Two successive Championships and a strong White Rose flavour to the national side and already they are wondering in the Broad Acres whether Yorkshire would beat England
Alan Gardner22-Sep-2015During the 2012 Olympics it became a popular exercise to work out where Yorkshire would be on the medal table if it were an independent country. For a good stretch of the Games they were ahead of Australia and, to general delight in the Broad Acres, the efforts of Jessica Ennis, Nicola Adams and the Brownlee brothers saw Yorkshire finish a very respectable (and entirely theoretical) 12th.That same summer, Jason Gillespie got started on the business of reviving Yorkshire cricket. Relegation in 2011 had provoked another famous Yorkshire characteristic: plain speaking. Colin Graves, the club’s chairman, called performances a “disgrace”, and although what followed was hardly the doldrums – a year in Division Two, during which they were unbeaten – it was easier to express pride in Yorkshire’s Olympians than their cricketers.Three years on and Yorkshire have celebrated back-to-back Championship titles for the first time since the 1960s, when God’s Own County seemingly had a divine right to the trophy. To the surprise of no one, Yorkshiremen all over the land are rather happy again. Their bubble may have been burst by defeat at Lord’s three days after retaining the pennant – thus allowing Yorkshire supporters the existential ambrosia of being able to crow and grumble at the same time – but by then the nationhood question had raised its flat-capped head once again.Essentially, could Yorkshire beat England?Club-versus-country arguments in English cricket have become less vociferous since the advent of central contracts but the rumblings were there at the start of the season, when six Yorkshire players were whisked off to the Caribbean just as the Championship began. To make matters worse, England only deigned to pick three of them against West Indies. In all, Yorkshire donated seven of their number to the national team over the summer but shrugged off such privations (eventually) to win the title with two and a half games to spare.Where would Yorkshire rank as a Test nation, asked the agents provocateur excitedly on Twitter. Joe Root had led the way with the bat as England regained the Ashes but what if he swapped his brilliant-whites for the White Rose and took guard against Jimmy and Broady?It is here we move back into the realms of the hypothetical. England would clearly have to allow the likes of Root, Jonny Bairstow and Adil Rashid to turn out for their county – you might say they began the process this summer by unceremoniously handing back Adam Lyth and Gary Ballance – but who would take their places? And where would the match be played? Headingley would only provide one of the two with home advantage, while Lord’s, the only place Yorkshire have lost over the last couple of years, seems the natural counterbalance. Perhaps the Midlands could host a series decider.England actually lined up against county opposition in recent years, generally avoiding embarrassment during drawn Ashes warm-up matches, against Warwickshire in 2009 and Essex in 2013. This would not be quite the same as making a few runs against Naqaash Tahir or struggling to dismiss Jaik Mickleburgh, however.Many feel that Ryan Sidebottom is still wily enough to perform in Tests and he would surely give Alastair Cook, who is regularly troubled by left-arm seam, a thorough working over. Rashid has not yet been trusted at that level, but given how often English batsmen have been befuddled by legspin over the years, he would have a decent chance of upstaging Moeen Ali.While the first-class stats of England’s Yorkshire replacements in the batting order* – Alex Hales, James Taylor and James Vince – stand up to scrutiny, the inclusion of all three in the Test side would perhaps best be described as experimental. And while Jos Buttler is the England incumbent behind the stumps, Jonny Bairstow’s 1071 Championship runs at an average of more than 100 suggests Yorkshire would have the form man.Yorkshire can rely on passionate support at Headingley, as Gary Ballance can testify•Getty ImagesShould James Hildreth get a mention? Who decided to drop Steven Finn? Could Yorkshire still field an overseas player? These are all imponderables that I am going to ask here before you do.It’s unfortunate, at least in the matter of petty parochial rivalries, that there is only one Lancastrian in the England XI – though Jimmy Anderson would happily wage a War of the Roses on his own. This selection also features a broad mix of north and south, which might produce an inclusive and harmonious environment that blends together the best aspects of the United Kingdom; or quite possibly see their weak regional bonds torn apart by the juggernaut belligerence of England’s largest county.Then again, as David Cameron alluded to in his surprisingly astute/gravely offensive (delete as preferred) comments about Yorkshire folk last week, membership of the White Rose is hardly a guarantee of unity. Both the Yorkshire committee and the ECB seem to have put the infighting behind them but the chances of the cricket not being overshadowed by a barney must be minimal during what many are already calling the hold-a-grudge match.Anyway, the lobbying for this fixture to replace the MCC-Champion County match at the start of the season begins here. The only thing that we can agree on is total disagreement. You can, of course, have your druthers below.*As selected on last week’s county blogEngland (probable) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Ian Bell, 4 James Taylor, 5 James Vince, 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Jos Buttler, 8 Moeen Ali, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Mark Wood, 11 James AndersonYorkshire (probable) 1 Adam Lyth, 2 Alex Lees, 3 Gary Ballance, 4 Joe Root, 5 Andrew Gale (capt), 6 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 7 Adil Rashid, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Liam Plunkett, 10 Jack Brooks, 11 Ryan Sidebottom
