Regan wants one-day wonders

Stewart Regan © Empics

Yorkshire chief executive Stewart Regan is eager that the county take their excellent pre-season one-day form into the regular campaign.

Yorkshire claimed the inaugural Pro ARCH Cricket Challenge in the United Arab Emirates after after beating the home side by four wickets with five balls to spare as they pipped Lancashire and Somerset on run-rate in the process, having inflicted defeats on both, as each of the three counties finished with three wins and a loss during the tournament.

Regan told ecb.co.uk during the NatWest CricketForce event at Farsley CC: “We had a great pre-season, what started out as a trip abroad for fitness and a bit of pre-season cricket turned into Yorkshire winning it - so that was fantastic, so the lads came back full of confidence.

“Martyn Moxon’s (Yorkshire director of cricket) view is that we want to compete in all forms of the game. We have not been consistent in one-day cricket.

"We reached the quarter-finals of the Twenty20 last year and performing a little bit better in the Pro40 was encouraging but we are very keen to progress in the one-day format.

“In the championship we were there or thereabouts until the last two or three games last year so I would hope we can maintain that performance.”

Yorkshire will have been impressed by the recent return to action of seamer Tim Bresnan following a back problem but knew they needed to bolster their seam resources and have signed Pakistan’s Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, despite him suffering a dislocated shoulder playing for Sussex in 2007.

He has now received clearance to play, although South Africa’s Morne Morkel has been signed until Rana is fully fit.

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan could make all the difference for Yorkshire © Getty Images

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Regan continued: “The bowling attack was an area we knew we had to strengthen and it appears we now have the necessary clearance unless there is another twist in the tail from the Pakistan Cricket Board, we should be fine.

“He has been bowling recently but he has only been doing four-over spells so we think he will need a bit longer to recover."

Former England seamer Darren Gough is in his last year of a two-year deal since re-joining in 2007 but Regan thinks Gough could prolong his career despite turning 38 later this year.

“Darren has said he will see how goes - he is feeling fitter now than he has for a good long time and if he can maintain that fitness and avoid getting injured who knows what," he added.

"I think with Darren will continue to play as long as he can - this is the last year of his contract but we will take it as it comes."

Young leg-spinner Adil Rashid has impressed many knowledgeable observers since he made his debut in 2006 and is pushing for an England spot since touring with the England Lions in 2008.

Rashid has an early chance to impress after being selected for the MCC versus Sussex in the season opener at Lord’s.

Regan concluded: “Adil has come on leaps and bounds in the last eighteen months he claimed 2-23 in one of the pre-season games in Dubai so he is maturing nicely but he needs to mature a bit physically before he is the finished article.

"He must be knocking on the door of an England slot in the not too distant future.”