County championship Yorkshire v Essex September 12-15th

Neil Whitaker reports from Headingley

Day 1

ESSEX’ Sam Cook became the first English born bowler to take 200 First Class wickets at an average of under 20 for 50 years since Alan Ward on the first day at Headingley.

His 200th victim was Tom Kohler-Cadmore who pushed at him and found his outside edge and Dan Lawrence at third slip took a low catch. Kohler-Cadmore had  got off the mark with a four through extra cover off  Jamie Porter but didn’t score another boundary in his innings despite repeatedly advancing down the pitch to the bowlers.  

Essex head coach Anthony McGrath said: “He’s had a really  good season and continues to improve. He works hard, the amount of wickets he’s taken is a testament to how hard he has worked and he is getting his rewards for that.  He didn’t know about the record until he left the field.  It’s great for him but he just focuses on the team because he is a humble man.”

Cook finished the innings with three for 21.  His first victim was Finlay Bean who edged him to stumper Adam Rossington who took a low catch moving to his left.  His last victim of the innings was George Hill who top scored for Yorkshire with 36. Cook got one to seam back at Hill who he squared up and Rossington took his third catch of the innings.  Hill’s 36 came from 76 balls in 111 minutes and included five fours the last of which came from his penultimate ball.

His final victim was Jack Shutt who was the last Yorkshire wicket to fall. Former captain Steve Patterson got off the mark by cutting Ben Allison to the point boundary and was unbeaten on 10 when Shutt played across a straight ball from and was leg before.

Yorkshire were put in after Essex won the toss on a murky morning made two changes from the Roses match: Matt Revis replaced Matt Waite and Shutt came in for Dom Bess.

Adam Lyth edged Porter through the slips for a boundary to open Yorkshire’s account in the third over.  Yorkshire lost their second wicket when Lyth played at one from Porter that he should have left and Rossington took a comfortable catch.

Yorkshire lost their fourth wicket of the morning when Will Fraine was squared up by Shane Snater and was bowled.  Snater got his second wicket when he  angled one in at Matt Revis that glanced the face of his bat and Rossington took another catch.

Yorkshire captain Jonny Tattersall whipped Snater to the mid wicket boundary to bring up the Yorkshire hundred but he lost his off stump to Snater’s next ball which nearly hit Rossington

Allison joined the party when Jordan Thompson played an expansive drive at him, edged it and Sir Alaister Cook took a tumbling catch at first slip.

Ben Coad got off the mark by driving Snater to the extra cover boundary and he finished the over with an elegant drive to the long off boundary. In Snater’s next over Coad stood and delivered him into the Howard stand for a straight six.  He was dismissed in a bizarre way when he fended off a bouncer from Allison on to his stumps.

The rain came during the tea interval and after two inspections play for the day was abandoned at 5.00.

McGarth added: “This morning the conditions weren't great and at Headingley the overhead conditions dictate the play but you’ve still to get the ball in the right areas because Headingley is a fast scoring ground.  We picked up wickets constantly but we’ve got to make sure that we bat well tomorrow.  We’ve three days left and Yorkshire have a good attack and the key is getting through the new ball.

We want to finish off the season as well as we can and get as high in the table as we can so every game is important.”

Yorkshire’s assistant coach Ali Maiden said: “At the start of the day, there was potentially some rain around and overhead conditions weren’t great. And it was hard work. It was hard work throughout the day against a bit of swing and seam.  It wasn’t excessive, but it did a bit all day. The pace of the pitch as well. It’s not a fast pitch, it’s one which has been used previously earlier in the season.  It was just hard going. Kohler-Cadmore, for example, batted for a long time and couldn’t score. 

Hill played really nicely. He got into some good positions forwards and back and moved his feet. But he just got a ball which seamed a bit. There was always a ball with your name on it.

We think we’re right in the game. Tomorrow, whatever the overhead conditions are like, that pitch has been undercover for a long time with lots of rain around. In the morning, we’re going to come and try to take a few wickets and put them under pressure. 

If the sun comes out, that pitch has still been under cover a lot over the last two days. There’s still a lot of moisture around. It’s not going to be 25 degrees and baking hot, so it will still do plenty in the morning. As long as we put the ball in the right areas, we’ll be in the game.”

Before play started there was a minute's silence for the late Queen.

Day 2

A SEVENTH wicket partnership of 75 in 15 overs between Dan  Lawrence and Shane  Snater rescued the Essex innings when they looked to be struggling to draw level with Yorkshire but they got a first innings lead of 91.

When Snater joined Lawrence, who was on 25, Essex had lost three wickets for  26 runs in seven overs.  After a shaky start Snater gained confidence and caught Lawrence up and overtook him.

Snater pulled Steven  Patterson to the longest boundary that kept. Matt Revis on the boundary edge interested but when he caught it when he was a couple of metres over the rope to take Essex into the lead.  The next two balls were boundaries. He hit consecutive boundaries off Revis’ next over the first was straight and the second he top edged to the third man boundary. In Revis’ next over Snater got a leading edge and the ball could have gone anywhere but Snater got a couple.

His departure was rather meek when he pulled George Hill to substitute Ben Mike at short mid wicket.  He fell four short off his fifty from 48 balls with that six and six fours.  With Lawrence they added 75 in 66 balls.

Lawrence said: “It’s fairly even at the moment. The big first hour tomorrow is going to be important in the outcome of the game. If they can get through it and set us a decent total, it could be quite tricky in the last innings. But a few breakthroughs early and the game opens right up for us.

Snater’s naturally very aggressive anyway. It was actually quite hard for me to score with straight fields and men on the boundary. Shane was the obvious choice to go and do it. He played brilliantly. It was a really, really important partnership for us in the game.”

Lawrence made an early appearance at the crease coming at the fall of his captain’s Tom Westley’s  wicket in the 17th over of the day.   Westley was. Jordan  Thompson’s second victim of the day when he trapped Westley leg before.  Westley’s wicket came at the moment when Westley with Cook seemed to have weathered the Yorkshire storm and they were looking in command.

He got off the mark with a classic drive to the extra cover boundary off Thompson.  He showed the face off his bat to Ben Coad through and thumped him  through    mid wicket and collected three and in the next over he drove Thompson beautifully straight, the ball  evadeing Patterson on its way to the boundary.

Lawrence drove Jack Shutt off his back foot to the cover boundary to bring up his fifty from 118 balls in 170 minutes with eight fours.  His innings ended when he nibbled at one outside his off stump from Hill and Jonny Tattersall took a low catch diving forward. His 61 included eight fours  from 145 balls in 207 minutes. 

Lawrence added: “It’s been pretty frustrating for me this summer, but it was nice to get some time in the middle and score some runs.”

The only chance he gave  was when he was on 29 and pushed Coad on the offside and set for a quick single but as he got nearer to the bowler’s end Lawrence gave it up but the underarm throw missed the stumps.

After the partnership between Lawrence and Snater, Ben Allison, a capable tailender, decided to have some fun.  With Lawrence he added 29 and with Jamie Porter they added 16.    Allison was squared up by Thompson and was plumb leg before, the eighth leg victim of the innings. Hill took his third wicket when Sam  Cook had a wild swing and edged him to Tattersall.

Yorkshire got off to a fantastic start when Thompson got the wicket of Nick  Brown with his first ball when he beat Brown for pace and knocked his off stump cartwheeling out of the ground.

Sit Alastair Cook got off the mark with a nervous boundary through the slips off Thompson.  He edged Patterson’s first ball but Tom  Kohler-Cadmore at first slip was late to react and the ball ran to the boundary.

After his seventh over which cost him 10 runs and his previous six cost him eight runs Ben Coad was taken out of the attack.

For the seventh time out of seven Championship matches, including twice in one and none in another, Patterson dismissed Alastair Cook.  This time Cook was leg before when  he missed a straight one.

Matt Critchley drove Revis’ first ball to the extra cover boundary and also clipped him to the mid wicket boundary as he and Lawrence set about rebuilding the Essex innings.  They added 30 in overs until the third ball after lunch when Critchley got stuck on his crease and was leg before to Thompson.

Feroze Kushi became Coad’s 200th first class victim in the next over. After flicking Coad to the mid wicket boundary, Adam  Rossington was leg before to a straight ball that didn’t rise at all.

With 28 overs left in the day and trailing by 91 Yorkshire lost their first wicket when Lyth moved across his stumps and opened the face of his bat and Rossington took a comfortable catch off Sam Cook.

Finlay Bean flashed at one from Allison which Rossington and the slips went up for a catch but umpire Rob White had called a no ball.  In the next over   Bean had another peice of luck when he edged Snater between Rossington and Alastair Cook at first slip.  He thumped the next ball to the point boundary.  With three  balls left in the day Hill played at a wide ball from Porter and Alastair Cook took a low catch at first slip to leave Yorkshire with eight wickets standing four behind.

Day 3

SHANE Snater’s unbeaten 68 guided Essex to a one wicket victory over Yorkshire, their first Championship  victory at Headingley since 1984  with 3.5 overs left in the day and a day to spare.

He said: “I got lucky with a few chances and rode my luck. But thankfully I got us to the end. The pitch was doing quite a bit, so I just tried to be as attacking as I could. I wanted to get them before they got me. It was always going to be a big ask (from 64-6), but I went out there and tried to play freely. It was a great effort from Ben Allison as well. He stuck to it and played some nice shots.

It was a great game in the end which turned both ways from day one. Fair play to them, they bowled really well. From the start, it was a new ball wicket, so the openers were looking to see the new ball off. As we saw, once it got to 30-40 overs, the ball got soft and it was easier.”

When he came to the crease Essex were staring at defeat as they had lost four wickets for 14 runs in seven overs but an eighth wicket partnership of 61 in 15 overs between Snater and Ben Allison took Essex to the verge of  victory.

Snater was the aggressor like in his first innings partnership with Dan Lawrence, this time it was Allison who blocked and let him get on with it as he blasted the Yorkshire bowlers to the  boundaries, he also played delicate dabs to the boundaries as well. When the pair together the Yorkshire were up cheering but like any good partnership they silenced the home crowd.  They had a slice of luck when Allison saw his off stump cartwheeling out of the ground by George Hill but was relieved when he saw umpire Rob Bailey’s hand signalling a no ball.

Yorkshire Head coach Ottis  Gibson said: “The intensity and pressure of the game, these things happen. When it happens to you, it’s just unfortunate. But it’s never something you will point a finger for.”

But with six runs needed for victory he got an inside edge to Ben  Coad and Jonny  Tattersall took the catch. Five runs later Sam Cook went to win the match  but he drilled Patterson to Adam Lyth at short extra cover.

After his performances with the bat it was fitting that Snater should win the match when got Coad away on the on side for a single.

Needing 162 to win Essex made an awful start losing open Nick Brown to Jordan Thompson’s first ball for the second time in the match when he edged a drive to Will Fraine at third slip.

Sir Alastair Cook was joined by captain Tim Westley; they blunted the Yorkshire attack but they also got bogged down.  Westley became the first of Steven  Patterson’s five victims when he cut Patterson to   Matt Revis in the covers.  

Dan Lawrence looked in a confident mood saying the 162 was a stroll in the park, and quickly made 13 before he took a couple of steps down the pitch and yorked himself to Patterson.

Then it became a procession of batsmen to and from the hutch.   Matt  Critchley was the first of two ducks.  He drove Patterson straight and the veteran bowler took the catch as the ball was almost past him.

Feroze Kushi was plumb leg before to Coad and was knocked over by the ball.  Alastair Cook  cut Patterson to the point boundary his first aggressive shot of his innings, in trying to repeat the shot later in the over he only succeeded in guiding it to Tom Kohler-Cadmore at first slip.  Adam Rossington tried to repeat his Hundred form and blast Essex to victory but he took of steps down the pitch to Hill and thumped him  to short mid wicket where Fraine stuck his hands above his head and the ball stuck.

Coad top scored for Yorkshire with 69 and shared in an eighth wicket partnership of 80 in 16 overs to give him and his fellow bowlers something to defend. After lunch the pair aided by defensive fields added 54 in 10 overs.  Westley seamed more concerned with keeping the runs down than taking wickets. Coad hit five fours out of 27 off 30 balls as he and Revis took Yorkshire’s lead past 100. He had a big swing at leg spinner Critchley over mid on for a four he repeated the shot to the next ball with the same result as he brought up the fifty partnership in 10 overs.  If Critchley had the mid on deeper he would have got a wicket.

Coad pushed  Critchley out into the covers for his first Championship fifty which came from 51 balls in 30 minutes and included 10 fours. 

Essex got the breakthrough when Revis tried to turn Jamie Porter to leg but missed the ball and was comprehensively bowled as he lost his middle stump by one that kept low. 

Critchley got his third wicket when Coad tried to cut one that was too close to him and lost his off stump.  Coad’s 69 came from 70 balls in 65 minutes  with 10 fours.

Yorkshire were finally dismissed when Patterson feathered Porter to Rossington.  Porter finished with four for 61 and Critchley three for 59.

Yorkshire started the day 14 behind with eight second innings wickets standing, Tom  Kohler-Cadmore got off the mark on his fifth ball when he pulled Sam  Cook to the mid wicket boundary and cut the next ball to the point boundary to take Yorkshire into the lead.  He lofted Sam Cook over mid off for another boundary but edged the next ball to Alastair Cook.

Fin Bean glanced Snater off his legs to fine leg boundary to bring up his first first class debut on his home debut.  His fifty came from 111 balls with 11 fours in 152 minutes.  Without adding to his score he was hit on his boot by a yorker from Porter.

Allison got one to rise  at Tattersall who fended at it and Alastair Cook caught it as it passed over his right shoulder.

Fraine edged Snater along the ground through the slips to vacant third man boundary to get off the mark.  He had looked comfortable against the seamers but when Westley brought Critchley on, Fraine was at sea. He was nearly caught in the covers, had a waft at one  outside his off stump and was bowled by a straight ball that hit his off stump.

Critchley got his second wicket when Thompson whipped him off his legs straight down Lawrence’s throat who didn’t have to move an inch at deep square leg.

Gibson added: “Coad gave us a real lifeline this morning with that innings. We felt anything above 150, we were really in the game - as it nearly proved. It’s frustrating to have lost, but I like the way the guys fought. We never gave it up at any stage.

Patterson bowled fantastic. Over the course of his career, he would have been in similar situations to that. He knew how to call on his experience, and he did a fantastic job. I hope he and Coad with the job that they did were a lesson to the youngsters in the team.”

 

SCORECARD