Jonny Bairstow reminded the world why he is considered one of the most exciting youn propsects in the game as he cracked a match winning unbeaten 60 as England levelled the 3-match t20 series against Pakistan in Dubai. Elsewhere Gary Ballance's Mid West Rhinos went down by 63 runs in the season finale one-day cup final in Zimbabwe.

(PHOTO: Jonny Bairstow on his way to a match winning 60 not out for England)

After making 22 not out in the first t20, Bairstow's unbeaten 60 (his first half century in full England colours) came in 46 balls and steadied England after the loss of quick wickets. It took his team to 150-7, saw them win by 38 runs, and earned him the Man of the Match Award.

Gary Ballance captained Mid West Rhinos as they lost by 63 runs to Mashonaland Eagles in the Coca Cola Cup Final. That ends the Zimbabwean season and we look forward to welcoming Gary back to Headingley very soon.

Gary Ballance made 39 on 13 February for Mid West Rhinos as they made 116 in the first innings of their Castle Logan Cup match against Matabeleland Tuskers. When  scoring his 8th run Ballance went past 1,000 first-class runs for the Zimbabwe season in only his 8th match and 14th innings of the winter.

He added 62 in the second innings before being out hit wicket as MWR won by 154 runs to end the Zimbabwean Championship strongly and placed third of five teams.

Ballance then hit 22 in a low scoring Coca Cola 50 over match as MWR won by 3 wickets after chasing down Matabeleland Tuskers total of 81. MWR ended the competition in second place in the table and Gary led his side against the first placed Eagles in the showpiece final on 25 February.

We send our congratulations to Gary on a terrific Zimbabwean winter!!

JAMES BUTTLER - 25th February 2012

UPDATE THIRTEEN

Gary Ballance has notched yet another century as Mid West Rhinos drew their recent Castle Logan Cup match against Mountaineers. Gary scored 30 and 116 to bring up the 11th first-class century of a fledgling career that continues to impress.

The confidence that Ballance will bring back to the UK after another impressive winter with the MWR franchise will be a major boost to Yorkshire’s line-up. After spending much of the winter as captain he is also maturing as a person while amassing 992 first-class runs this winter at an average of 90.18.

Since our last update Ballance made 17 in Mid West Rhinos 42 run defeat to Mashonaland Eagles in Pro50 on 21 January. Another century, an unbeaten 101 in MWR 212 all out, came against the same opposition in a Castle Logan Cup draw, which he followed with 11 not out in his second innings.

On 4 February Mountaineers felt the wrath of Ballance’s bat in the one-day arena as he cracked 120 in only 84 balls, including 13 fours and 4 sixes, as he led his side to a 53 run victory in the Pro50 tournament. His one-day winter has been impressive too as he has belted 406 List A runs at 81.20 at a strike-rate of 93.11.

JAMES BUTTLER 10 February 2012

UPDATE TWELVE

As the majority of the Yorkshire squad have been getting back to full pre-season training, we catch up with the Yorkies who are plying their trade overseas. After a slow start to his comeback in Australia, Phil Jaques looks like recapturing form with the bat as his Hobart Hurricanes have reached the semi-final stage of the twenty20 Big Bash.

On 28 December he cracked 41 from 42 balls as Hurricanes beat Adelaide Strikers by 14 runs. He was cleaned up first ball by Fidel Edwards on 1 January, but Hurricanes chased down the 139 required to beat Sydney Thunder by 5 wickets with 8 balls remaining.  Five days later Phil made 27 from 22 balls as Hurricanes fell 3 runs short of reaching the 202 required to beat Brisbane Heat. A two-ball duck against Shane Warne’s Melbourne Stars led Hurricanes to a 19 run defeat in Hobart.

Down the order to bat at number 5 against Melbourne Renegades Jaques saw his side home with an unbeaten 12 from 7 balls as Hurricanes won by 7 wickets with 1 ball to spare as a home semi-final against Sydney Sixers was secured.

Elsewhere, Gary Ballance started 2012 as he left off in 2011. Once again captaining the Jason Gillespie coached Rhinos, Ballance scored 124 in his first innings of the year from 222 balls including 16 fours and a six. Rhinos made 444-8 declared in response to Southern Rocks first innings of 178. The Rocks then made 313 and Rhinos were 48-3 at the close of the match to win by 7 wickets. Ballance was out for 3 second time around.
Against Southern Rocks in the 50-over Coca Cola Pro50 competition Ballance saw his side home to win by 7 wickets as he top scored with an unbeaten 77 from 72 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes.

Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root are touring Bangladesh with England Lions in what has been a hotly contested series. Bangladesh took the series 3-2, but the Yorkshire lads have made their mark. Lions won the 2nd Unofficial ODi by 6 wickets after Bairstow stroked 50 not out from 65 balls to level the series.  In the 4th ODI a 124 ball 81 from Root and 35 from Bairstow helped Lions to 208 all out, but Bangladesh’s victory by 6 wickets secured the series. England won the final match by 6 wickets with Bairstow notching 33 in 47 balls.    

Two twenty20 matches follow before the Lions move to Sri Lanka for a five match unofficial ODI series.

Finally, our best wishes to Tim Bresnan who had to fly home from England’s tour of UAE. He misses the Test series against Pakistan with a sore elbow, but is hopeful of a return to the squad ahead of the ODI series.

JAMES BUTTLER 19 JANUARY 2012

UPDATE ELEVEN

All quiet for most Yorkshire cricketers as we approach Christmas, but 2012 overseas Aussie Phil Jaques has but a poor run behind him as he helped Hobart Hurricanes win their first two matches in the t20 Big Bash in Australia.

On 18 December he made 18 from 19 balls as Hurricanes beat Perth Scorchers by 31 runs in their opening match. Then on 21 December he smashed 73 in only 53 balls including 6 fours and a six as Hurricanes reached 169-3 in their 20 overs against Sydney Sixers in Hobart. Sydney could only muster 127-9 in response as another former Tyke, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan took 4-22 in his 4 over spell.

Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root (read about his 157* here) have arrived home after a successful tour of India with the England Performance Programme as they enjoy Christmas before the England Lions tour on January.

Elsewhere Adam Lyth has been enjoying a winter playing for Scarborough Cricket Club in Australia. Swapping his favourite English seaside resort for Scarborough in Western Australia in a bid to find the form that saw him dominate the 2010 UK domestic season, Adam has scored 541 runs in 12 matches with a highest score of 173 against Fremantle back in October.

JAMES BUTTLER 21 DECEMBER

UPDATE TEN

Critics of the longer form of international cricket have been silenced in recent weeks after some of the most nailbiting matches in recent history have excited cricket purists around the globe.

None more so than the 2nd Test between New Zealand and Australia which the Kiwis won by just 7 runs after bowling the Aussies out for 233 on the final day. Australia had been 122-1.

Elsewhere, Yorkshire old boy Younis Khan starred in a much more one-sided match where Pakistan beat Bangladesh by an innings and 184 5uns. Younis scored an unbeaten 200 which included 18 fours and 3 sixes.

Another former Tykes overseas star, Sachin Tendulkar, had reason to celebrate, but on behalf of an Indian team-mate. Sachin had been the holder of the record for the highest individual score in One-Day International cricket. His 200* for India against South Africa in February 2010 was beaten by Virender Sehwag who smashed 219 against West Indies in the 4th ODI at Indore on 8 December. Highlights of both Sehwag's and Tendulkar's double centuries can be viewed on our facebook page HERE.

Gary Ballance who has been prolific in recent weeks for Jason Gillespie's Mid West Rhinos is enjoying a Christmas break as domestic cricket in Zimbabwe enjoys a rest. Ballance's next game starts on 9 January.

Phil Jaques is yet to his top gear after his return to the New South Wales side. In his last Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania (6-9 Dec) he made 5 in each innings. The match was drawn.

JAMES BUTTLER 12 DECEMBER

UPDATE NINE

Gary Ballance finished his t20 campaign in Zimbabwe with 137 runs at an average of 34.25 as Mid West Rhinos just failed to make the final of the Stanbic Bank Series.

Ballance scored 67 from only 34 balls (a strike-rate of 197.05) to see Mid West Rhinos home in the Stanbic Bank t20 match against Matabeleland Tuskers (29 Nov). He cracked 6 fours and 4 sixes as Rhinos won by 7 wickets.

The Tuskers had scored 171-1 in their 20 overs with West Indian Chris Gayle making an unbeaten 109 and Lancashire's Paul Horton hitting 47 not out. Ballance entered with Rhinos 62-2 and requiring 110 in 10 overs. Opener Brendan Taylor (75*) shared a stand of 103 with Ballance in 9 overs to see Jason Gillespie's side to victory.

Ballance then scored 53 from 25 balls including 2 fours and 5 sixes as Rhinos reached 184-2 and beat Mashonaland Eagles by 7 runs (30 Nov). A defeat to the same opposition, when Ballance was dismissed for 8, saw Rhinos eliminated from the competition in the 3rd v 4th place elimination match on 2 December.

Durham's Phil Mustard scored 56 for Mountaineers in the competition's final to see his side to victory by 27 runs over Mashonaland Eagles. 

Phil Jaques was dismissed for 8 as New South Wales made 184-9 in their 50 overs of their Ryobi One-Day Cup match against Tasmania who had made 188 all out and won by 4 runs. 

JAMES BUTTLER 5 DECEMBER

UPDATE EIGHT

Phil Jaques was dismissed for 2 in a one-day cup match for New South Wales. NSW beat Western Australia by 5 wickets with 40 balls remaining.

JAMES BUTTLER 29 NOVEMBER

UPDATE SEVEN

Gary Ballance will have been disappointed to have been run out for 1 as Mid West Rhinos started their Stanbic Bank t20 Series against Mountaineers in Harare (25 Nov). Mid West Rhinos made 115-9 in their 20 overs and lost by 6 wickets with 7 balls remaining.

Ballance was then dismissed for 8 against Southern Rocks (26 Nov) in a no result match that was ruined by the weather after Rhinos had made 131-7 in their 20 overs.

Elsewhere, Phil Jaques made 67 and 20 as New South Wales beat Western Australia by 6 wickets in Sydney. It was Jaques first match since 15 October when he made 2 not out in a one-day match against South Australia. In his only other appearance during this Australian season he made 20 and 23 not out for NSW Under-23s against Queensland Under-23s.

JAMES BUTTLER 28 NOVEMBER

UPDATE SIX

Gary Ballance is yet to ruffle the feathers of the England selectors, but there are few young batsmen in world cricket who are laying such strong foundations to a professional career. His current form in Zimabwe for Mid West Rhinos is a continuation of his free run scoring for the same team last winter and his excellent 2011 summer for Yorkshire.

In the current 4-day match against Matabeleland Tuskers in the Caste Logan Cup (starting 14 November) he scored 62 as an opener in the first innings as Mid West Rhinos made 407-9 dec in their first innings. This was his second fifty to go with a double hundred and two further centuries and his first-class winter tally now stands at 583 runs at 97.16 and his career average sits well above fifty. He added 24 in his second knock as Rhinos set Matabeleland 308 to win.

During the previous week he also added an unbeaten one-day century, 108 not out in 125 balls with 14 fours and 2 sixes in a 9 wicket win over Matabeleland Tuskers on November 12. 

Jacques Rudolph made 30 in South Africa's first innings against Australia in the 2nd Test in Johannesburg. He hit 4 fours. In the second innings he made 24 as South Africa fought their way back into the 2nd Test against Australia. Australia won the Test, but Jacques will have enjoyed being back on the international stage in such a thrilling 2-Test series.

JAMES BUTTLER 14 NOVEMBER

UPDATE FIVE

Jacques Rudolph was looking good on his South African Test return before Ryan Harris (remember that name?) bowled him for 18 as South Africa were rolled for 96 in reply to Australia's 284.

They then turned the tables as the Aussies were skittled for only 47 on an amazing day of Test cricket. Requiring 236 to win Rudolph again started brightly, but was caught behind off Siddle for 14, but South Africa won the 1st Test by 8 wickets.

JAMES BUTTLER 10 NOVEMBER 2011

UPDATE FOUR

Anthony McGrath has told the Bradford T&A that Headingley is right behind Jacques Rudolph as the South African prepares to return to Test Match action against Australia at Cape Town after a five-year absence.

Jacques became a firm favourite in the stands and in the dressing roon during his four-and-a-half seasons playing county cricket for Yorkshire and he will open the batting for the Proteas on Wednesday.

McGrath said: "Since he’s been out of the side, he’s said himself that he’s matured as a person, which is massive. Coming to England, embracing the culture and the cricket, was big for him. He wasn’t just a fantastic batsman, he was a fantastic team man. He’s a very strong person mentally, which means he’s got all the attributes to succeed at that level. All he needs now is that little bit of luck.

McGrath added: "South Africa and Australia have a bit of history, so it will be a tough one for him to start with but on the other hand, it’'s a good one because it will prove to him and other people that he can perform at that level.There’ll be a lot of people rooting for him back at Headingley and I’m sure he’ll go well, I’ve got no doubts about that.”

JAMES BUTTLER 8 NOVEMBER 2011

UPDATE THREE

Jacques Rudolph warmed up for his return to Test cricket by cracking 54 from 52 balls for Titans as they thrashed Lions by 7 wickets with 92 balls to spare in the Franchise 1-Day Cup match at Centurion.

Gary Ballance, batting at number 3 and one again captaining the Mid West Rhinos, saw the score slip to 26-4, but held firm against the Mountaineers in this week's Castle Logan Cup 4-day game. Gary was out for exactly 100 as the Rhinos recovered to 186-5 after being asked to bat first. In the second innings he experienced a rare failure - a duck.

The news of Jacques Rudolph's recall to South Africa's Test squad came last week following some superb performances for the Titans and a five-year absence. The first of the two Test series commences at Newlands, Cape Town on 9 November.

Jonny Bairstow and Tim Bresnan both played in England's tour ending 6 wicket t20 win against India in Kolkata. Bresnan took 2-19 in 4 overs and Bairstow was unbeaten on 2 as England secured the win that keeps them at the top of the ICC World t20 Rankings.

Few England players emerged from the ODI series with an increased reputation as England succumbed by a 5-0 margin. Bresnan scored 61 runs at 15.25 with a top score of 45 while Bairstow hit 49 runs at 12.25 with a best of 35. Bresnan was the second highest England wicket-taker with 5 at 49.00.

Former Yorkshire overseas bowler, Morne Morkel, has overtaken Graeme Swann as the number 1 bowler in One Day Internationals.

JAMES BUTTLER 3 NOVEMBER 2011

UPDATE TWO

Gary Ballance was in the runs again in Zimbabwe. After making a maiden first-class double century last week he scored 83 in Mid West Rhinos first innings against Mashonaland Eagles and has added another 128 in his second knock of the match. In doing so Ballance has passed 2,000 career first-class runs and is also captaining the Rhinos in the current fixture.

Jonny Bairstow has scored 3 and 35 in the first two ODIs in India and Tim Bresnan has hit 4 and 12 and taken 0-66 and 2-41 as India have taken a 2-0 lead in the 5-match series.

Jacques Rudolph is enjoying a tremendous season so far with the Titans in his native South Africa. 80 and 54 against Knights, followed by 118 and 19 against Dolphins and 210 and 87 against Lions has been overlooked by the South African international team selectors who have remarkably ignored him for the ODI series against Australia.

Good luck to all of the Tykes overseas at the moment!

JAMES BUTTLER 20 OCTOBER 2011

UPDATE ONE

Jonny Bairstow is going from strength-to-strength on the international stage as he followed up his Man of the Match t20 knock against India at the end of the English summer with a blistering 53 ball century in England's final warm-up match against a Hyderabad XI. Bairstow's unbeaten 104 included 8 sixes and 6 fours as he pushed England towards 367-4 in 50 overs. England won by 253 runs.

Gary Ballance started his Zimbabwean winter with his maiden first-class double century for Mid West Rhinos in an innings and 215 run win against Southern Rocks last week.

It's been a great start for Yorkshire's young guns!

JAMES BUTTLER 11th OCTOBER 2011