Graves' comments justified as Yorkshire begin to lick wounds

Colin Graves, chairman of Yorkshire CCC, has launched a scathing attack on the county's players after their relegation to Division Two of the County Championship was sealed by Worcestershire claiming a bowling bonus point in their match against Durham.

Graves, who also founded the supermarket chain Costcutter, has labelled the players' performances as "a disgrace", whilst he signalled out players who have been in and around the international team as those who have underperformed.

Some fans of the White Rose county have leapt to the defence of the players, citing other reasons for the team's failure to remain in Division One.

The main argument stems from the club's failure to secure a replacement for Jacques Rudolph. The South African, who had been the side's talisman for the previous few seasons, left the team in the winter after he expressed his desire to try and regain his place in the Proteas squad. 

Yorkshire's economic troubles are no secret, and therefore trying to find a replacement wasn't a viable option. Instead, the onus to try and repeat the relatively successful season of 2010 was put on a talented group of younger players, many of whom have played for or have been linked with international set-up.

However, it is these players who have ultimately performed consistently poorly throughout the season:

Anthony McGrath (485 runs @ 21.08)- After years of being Yorkshire's Mr. Reliable, the middle-order batsman has, this season, been in horrendous form, and I for one cannot understand why he was continuously selected. His statistics are boosted by a century that he scored on a Rose Bowl wicket that yielded 1,171 for the loss of only 13 wickets over four days, whilst he has only one other score of over fifty from his 23 innings'. A truly abysmal season for the ex-England man.

Adam Lyth (553 runs @ 26.33)- In 2010, Lyth was the first man in the country to reach 1000 first-class runs. Less than a year later, he was struggling to regain his place in Yorkshire's first eleven. Lyth's constant failure to convert starts into big scores has meant that he has gone from being a man who was touted as a possible Ashes tourist to a batsman who has to start re-building his career in the second tier of Championship cricket.

Rashid has had arguably his worst
season for the Tykes in 2011.

Adil Rashid (556 runs @ 24.17, 39 wickets @ 43.38)- Rashid began the season with a bang as he took eleven wickets at Worcester in a convincing victory for the White Rose. However, a return of 28 wickets from his next 15 matches would be poor by anyone's standards, and Rashid's hopes of forging a career in the national side seem to be fading fast. He seems to have developed a fear of tossing the ball up, and is instead bowling much flatter, meaning his chances of claiming wickets have diminished considerably. A relatively poor season with the bat hasn't helped lift the spirits of the leg-spinning all-rounder.

Ajmal Shahzad (25 wickets @ 41.00)- After a promising World Cup in the sub-continent, many Headingley patrons would have been excused for hoping that Shahzad could take the wickets that would propel the team towards the Championship title. However, a mixture of injuries and poor form has meant that the seamer has fallen down the England pecking order and needs a big season in Division Two to prove he isn't just a one-day specialist.

Other players, including bowlers Steven Patterson and Oliver Hannon-Dalby, have failed to live up to expectations, whilst Joe Sayers and captain Andrew Gale have had ordinary seasons at best.

It's not all doom and gloom though, as some of the younger players have impressed.

Bairstow's performances have put a
rare smile on Yorkshire fans' faces

Wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow passed 1000 runs for the season and was rewarded for his form with a call-up to the England one-day squad for the trip to Ireland, whilst Joe Root recovered from a slow start to finish the season with an England Lions call-up and a large group of admirers.

Gary Ballance has also had a good maiden season as he passed fifty at least once in almost every match he featured in, and a century at Edgbaston in the penultimate match of the campaign was just reward for an encouraging season.

At the other end of the age spectrum, the returning Ryan Sidebottom picked up 62 wickets, and his experience could be key as the Tykes look to return to Division One at the first attempt.

Graves' comments should be a wake-up call to those that have underperformed this season, and hopefully 2012 will not see a repeat of the car crash that was the 2011 campaign at the Headingley Carnegie stadium.