IF, AS seems likely, Yorkshire clinch the championship this week with a game to spare — a draw at Trent Bridge against their nearest rivals, Nottinghamshire, will suffice if Notts do not claim three more bonus points than the long-time leaders — it will be a victory with many fathers.
The bottom line is that Yorkshire are a good team, made up of a maturing group of players who have been beaten only once. That was in a high-scoring game on an unyielding pitch at Lord’s in April, when Middlesex chased down a record 472.
Jason Gillespie's role as first XI coach has been an essential factor. His stewardship confirms what a good coach must do: he expects his players to take responsibility but encourages them to feel liberated enough to express themselves. He has created a family feel in the club.
The former England captain Michael Vaughan is one of several respected observers who believe the Australian has the credentials to be a future England coach when Peter Moores’ second reign comes to an end (date as yet unknown).
Gillespie was one of the first people Darren Lehmann thought of as a potential assistant when he took over as Australia’s coach last year but Gillespie, who has a young family settled in Leeds, felt the timing was awry. Sydney Thunder were also knocked back when they asked him to work with them this winter. Were England to approach Gillespie, the answer would surely be different.
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“Jason had relatively little coaching experience when he joined us but I knew him well and knew what he was capable of,” said Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket. “He’d played a couple of seasons for us [in 2006-07] and he fitted our needs as a specific first-team coach.
“He was used to winning as a member of one of the best Australia teams of all time. He was passionate about the club’s traditions and had the right character to deal with the players. He allows them to enjoy themselves, in fact demands that they enjoy themselves, while also championing a good work ethic.”
Progress has spanned several years. Andrew Gale was appointed captain for the 2010 season at the age of 26. Initially the team prospered before relegation in 2011 led to an overhaul of management. Gillespie arrived with Paul Farbrace — now deputy to Moores — as his assistant. Last year the club finished second to Durham and this year, all being well, they will deliver a first title since 2001 and only a second in 46 years.
Gale’s two-match suspension for a second verbal disciplinary offence of the season has caused a problem. Joe Root and Gary Ballance have been made available to play by England and Root will stand in as captain but the loss of the imposing Gale has led to anxiety in the camp.
Gillespie is taking nothing for granted, emphasising the processes to be gone through and the hard work to be done. Coaches are not paid to take their foot off the gas with the finishing line in sight.
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The best teams do not always walk off with the prizes but Yorkshire deserve to be champions. They have seen little of Root, Ballance or Liam Plunkett because of England calls and injuries.
Two who have flourished under Gillespie’s regime are Adam Lyth, the leading scorer in Division One with 1,306 runs, and Adil Rashid, who has taken 36 wickets with a mix of leg-breaks and a much-improved googly, as well as topping 500 runs. Married with a young family, Rashid is a more mature character than the one capped by England in 2009.
Both appear certainties to start the winter touring with the Lions and could end it as members of the full Test side. Alex Lees, Lyth’s young opening partner, is also in contention for a Lions spot and Moxon believes Jonny Bairstow could come again as a Test player.
A title win would be a first for Moxon as player or coach with Durham or Yorkshire.