Nothing beats a Lord's final, says Yardy (From The Argus)

Nothing beats a Lord's final, says Yardy

8:30am Friday 3rd July 2009 in

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Playing in a Lord’s final is still the pinnacle of a county player’s career, according to Sussex captain Mike Yardy.

Twenty20 may be threatening to dominate the domestic one-day agenda but Yardy insists it will mean just as much if Sussex reach the final of the Friends Provident Trophy as Twenty20 finals day.

The Sharks have a chance of doing both, starting on Sunday when they host Gloucestershire Gladiators in the 50 overs semi-final at Hove (10.45am).

Yardy said: “You are going to be a bit blinkered about how you view the two because we won at Lord’s in 2006 which was a great experience and then lost in the Twenty20 semis the following year.

“But reaching a Lord’s final is special because the two sides who are there will have 13,000 supporters wanting their team to win whereas in Twenty20 finals there are four teams and quite a lot of neutrals – it is a different occasion.

“To play in front of a full house at Lord’s doesn’t happen to many county cricketers and 2006 was very special for a lot of reasons. I keep seeing it on Sky Sports Classics so it must have been a great game and it was wonderful to play in and win.

“But we mustn’t get carried away – there is a very difficult semi-final to win first.”

The Gladiators cruised to a seven-wicket win over Sussex on the opening day of the season and scored more than 300 at Hove in the return fixture at the group stage which was washed out.

Chris Taylor, who leads their batting averages in the competition with 299 runs at 49.83, is a doubt after splitting the webbing on his hand last week. He will have the stitches removed tomorrow but skipper Alex Gidman admitted: “He is touch and go for the semi-final.”

Formidable But Yardy acknowledges they are still a formidable force having been rejuvenated by the return of New Zealander John Bracewell as coach this season.

He added: “They beat us pretty comprehensively in the first game of the season and scored 300-plus here so we know we will have to be on our mettle.

“They are similar to us – they haven’t got a huge amount of superstars but they have a lot of players who are not rated as highly as they should be.

“They are a good side with players who know their roles.”

Six of the side who beat Lancashire in the 2006 final will face Gloucestershire on Sunday and while that big-match experience will be useful Yardy insists it won’t make any difference once the game starts.

He said: “When we got to the final in 2006 there wasn’t a semi-final. We played Hampshire at Hove knowing that if we lost we’d still got another game to try to get through.

“So it’s down to how you control your nerves on the day rather than any experience of big occasions in the past. If we can handle the pressure I’m sure we will come out on top – if we don’t we will struggle.”

As was the case before the quarter-final win over Somerset, Sussex have had a full week to prepare for Sunday’s semi-final and yesterday coach Mark Robinson was putting his side through an exhausting fielding session on the parched Hove outfield.

Although England commitments rule out Matt Prior both Dwayne Smith and Luke Wright – neither of whom played at Taunton – are available which means a couple of the players who helped Sussex get this far will be disappointed when Yardy names his side on Sunday.

“We will have some difficult decisions to make,” he admitted. “It is going to be a tough call on the guys who miss out but a great opportunity for those who play. It’s been a pretty hectic schedule recently but the guys have re-charged their batteries and hopefully they will be ready for Sunday.”

Sussex have already sold 5,500 tickets and are expecting a 7,000 sell out. Tickets are on sale online until midnight on Saturday and at the club shop until 1pm tomorrow. They will also be available on the day.