Preview: Yorkshire Vikings v Birmingham Bears (Edgbaston)

The Vikings travel to Edgbaston on Saturday for the Vitality Blasts brand of new innovation, two games a day – both in front of the Sky Sports cameras and in front of the big crowd – to kick off the competition in blockbuster style.

Derbyshire Falcons v Lancashire Lightning (2.30pm) will be followed by Birmingham Bears hosting Yorkshire under the floodlights, with Pakistan batting star Masood taking charge of his new district for only the second time.

It will be interesting, said former Falcon Masood. It’s a good idea to get people engaged and we should try it. If it works, that’s amazing. If not, it doesn’t matter.

It would be nice to meet my old municipality. They play before us and I’ll be there.

It’s an exciting day and we have two quality matches. And it’s in Edgbaston. I love playing there.

Yorkshire return to where they finished in last year’s event, beaten in a high-scoring morning semi-final on Finals Day by Lancashire.

Masood, who has replaced David Willey as Blast skipper, will be confident of his return on finals day, hoping to go much deeper into the day and lift Yorkshire’s maiden Blast title and their first limited overs silverware since 2002.

Shan Masood pictured with New Yorkshire Vikings during the T20 Media Day 2023 at Headingley Cricket Ground.

I think they belonged in all departments, he said in his assessment of the Yorkshires team.

You are asking for good bowlers who are flexible in T20 cricket. I’m not necessarily looking at one type of strike rate, I’m looking at batters that are flexible and can work in any role and situation. We have it.

We have world class players in the batting department. We have the leg spinner (either Jafer Chohan’s Adil Rashid) which is always a treat in T20 cricket.

We also have decent seamers who know how to bowl well at the top and finish well.

Then the guru David Wiese was coming.

I’m going to lean on him a lot. I have seen what Lahore Qalandars do from afar in PSL. Shaheen (Shah Afridi) is a great captain but he uses a lot of Wiese’s brain. I think I give him a lot of care.

He’s a world-class player and I’m excited to play with him for the trade and not against him.

Yorkshire Vikings T20 Team Picture 2023: Back Row (L-R) – Jafer Chohan, James Wharton, Dominic Leech, George Hill, Finlay Bean, Mickey Edwards, Matthew Revis, Ben Cliff, Ben Mike, Jack Shutt, Harry Duke.
Front Row (L-R) – Will Luxton, Will Fraine, Ben Coad, Matthew Fisher, Dawid Malan, Shan Masood, Adam Lyth, Dom Bess, Jordan Thompson, Jonathan Tattersall, Matthew Milnes.

As the Blast began in general, Masood continued: I am very excited. T20 has been one format that I have played a lot in recent years. If I’m correct I’ve played close to 60 games since the start of last summer at Derby.

It’s a format that I’ve gained a lot from as a player and grown a lot from.

We had a lot of success with Derby last year, we got to the quarter-finals, and I hope that whatever I gained and learned from that experience, we can apply it in Yorkshire and combine it with the quality that’s already there. at hand.

I’ve had a good couple of years in T20 cricket and I’d like to take that forward in Yorkshire.

Just like at Yorkshire last year with Blast Gloria, Masood himself has gone close to success a few times recently.

After winning the Pakistan Super League with Multan in 2021, they have been beaten as finalists in the last two years. Notably, he played in Pakistan’s T20 World Cup final loss to England in Melbourne in November just out.

The World Cup was very close, and it still hurts, because I feel that many times in that game we were shouting along, he reflects.

We played some brilliant cricket in that game.

It will be interesting to see where Masood hits for Yorkshire in the Blast.

He opened for Derbyshire last year and scored 547 runs in 14 matches, including five fifties. In Pakistan’s World Cup, he batted with four. He scored the best goal of the final with 38.

With Dawid Malan and Adam Lyth available on Saturday, he may not face the new ball. But it’s not something he’s stuck with.

I am flexible, he added. I had a lot of success as an opener, but when I put my hand up for the middle position in Pakistan, it worked for me.

I’m not going to focus on one position because I feel like if you do that, you make yourself one-dimensional. I do not want it.

When I was playing T20 cricket in the last year, I have batted from one to four and done equally well in all positions. I am happy to bat where the team requires me.

2014 champions Birmingham topped Group North last season, with Yorkshire finishing fourth. But they lost their quarter-final at home to eventual champions Hampshire, who won by just 82 from 187.

Former Viking Glenn Maxwell has been signed as one of their two overseas players but will not be available until the end of the month due to IPL commitments.

Ireland’s Paul Stirling will act as cover and play this weekend, while Pakistan fast bowler Hassan Ali has been with the county since the start of the season and is available until the end of July.

The Bears and Vikings have traded 10-point wins in the last two Blast games at Edgbaston. Yorkshire won in recent years chasing 102. The now departed Willey took three wickets and Lyth hit an unbeaten 58.