DAVID Willey admits it will feel strange facing his former county Northamptonshire today as he looks to help kick-start Yorkshire's limited-overs campaign.
Northampton-born Willey built a reputation as one of England's most prized all-rounders while at Wantage Road.
But he opted for pastures new towards the end of last summer in a bid to enhance a career which has seen him labelled as a white-ball specialist.
He signed for the county champions ahead of this season with the aim of developing his four-day game. From Yorkshire's point of view, they saw him as the white knight who could lead them to white-ball silverware.
Unfortunately, neither has happened during a stunted start to 2016, with Willey yet to fire – largely due to three weeks out with an abdominal injury.
Yorkshire face Northants in the 50-over Royal London Cup at Scarborough today and it would be no surprise if Willey, 25, proved the star attraction.
"It will be strange playing against some former team-mates – but that's sport," he said.
"There are plenty of occasions when you play against people you've played with, so you just have to crack on.
"It's going to be a big game for us after a washout and a poor result. We really need to get some wins on the board."
Willey has played at Scarborough once before, in a 40-over defeat for Northants in 2010. He was even dismissed by Rich Pyrah for a golden duck, describing it as the coldest he has ever been on a cricket field.
He said: "It's been a frustrating start to the season. I had a bit of time off and played the one Championship game, picked up a niggle in the second and missed the last few weeks.
"But I'm fit again and hopefully I can start putting in some decent performances."
Willey points to player availability and still finding a method of play as key reasons why Yorkshire's current crop have not yet cracked it in limited-overs cricket.
He also believes it is hard for clubs who focus heavily on Championship cricket to compete across the board.
Willey said: "There's a lot of cricket in a season; too much, in my opinion. You've got to rotate and rest players and that has a knock-on effect.
"When you've got a big bunch of four-day cricket and then one-day cricket immediately afterwards, guys who've played the four-dayers will need a break. It is difficult.
"I know when I was at Northants, the back end of my time there, they weren't really interested in the results in four-day cricket. It was solely about one-day cricket. As you can see, they are doing very well in that.
"A lot of it's momentum. If you get off to a winning start, that sets the tone.
"I think as well you have to be pretty selfless. You may have to take a risk that costs you personally. If it costs you your wicket, you've got to do that and really put into the team, whatever that may be – batting, bowling or fielding.
"I think that's something that the smaller clubs do particularly well. Hopefully I can drip-feed that sort of approach into the Yorkshire dressing room."
Yorkshire: from Lees (c), Ballance, Bresnan, Carver, Coad, Hodd (w), Leaning, Lyth, Patterson, Plunkett, Rashid, Rhodes, Willey, Williamson.
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