YORKSHIRE will be boosted by the return of Jonny Bairstow when the Vitality County Championship returns after a six-week hiatus at Scarborough over the coming days.

The 34-year-old is set to make a first appearance of the season for his home county in their crunch clash with Division Two leaders Sussex as the battle for promotion to the top flight continues to hot up.

Play will get underway at North Marine Road from Thursday morning (August 22), with wickets pitched at 11am.

Bairstow, who attended St Peter’s School, has played just two first-class games for Yorkshire since 2020 due to his England and IPL commitments.

Recently dropped by England after a string of poor performances, he took a short break from the sport between the T20 world cup and recent Hundred competition, in which his Welsh Fire finished sixth.

Yorkshire coach Ottis Gibson told the club: “When he was coming back from his injury last year, our medical team and coaches, everybody associated with the club, helped him get back into the England fold.

“If it’s that we need to do that again with him, give him some love and get him into a position where he puts good performances in, everybody benefits from that.

“Jonny Bairstow is a serious cricketer anyway, but when he has a point to prove he’s even more dangerous.”