ADAM LYTH: Tykes set for crucial week

The 50-over format suits the way that Yorkshire play and we have done very well in the Royal London One Day Cup this season, only losing out to Essex at Scarborough and Gloucestershire at Headingley, and both those sides have already progressed to the final eight of the competition.

We booked our place in the quarter-finals with a fine win at the Ageas Bowl against Hampshire which saw us take a well-deserved rest for a few days afterwards.

The games have been coming thick and fast before this match so to take three or four days catching up with your friends and family is good for all of us.

It helps you come back fresh to training ahead of the quarter-finals.

We have won one game and lost one against Durham this season in the t20 Blast, but the longer format in this competition is good for us as it gives the batsmen more time to get in.

There should be a good crowd for the game which will add to the atmosphere, and if we can go all the way to Lord’s in the final it would be great.

We also have our eyes firmly set on the run-in for the LV County Championship first division title, with the final three matches all cup finals for us.

We have the Roses clash starting on Sunday followed by a big game against rivals Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, finished off with a home game with Somerset.

The approach we are taking at present is very much to tackle each game and in fact each day and session of the match as it comes and not get too far ahead of ourselves.

The Lancashire game is very important for both sides as they need a win to stay away from the relegation zone so it should make for a thrilling contest.

If they earned a win then they could pull clear of second-from-bottom Durham, and if we win then we can give ourselves daylight ahead of our rivals Nottinghamshire, who are playing away at Durham.

Last season we lost our game to Durham and this proved to be the turning point in the season as they went on a great run and won the title.

If you can get in front at this stage of the season it puts a lot of pressure on the chasing pack as there is a lot at stake.

There is still a lot of games to be played and hopefully we will continue to play good cricket and be in a position to pick up the trophy at the end of the season.

The t20 Blast finals day was another exciting occasion, with Birmingham Bears’ home advantage possibly playing a large part in their victory against Lancashire.

Having been part of the t20 finals in the past with Yorkshire I can recall how quickly it goes with two matches in one day for the finalists.

It was a very good final on Saturday, the fact that Birmingham could call upon their England stars Ian Bell and Chris Woakes was a big factor, though it was also very good to see Andrew Flintoff back on form.

Hopefully if we get to the latter stages of the Royal London One Day Cup then we will have the likes of Joe Root and Gary Ballance available, which would be great news for the team as they have both been in superb form with the bat for England this summer.