Nothing beats a Lord's final, says Yardy

Mike Yardy speaks with Sussex TV

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.

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