. It’s given us that flexibility if we need it. But I am certainly not going to pigeon-hole him as an opener or as a batsman in the middle order.”

Gale has now scored three hundreds this year in Championship cricket, with a top score of 150 against Surrey at the Oval in late May. He has scored 846 four-day runs in 12 matches and will surely make it to 1,000 LV Division One runs before the campaign is out.

And while Moxon refused to pin down Gale at the top of the order, he will surely now do that job for the rest of the summer, as he has done in one-day cricket.

The Dewsbury-born former England under-19s player has had a reputation as a hard-hitting batsman in both forms of the game but his knock against Lancashire demonstrated that he can dig in too.

Moxon added: “At times we have been lacking that solidity and that sheer determination to bat for long times.

“He has shown that in abundance during the last match, and throughout the early season too.”

Gale runs the Pro Coach Cricket Academy with right-hander Taylor – and that will take up most of his winter work.

The White Rose face Derbyshire in Pro40 League Division Two at the County Ground on Thursday under floodlights. Michael Vaughan will return to the Headingley nets this week but will not play in that game.