Yorkshire will find out tomorrow night whether or not they will have all-rounder Tim Bresnan available to them for Saturday's Friends Life t20 Finals Day at Cardiff.
The England management will reassess the fitness of various players in their one-day international squad following tomorrow's clash with South Africa at the same venue to see whether Bresnan can be released for county duty, starting with an 11am semi-final against Sussex.
It had been the Yorkshire management’s understanding that that would be the case from the start of the week, but they were surprised by the wording of an ECB media release on Wednesday afternoon regarding international player availability.
While Jonny Bairstow, Craig Kieswetter, Jos Buttler, Matt Prior and Danny Briggs were all made available for Finals Day, “unavailable” was placed next to Bresnan’s name.
Director of professional cricket Martyn Moxon sought immediate clarification on the matter after being made aware of it after Wednesday’s Clydesdale Bank 40 defeat against Kent at Canterbury , and the ECB’s stance was changed this morning.
“Final decision on availability for Finals Day will be taken after the Cardiff ODI” was placed next to Bresnan’s name on the availability list on their website.
Having Bresnan available to face Sussex, and hopefully either Hampshire or Somerset, would be a major boost to Yorkshire, especially with star bowler Mitchell Starc being unavailable due to Australian commitments.
Should he not be released for duty, Rich Pyrah would be the most likely beneficiary.
“It’s not ideal not having two of your players involved in training the day before a big game,” said Moxon, also referring to Bairstow.
“But, having said that, Sussex have got to play Championship cricket the day before, so their preparations are not perfect either. You’ve got to deal with it haven’t you?
“Tim’s an international cricketer, so he will definitely be an asset to us if he’s available. Having said that, we’ve got to where we are without him. If he’s available, great. If not, we’ve got the players capable of winning the games for us.”
Despite successive 40-over defeats against Sussex and Kent, Yorkshire are in confident mood ahead of Saturday's showpiece occasion, having won eight of their 11 t20 matches this season - more than the other three teams present at Cardiff.
“The boys have played fantastically well to get there, and hopefully we can carry on the form we’ve shown,” added Moxon.
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