Ottis Gibson sets Yorkshire CCC wins target

Yorkshire started the second half of their campaign with victory over Gloucestershire at Scarborough on Tuesday, prompting Gibson to declare publicly ahead of Sunday’s visit to face Derbyshire at Chesterfield the wins target that he has in his mind.

“That win (against Gloucestershire) was the first of what I believe are the four wins we need to still get promoted,” he said. “That was the first of the four that we’re trying to get.

“We’ve got six games left, we’re confident, and that win will do us the power of good. Hopefully, it’s the springboard to more wins.”

Having beaten a team now second-bottom of Division Two, Yorkshire will be strongly fancied to go back-to-back against a Derbyshire side that are propping up the pile.

Derbyshire have yet to win this season after two defeats and six draws, with third-placed Yorkshire now just 33 points behind leaders Sussex, and only 25 behind Middlesex in the second and final promotion place.

Yorkshire won on their last visit to Chesterfield in June last year, captain Shan Masood leading the way with an unbeaten 95 in a three-wicket chase.

Masood missed the Gloucestershire game with concussion after being struck on the helmet in the T20 Blast match against Lancashire at Headingley a week last Thursday, but he is expected to return to face his former club.

“Hopefully, we can back up last week, but winning is hard,” emphasised Gibson.

“Winning in first-class cricket is very, very hard and we know that because we’ve not had many wins.

“Even Zaman Akhter (the Gloucestershire tail-ender, who top-scored with 70 on day four at Scarborough) made it hard for us at the end.

“We’ve had our ups and downs, but I’ve kept saying that I feel like we’re doing some good things and not getting across the line, so it was really pleasing to get across the line on that occasion.”

Victory at Chesterfield would put Yorkshire back on course after a disappointing first half of the season in which they failed to find their cutting edge.

Although the pre-season title favourites several times constructed winning positions, they were unable to seize their chances - a situation compounded by bad weather at times and injuries to key bowlers.

Yorkshire could put themselves right on the coat-tails of second place with another win this week. They would then need two more from their last five games, by Gibson’s calculation, against Sussex at Scarborough, Middlesex at Headingley, Leicestershire at Grace Road, Glamorgan at Cardiff, and Northamptonshire at Headingley.

Also in line to play against his former club at Chesterfield is Conor McKerr, who had spells at Derbyshire in 2017, 2021 and also last year.

The Surrey loanee played three Championship and seven T20s for them, taking 21 wickets.

McKerr, the 26-year-old pace bowler, impressed on his Yorkshire Championship debut at Scarborough, claiming five wickets in the match.

He has outlined his desire to make the move permanent - as has Gibson - and is set to feature at Chesterfield alongside Vishwa Fernando, the Sri Lanka pace bowler, who is due to play the last of a three-match spell as an overseas player.

“I think he’s done well,” said Gibson of Fernando, who took three wickets against Gloucestershire and five at Northamptonshire.

“Like McKerr, he adds a different dimension to the attack – in his case, the variety of his left-arm bowling.

“Last year we wanted to sign a left-arm overseas; we looked at (Neil) Wagner and he got injured and now he’s retired, so to get him in (Fernando) has just added that different dimension.

“He’s bowled well in the two games he’s played, so I’m very pleased for him.”

Success at Scarborough eased some of the stress on Gibson, who had faith that a win would finally materialise. It was his fifth in the Championship since taking charge in 2022, and although Yorkshire have struggled for results again this year, they remain well placed to achieve promotion.

“I don’t worry about things as much as perhaps the players do, because they’re the ones out on the grass playing,” he said. “I’m happy for them, first and foremost, that they’ve won because they’ve done a lot of good things to win.

“Yes, I’m delighted on a personal level, but the players are the guys who put all the work in.

“The support staff, Ali (Maiden) and myself and Tom (Smith) with the seconds, we just try and create the environment for them to go out and be the best versions of themselves, to express themselves and hopefully have fun, and you could see they were having fun in the last match and there was a really good atmosphere out on the field.”