Injuries bother Yorkshire's chances

After their game was washed out against Mumbai Indians, with only a couple of matches left for them, Yorkshire’s chances of moving further in the Champions League look slimmer than ever. It was a crucial match for Yorkshire after their heavy loss to the Sydney Sixers in their opener. However, yet again, the rain brought to an end the competition’s second successive evening game. With this defeat, Yorkshire are in a must-win situation to find themselves a spot in the semi-finals.

To add to their woes, Ryan Sidebottom and Moin Ashraf suffered injuries against the Mumbai Indians, thus shrinking their chances in this Champions League. Moin Ashraf bowled really well, as he utilised the bounce and turn available on the surface to very good effect before suffering a hamstring problem, while Sidebottom left the field after his second over, returning later to bowl his third over. He wasn’t feeling comfortable at the centre, which could prove disastrous for Yorkshire.

Jason Gillespie, the coach of Yorkshire, however insisted that his team would indeed excel in the next couple of matches. “I’ll have to speak to Scott McAllister, our physio, but at this stage we’re just going to monitor the progress of both of them,” Gillespie said of Sidebottom and Ashraf.

“Ryan came back out to bowl, so we’re quietly confident that he’ll be ok. He’ll probably be a little bit stiff and sore, but he should be ok. Early signs at the moment, it looks like Moin’s tweaked his hamstring. But we’ll just let it settle down in the next 24 hours, and then Scott can have a really good look at it, and then make a decision from there.”

Yorkshire however have two quality bowlers in reserve who have excelled for the county side in the past, in case they do miss their strike bowler Sidebottom. Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Iain Wardlaw bowled remarkably well against the Mumbai Indians as they kept a check on the Indians’ batsmen after Smith’s dismissal. The Mumbai Indians found it rather difficult to handle those two as the bowlers were precise with the lengths, and also varied their pace, which ultimately troubled the MI batsmen.

When asked about a replacement, Gillespie said: “You obviously need to cover all your bases with illness, injury and things like that. They’ll be on their home patch, the Lions, and they’re a very good side, there’s no question of that. We believe if we can play the T20 cricket that we know we can, that we’re in with a good shot, no question.

“As we’ve said all along, we have nothing to lose. We’re not here to make up the numbers, we’re here to compete and we’re here to win games of cricket, and that’s certainly the attitude we’ll take into the next game.”

It’s good to see that Gillispie is determined to win against the Lions, but he has a problem with injuries. Gillespie, therefore, with his experience as a coach, needs to react to this situation well, and as he said, get his side to play to their full potential. If they can do so, then the results will automatically come in favour of Yorkshire.