Playing Michael Yardy
There aren’t many bowlers in cricket like Michael Yardy he darts the ball in from wide of the wicket at the stumps and that’s pretty much it ball after ball. He’s often profiled as a spinner but in reality he’s more akin to a slow seam bowler, his most potent weapon is the consistency and accuracy of his bowling, if the batsman misses Yardy hits. The angle of the ball makes it difficult for the batsman to hit him on the offside as it affords them very little space and worse of course if they miss every ball is an almost certain candidate for lbw. Yardy’s unique bowling style and unflinching accuracy make for a tough combination to bat against, not everyone is up the the challenge.
The safe option for the batsman is to play straight down the ground but England use his consistency and accuracy to pack the onside and cut off the singles for the batsman. There are two release options for the batsman but they are risky; if you play him off his pads you make yourself an instant lbw candidate, if you try and hit him out the ground well good luck to you. A quality international batsman will look to take Yardy out of the attack by hitting the ball straight back over his head but today the inexperienced batting of the Prime Minister’s XI put their wickets at risk by trying to work Yardy onto the offside for a single, three of them, including Tim Paine paid with their wickets. To take Yardy on properly you need courage and none of these young Australian batsman showed an ounce of it.
