'Can you do it on a Sunday in Derby?' - Bess

Dom Bess scored 53, his best T20 Blast score, in the defeat to Derbyshire on Sunday

The footballing cliche: "Can they do it on a rainy night in Stoke?" has gone down in folklore.

It evokes a memorable time in the Premier League, when beating Stoke City, an obdurate, physical side, was seen as a litmus test for title contenders.

For Yorkshire all-rounder Dom Bess, there is a cricketing comparison if you want a side to reach the quarter finals of a T20 Blast group.

"My challenge [to team-mates] is 'Can you do it on a Sunday afternoon against Derby?'" Bess said.

His words came after a frustrating afternoon for the Vikings, beaten comfortably by eight wickets against fellow North Group strugglers Derbyshire.

They had, just two days before, beaten rivals Lancashire Lightning in a thrilling Roses game at Old Trafford.

For Bess, who made his best T20 score with the bat in the game at Derby, making 53, the issue is inconsistency.

"I don't think it's pressure at all," Bess, who played 14 Tests for England, told BBC Radio Leeds.

"It's the day in, day out consistency of 'getting it done'. I'm part of that, as a senior player now.

"We've never cruised through to a quarter-final, it's always been on the edge."

Yorkshire's defeat to Derbyshire on Sunday was their eighth of the T20 Blast

Yorkshire are second bottom of the North Group, having won just four games this season and are already out of contention for a top four place.

They have never won the competition and have only reached three Finals Days, the last in 2022.

The 27-year-old added: "We've got the players, but every game counts and it's been frustrating, because it's another year [gone]."

Bess joined Yorkshire in 2021 from Somerset, and his former side are now one of the most consistent teams in the competition.

"When I started at Somerset, we were 'umming and ahhing', and now they are on a run when they know what they're doing, the consistency is there, and they have already reached the quarter finals," said Bess.

"It's interesting, seeing that as a young player, we all know we've got the ability, it's about piecing it together.

"We've got the players, you've seen how Will Luxton and James Wharton can hit the ball, we know what we are capable of."

The Vikings play Lancashire again on Thursday, before travelling to Leicestershire on the final day of the pool stages on Friday.