Lehmann aims for Yorkshire return
Source -
yorkshiretoday.co.uk
Yorkshire hope to have star batsman Darren Lehmann back for tonight's Twenty20 Cup quarter-final against Essex at Chelmsford.
Lehmann came through a 45-minute workout at Scarborough yesterday ahead of the club's NatWest Pro40 League game against Leicestershire, and a late decision will be taken on the fitness of the Australian, who has missed the last two matches with a calf injury.
David Byas, Yorkshire's director of cricket, said: "Darren has had a good workout and is absolutely desperate to play in the game, but we won't press him into service if he is not quite right and run the risk of him being out for several weeks.
"It's an important match for the club, but it's not so important that we are going to put Darren's fitness in jeopardy. We will see how he feels when we get to the ground and make a decision from there."
Yorkshire journeyed straight from Scarborough to Chelmsford last night, where they will be bidding to reach the Twenty20 finals day for the first time in their history. The finals day takes place at Trent Bridge on August 12.
Victory tonight would guarantee Yorkshire at least £10,000 in prize money and they would also pocket in the region of £17,500 from gate receipts, with the match a 6,000 sell-out.
Yorkshire would still earn £5,000 should they lose the fixture, while the club would make £42,000 for winning the tournament and £21,000 for finishing runners-up.
"We've done well in the Twenty20 competition so far and there is obviously a big incentive in terms of prestige and prize-money," added Byas. "Every game now is like a cup final and there is no reason why we shouldn't go all the way. It would be absolutely terrific to get to the finals day; we've all watched it on television and thought how fantastic it would be to get there.
"The competition has given us a tremendous boost, with the knock-on effect being that our form in the County Championship has improved of late, and now we need to keep things going."
Essex have named a provisional 15-man squad and their captain, Ronnie Irani, said: "This match is one of the biggest games of my captaincy reign at Essex. When Twenty20 cricket first started out it was a bit of a carnival, but now there is also a serious feel to it.
"There is going to be a full house and a great atmosphere, including a lot of new people to the game. We have played exceptionally well in Twenty20 and deserved to be top of our group."
Yorkshire fast bowler Mitch Claydon will miss the rest of the season through injury. The 23-year-old has been diagnosed with a stress fracture of the back and faces a long spell on the sidelines. "It's a big blow because I rate Mitch very highly," said Byas. "He has a yard of pace that can disturb top players and it's obviously disappointing that he's gone down like this.
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