Sayers a positive as Tykes struggle (From Advertiser Series)

Sayers a positive as Tykes struggle

3:30pm Sunday 5th July 2009

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Joe Sayers believes a winter of “soul searching” has helped make him a far better player.

The Yorkshire batsman has been one of the few highlights in County Championship cricket, scoring two big hundreds against Warwickshire and Somerset.

The 25-year-old had a similarly prolific run in 2007, that time scoring three hundreds in five matches, but struggled to hold down a place last season, when he played just six four-day matches.

“It was a very frustrating and very difficult time for me but I did some soul searching over the winter and feel that I’ve come through it a better player and a stronger player,” said Sayers, who hit 173 at Edgbaston and 152 at Taunton this week.

“Losing your place in the first 11 is always a low point. If I was to pick bad moments for me then that was one of them but 2008 was a difficult year in general. It took a lot of graft and patience to get through.”

Sayers also did plenty of technical work during the off-season, opening up his grip to enable him to play more through the off-side.

“I think there have been quite a few technical improvements and that has come from the work I’ve done with the two batting coaches, Martyn Moxon and Kevin Sharp, who’ve been a great support to me,” he said.

“Also, I’ve learnt what the best way to play for Joe Sayers is and have looked at why it had gone so well for me in the early part of 2007. Now it’s really about trusting that and keeping faith with it.

“I’m very pleased with my form. We’re not even halfway through the season yet, so hopefully that will continue.

“I was really pleased to get the runs against Somerset and particularly pleased because, in a young side, I wanted to help lead the way.”

Yet no matter how happy Sayers is with his current form, he will currently be down in the dumps after the horror defeat at Somerset.

The hosts reached a mammoth 479 for six to record the second-biggest winning total in County Championship history.

That has plunged Yorkshire deep into the relegation mire ahead of Friday’s home match against LV Division One leaders Durham, the reigning champions.

Sayers said: “We have some time off before Durham. I’m getting away for a couple of days and putting the bats away before returning to training ahead of the game.”

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