County Championship Yorkshire v Warwickshire May 19-22

Neil Whitaker reports from Headingley

Day 1

WARWICKSHIRE wicket keeper Michael Burgess rescued his side and gave his bowlers something to attack on the first day at Headingley.

He came in at 117 for five and was the last man out on 96.  The Bears wicket keeper showed his intent from the moment he came to get the scoreboard moving along.  Often changing his guard he quickly reached 16 with three fours in his first 16 runs in 15 balls.  

Last season at Headingley,Burgess top scored in both innings as Warwickshire won by 106 runs in a low scoring match on their way to the County Championship title.  He produced a delicate late cut off Steve Patterson which ran to the third man boundary, he even scooped Jordan Thompson to the fine leg boundary and went down the wicket to Matt Revis to drill him to the extra cover boundary.  Later he top edged a tennis shot off Revis over the head of Harry Duke.

Admittedly the Yorkshire attack wasn’t one of the strongest according to some experts the weakest Yorkshire bowling attack since the 1980’s. So Burgess went down the wicket to Loten and blasted him to long on boundary and clipped Loten over mid on into the old pavilion for a huge six in the sunlight.

Four runs short off his third century Patterson straight back and the bowler well to catch the ball as he was falling in his follow through;

He said: “Luckily I batted in the sunshine so I think I batted in the best of the conditions and it made my job easier, I think we are in with a chance and 250 might be enough. If we take our chances we can build pressure that way and I think we have a good chance of bowling them out tomorrow.  At the start of the day I would have taken 96 but it was a good catch.

Oliver Hannon-Dalby is my batting guro, he’s quite happy to stay on 0 and he tells me how many balls he wants to face.”

Again Yorkshire dropped catches, today they dropped three, but not one of the dropped catches cost them anything The dropping disease was soon back with Yorkshire when Sam  Hain on eight edged Thompson and Adam Lyth at second slip dived to his left and parried the ball past Joe Root.  In the next over. Rob  Yates scooped  Patterson to Will Fraine in the covers but he couldn’t hold on to it.

Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes was another Bears batsman dropped.  On 29 he  edged a drive off Loten but Lyth at second slip dropped the chance going to his right again out of the hands of Root. Without adding to the score and for the third time the drop didn’t cost Yorkshire a run, Rhodes chipped Loten to Harry Brook at  cover.

Yorkshire made two changes from the side in the Roses match: Fraine replaced the injured Dawid Malan and  Loten came in for Harris Rauf, Warwickshire’s only change from their draw with Northamptonshire was Henry  Brookes for Craig  Miles.

Warwickshire won the toss and decided to bat.  They lost their first wicket when Yorkshire held a catch before they dropped one.  Alex Davies tried to pull his bat out of the way from a short ball from Thompson but failed and the ball ran off the bat to Brook at third slip.

Without adding to the score Warwickshire lost their second wicket, Dom Sibley pushed forward at Patterson, missed the ball and was leg before in front of all three.

Patterson pegged away at Jones’ off stump and finally Jones feathered one to Duke.  Yorkshire took their third catch of the morning when Duke parried an edge from Hain to Root at first slip off Revis.  

After lunch when the sun came out and encouraged Michael Lamb to step on the accelerator he drove Patterson through long on for three,  in the next over he drove Thompson to the cover boundary and later in the over he pulled Thompson for a couple.

He thumped Revis off the back foot to the cover boundary to bring up the fifty partnership with Rhodes in 22 overs.  Lamb played a loose drive away from his body and the ball ended in Root’s midriff for a simple slip catch. Lamb and Rhodes added 74 for the fifth wicket in 26 overs.

Danny Briggs left one from Thompson that came back in at him and was bowled at 156 for seven the Bears innings was over, wasn’t it? Yorkshire thought they had got rid of Nathan  McAndrew before he had scored; all the slips went up for a catch behind but umpire Neil Pratt didn’t move an inch.  It was another stubborn innings from McAndrew and with Burgess they added  32 vital runs until he flashed at a wide ball from Thompson and Lyth took the catch with both hands above his head.

Brookes tried to force Loten off his back foot but found Thompson at backward point.

Day 2

HARRY  Brook hit his eighth Championship fifty of the season out of nine innings and shared in a match changing fourth wicket partnership of 159 with Lyth in 43 overs.

Brook who was called into the England squad earlier in the week for the Test series against New Zealand must get a well earned place for the first Test he is even out batting Joe Root.

The first part of Brook’s innings was a complete contrast from his first innings against Lancashire last week when his runs flowed from the moment he took guard today he was more circumspect.  When he came to the crease Yorkshire were 109 for three and had just lost the prize wicket of Root so it was no surprise that he paid respect to the Warwickshire bowlers.

Brook worked Oliver Hannon-Dalby through mid wicket for his first boundary.  He went down the pitch to the slow left arm spinner anny Briggs and drilled  him to the extra cover boundary.  Up to tea the Warwickshire players must have been pleased with how they had kept Yorkshire in check but after tea Brook and Lyth accelerated and put a different complexion on the day’s play. 

Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes said: “It’s probably the best we’ve bowled all season.  Hannon-Dalby has been outstanding all year and on another day we could have had them out by the middle of the day. We’re behind in this game but we showed last year when we were behind in a few games when we came back and won.”

After tea, Brook soon reached his fifty.  Firstly he thrashed  Briggs to the long on boundary and brought up his fifty with a delicate late cut to fine leg for a couple off Briggs.  His fifty came from 77 balls with eight fours.  The partnership was broken when Brook pushed at Hannon-Dalby and edged him to Rob Yates at first slip who took a good slip catch diving to his left.

Lyth was unbeaten on 118 when the rain drove the players off the field at 5.29.  His innings was one of his best of the season  by a country mile, he batted like a man who knows his place in the team is in doubt.  Once he played himself, the runs started to flow.  He delightfully drove Hanson-Dalby to the extra cover boundary in his next over Lyth repeated the shot but it was a bit squarer.  He pulled Henry Brookes to the mid wicket boundary to bring up the fifty partnership with Brook and he brought up his fifty when he clipped Nathan McAndrew off his legs to the fine leg boundary from 161 balls with nine fours in 230 minutes.

Lyth drove a  full and wide ball from Brookes to the cover boundary.  He reached his 28th first class century when he drove Brookes to the cover boundary. As soon as he hit it  he screamed with delight as he clinched his fist and hugged Brook.

By the time the pair reached Warwickshire’s first innings score the Warwickshire fielders were being run ragged.  He said: “We fought hard and we got our rewards at the end of the day.  Brook played well as he has all season.

It’s been a difficult few weeks for me.  We’ve batted on some flat wickets so it’s been hard for me not getting the runs so I had to dig in deep and you saw how much it meant to me to get a hundred.”

Rhodes added: “I thought our score was par after the start we had, losing a few early wickets.  Michael Lamb and myself both got out when we should have capitalised on our starts.  I don’t think that Michael Burgess gets the credit he deserves for both his batting and wicket keeping.”

Yorkshire lost their first wicket of the day when George Hill played a loose shot to Brookes to a short ball on the rise and top edged it to give Burgess a simple catch.

Before he had scored Will Fraine ducked into a short ball from Brookes and the ball hit his helmet.  Both Fraine and Lyth found scoring hard to come by when facing Hanson-Dalby and Nathan McAndrew who both got plenty of lift from the pitch.

Fraine twice in a McAndrew over drove him to the extra cover boundary, and clipped Brookes off his toes to the mid wicket boundary. Just as he looked set for a big score tried to flick Rhodes off his legs but got a feather touch to it to give Burgess a simple catch.

Root edged a drive of a wide ball from Brookes and Burgess picked up his third catch.

Day 3 

RAIN ended the day early after Yorkshire had dominated the third day against Warwickshire who need another 148  runs to make Yorkshire bat again with seven wickets standing.

Firstly Adam Lyth and Harry Duke wore the Warwickshire players down, Matt Revis and Steve Patterson  got them staggering around and finally Jordan Thompson knocked them down. From the start of the day Lyth went at the Warwickshire attack with some belligerent shots through the covers coupled with delicate late cuts he made 145, his seventh highest first  class score. Warwickshire finally got rid of him when he top edged a slash off Nathan  McAndrew to  Michael Burgess, his fourth catch of the innings.

In the next over Dom Bess went down the wicket to Danny Briggs but sliced his drive to McAndrew at backward point and gave Warwickshire another bowling point.  After lofting Briggs over the long on boundary for a six, he pulled  McAndrew and everybody in the ground looked to the boundary but they missed seeing that he had hit the ball to Will Rhodes at mid on.

Buoyed by his success in his first innings in the Roses match Duke carried on in the same way.  It was an old fashioned wicket keeper innings with pulls and drives off the quicker bowlers, McAndrew in particular.  But McAndrew had his revenge when he  beat Duke for pace and knocked his off stump out of the ground, two short of his fifty.

Burgess got his fifth catch of the innings when Tom Loten got a fine inside edge to Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Burgess took a low catch. Loten started to walk then stopped before umpire Nick Cook gave him out.

Then the fun started as Patterson and Revis toyed with the Warwickshire bowlers as they added  58 in six overs to give Yorkshire a first innings lead off 206 with Revis unbeaten on 53, his second Championship fifty of the season.  Revis peppered Hannon-Dalby in  one over through the covers, long on and even hooked him bisecting two fielders on the boundary and Patterson joined him throwing the bat when he squeezed Hannon-Dalby out to the point boundary. Patterson ended the over by hooking him to the square leg boundary.

The 20 year old Revis brought up his fifty and the fifty partnership with Patterson when he clipped Briggs off his legs for a six over cow corner.  Patterson cut McAndrew over backward point for a six to take their lead to 205 but was yorked with the next ball.

Revis said: “We’ve put ourselves in a good position and hope   tomorrow to get early wickets tomorrow. I enjoyed batting and full credit goes to Lyth and Duke for the way they batted at the start of the day. Patterson told me to be positive and he supported me really well.  It’s still early in my bowling career but I hope I can become a genuine all rounder.”

Warwickshire lost their first wicket in their second innings in the third over when Alex Davies chipped Thompson to Will Fraine at mid wicket.  On the stroke of tea Rob Yates chipped Thompson and Loten ran from short mid on to take the catch.

Thompson got his third wicket when the  ball looked to stick in the pitch and Dom Sibley lobbed it to Bess at point.

Warwickshire head coach   Mark Robinson said: “We calmed things down after the crazy stuff after tea.  The pitch is two paced and I think we got the toss right.  Yorkshire sucked the life out of us and then made hay when we tired.

We have shown a lot of character this season and hope to show some more tomorrow.  This group of players will never lack for effort or commitment.  We are in a battle and hope to put in a performance tomorrow that will give us a draw.”

Day 4

AN UNBROKEN fourth wicket partnership between Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes and Sam Hain defied Yorkshire for 75.5 overs on the final day to draw their Championship match at Headingley.

For Yorkshire it was their fifth consecutive draw but on Saturday afternoon at 4.20 a Yorkshire victory by mid afternoon on Sunday looked on the cards.  The Warwickshire pair came together after they had lost their third wicket for 25 still 180 behind in the 25th over. 

Rhodes said: “It feels like a win for us, we’ve been so far behind in the game.  We’ve been behind in a few games but we’ve come out with four draws.  I don’t think it was a 450 wicket, we gave them 75 too many but full credit to Yorkshire because they batted well  and soaked up a lot of pressure.

I think we’re just behind where we wanted to be at this stage but we are within striking distance of those teams above us and we’ve got games left that we can win.”

Hain, reached  his second consecutive Championship century which came from 308 balls in 381 minutes with 11 fours and a six when he angled Tom Loten through the vacant third man area for a couple 

Rhodes reached his eighth first class century in the next over when he cut George Hill for a couple.  His century came from 288 balls in 355 minutes with 12 fours.  He added: “Last week I was out on 99 but today I never gave it a thought about but Yorkshire captain Steve Patterson did say ‘99 two weeks running.’”

The pair never looked in any trouble at time during the day. On an overcast morning Dom Bess came on to bowl after 10 overs and in those 10 overs Hain and Rhodes added 30. Bess’ first over was his sixth consecutive maiden.  The first run he conceded was off his 34th ball when Rhodes pushed him to mid on for a single.  On 35 he edged Bess just wide off Harry Brook at slip but the ball was past Brook before he could react.

Hain brought up his fourth fifty of the season which came from189 balls in 237 minutes when he pushed forward  at Bess,edged it and the ball brushed Harry Duke’s knee on its way to the boundary.  Bess thought Duke should have caught it and showed his disgust by kicking the turf.  In the morning session Warwickshire added 71 in 32.5 overs without losing a wicket but a Yorkshire victory still looked in the cards.

In the early part of the afternoon session the pressure lifted from both Rhodes and Hain and they began to score more freely.  Rhodes drove Bess to the extra cover boundary to bring the hundred partnership with Hain.  He brought up his fifty from 184 balls in 242 minutes when he pulled a rank short ball from Joe  Root to the long on boundary for his sixth boundary in his fifty.

Surely Yorkshire would get a breakthrough with the new ball  which they immediately it was due.  Jordan Thompson hit Hain on the shoulder with a bouncer from the fourth ball with it.

They say the new ball  brings wickets or runs, in the first 10 overs with the new ball we got runs but no wickets as Warwickshire added 47 runs.  Hain uppercut Matt Revis over point for a six to take Warwickshire into the lead.  That shot spurred the Yorkshire bowlers into action as both George Hill and Revis found life in the pitch and hurried both Hain and Rhodes who looked in trouble for the first time during their partnership in trouble.

Rhodes steered Patterson through the slips to the third man boundary as he overtook Hain and produced his shot of the day from Patterson who he drilled to the extra cover boundary. On 85 he edged Patterson but it fell just short off Root at first slip.

Yorkshire head coach Ottis  Gibson said: “It was very tough for the players. When everybody woke up this morning, that’s not what we saw or expected. But, fair play to the two Warwickshire batters, they played really well and batted nicely.They showed that, on that type of wicket, if you apply yourselves, it’s very hard to get you out.

“The pitch, again, didn’t offer us much with the ball. In the first two innings the ball did a bit, maybe it was the four heavy rollers (which deadened the pitch) - two per innings.  It’s a difficult one for the boys. We tried really hard, but there was nothing there for us. Also, it’s been a long six-week slog. To come at the end of that and have to bowl a team out on a very flat pitch, meant that we perhaps didn’t have anything left in the tank.”

Scorecard