YORKSHIRE’S bowlers will fly out to Mumbai today as the club steps up its preparations for the 2020 season.

Matthew Fisher, Ben Coad, Duanne Olivier and Matthew Waite will arrive five days before the rest of the squad, with a view to gradually increasing their workload, alongside bowling coach Richard Pyrah and lead physiotherapist Kunwar Bansil.

The rest of the travelling party will fly out next Wednesday and meet the bowling quartet for a practice session at Parsee Gymkhana and the Reliance Ground.

First up, Yorkshire will take part in a couple of two-day red ball friendlies against Air India at the Air India Cricket Ground.

Andrew Gale’s squad will then return to the Reliance Ground for a floodlit T20 fixture against Reliance, before finishing the tour with a Twenty20 double-header.

Speaking about the trip to Mumbai, Gale said: “Having been out to Mumbai myself numerous times as a player, it is a place with a genuine love for cricket.

“It is a great place to practice. There are always a lot of net bowlers on hand and the facilities are outstanding. It is a totally different culture. I think that it will bring the squad together.

“We spend all winter in the East Stand, but you want to replicate the intensity and pressure of games as much as you can.

“Until you are out in the middle with the grass under your feet, the pressure of the scoreboard, people playing for places, it is very hard to manufacture that in the indoor nets.

“We hope that we can go out and get some physical and cricket fitness. This will help us to come back on grass in England and into the swing of the season.

“It will be good to see all the hard work that the lads have put in during the winter and the skills that they have worked really hard on.

“We have had a longer pre-season than we’ve ever had, so they are more than ready to get into some competition now.”

Gale believes that the four fast bowlers heading to India on Friday will benefit from the extra preparation ahead of the full touring party’s arrival.

“As we only go for 12 days, you end up pushing them too fast, too quickly,” Gale said.

“The four lads that we are sending out there earlier have, in recent times, had some risk of injury. We want them to have a prolonged time out there so when we get there, they are good to go. With a longer build-up, the risk of injury is much smaller.”

Newly appointed T20 skipper David Willey will have his first taste of captaincy in Mumbai and Gale has been impressed by the foundations that the all-rounder is starting to lay.

“Dave has got some different thoughts. It is very much his team and how he wants to go about things,” Gale said.

“We will see a fresh style of play. We have certainly got more spaces covered.

“There will still be a few questions that he wants to ask of the players when we are out there. He wants to come back and have a clear picture of which players are going to fit into the way that he wants to play.

“Dave is really up for it and has put a lot of hard work in already. It will be a good opportunity for him to sit down and talk to the players about how he wants to play.”

Nineteen man travelling squad for Mumbai:

Gary Ballance, Benjamin Birkhead, Tim Bresnan, Harry Brook, Ben Coad, Matthew Fisher, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, James Logan, Adam Lyth, Duanne Olivier, Steven Patterson, Mathew Pillans, Josh Poysden, Jack Shutt, Jonny Tattersall, Jordan Thompson, Matthew Waite, Jared Warner, David Willey.

Tour Fixtures:

Monday, March 16 – Yorkshire vs Air India (Two-Day Friendly)

Thursday, March 19 – Yorkshire vs Air India (Two-Day Friendly)

Saturday, March 21 – Yorkshire vs Reliance (T20)

Monday, March 23 – Yorkshire vs Local XI (T20 Double-Header)