LEEDS, CMC – Yorkshire managing director Darren Gough hailed the signing of West Indies One-day International captain Shai Hope on a short-term overseas contract for the start of the English County Championship Thursday.
Yorkshire announced on Wednesday that Hope, 29, will be available for its first three English county championship matches, beginning with the season opener against Leicestershire on home soil at Headingley.
Gough, the former England pacer, said Hope was an excellent signing for the club, aiming to return to Division 1 of the Championship after they were relegated last season.
“He is a great signing,” Gough said. “He brings so much experience – one thing we lack is just a little bit of experience, so he just gives us that and comes into the squad for this first game.”
Hope will have fond memories of Headingley, where six years ago, he became the first player to score two hundred in the exact first-class match while playing for West Indies against hosts England.
Hope scored 147 and 118 not out, and West Indies pulled off a remarkable victory in the first day-night Test staged in England.
“We felt we needed just the one experienced face in, and we went for Shai,” Gough added. “He has been playing well for West Indies in one-day matches. He has a record of playing Test cricket – he had his two hundred at Headingley before for the West Indies.”
Hope returned home only a few days ago from playing for West Indies against hosts South Africa in a three-match ODI series, which his side lost – but Gough said he grabbed the opportunity to come to the club, where his coach will be former Barbados and West Indies all-rounder, Ottis Gibson.
“Hope just got home a few days ago, so it’s a straight turnaround,” Gough said. “He will have to adjust to playing the red ball from the white ball, but he is a fantastic player, and it’s good to have someone of his quality to come in at short notice for three games.”
Meantime, Gibson urged his side to head into their season opener against Leicestershire with confidence, but not over-confidence.
“I don’t think we will start expecting to win,” Gibson said. “We expect to play four good days of cricket, and hopefully, in the end, we’ve done enough to win.
“The thing in the second division, there are teams who have taken a long time to get out. Nottinghamshire had been in there for a while, and Middlesex. They didn’t just go down and come straight back up.”
He said: “It would be wrong just to expect that we will go down and come straight back up, but of course, that’s what we want to do.
“We must play well and be a positive team to get results. The second division is not an easy place to play. We want to get out of it at the first attempt, but our mentality has to be right.”
Gibson said Yorkshire could not afford to take things for granted because there are some tough teams in the division, and all have the same objective.
“I’ve said to the guys in the dressing room that I came in this time last year, and, of course, as a coach, you’re trying to build relationships and trust as quickly as possible,” he said.
“I didn’t have the opportunity for a pre-season, and I had to trust them. This year is different. I’ve had six months with them in the indoor school and have seen them grow as people, practice, and work hard.”
He said: “I know now where they are, I know their characters much better, and I know when I can push their buttons to get more out of them.
“I’ve answered many questions over the winter, and from my point of view, I’m more confident that we will play how I want us to.”
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