County Champioship Div 1 Glamorgan v Yorkskshire at Cardiff April 3-6

Neil Whitaker reports

Day 1

YORKSHIRE’S Jack White took three wickets for 26 to give his team the honours in a shortened first day at Sophia Gardens as Glamorgan made 99 for four after they had been 28 for four.

He said: “There were some brilliant catches, Finlay Bean’s catch was  an unbelievable  brilliant catch. So  the lads were buzzing to get out of there all day. It was good fun. The  clouds were down, so it made  it better to bowl. And it  was  easy to get into a rhythm. You seem to find that pretty good. I thought Ben Coad looked really good as well, he got one but he could have each set a couple more.”

His first victim was Asa Tribe  who edged him  to Yorkshire captain Jonny  Bairstow behind the stumps.  White got his second wicket when he seamed one away from Sean Dickson who edged him to give Bairstow his second catch; this one was  a good low catch moving to his right.

Glamorgan captain Kiran Carlson clipped White off his legs but found Dom Bess at leg slip who took the catch with his arms stretched above his head.

It was White who got the wickets but it was his new ball partner Coad who got the Glamorgan batters in trouble after Eddie Byrom had clipped the first ball of the match from Coad off his legs to the mid wicket boundary.  His partner Tribe did well not to edge Coad when he pushed at a good length ball.  A couple of balls later Tribe edged Coad but fortunately for Tribe the ball fell short off George Hill at first slip.  Eventually Coad got his reward for his bowling when he squared  Byrom up, took his edge and  Bean at third slip took a good low catch at third slip.  

Ben Kellaway and Colin Ingram showed some resistance adding y1 for the fifth wicket. Kellaway drove Logan Van Beek to the cover boundary for his shot of the day.  Ingram pulled  Van Beek to the mid wicket boundary.

A downside for Yorkshire was when skipper Bairstow had to leave the field with five overs to go in the day.  Kellaway bottom edged   Van Beek, the ball dropped short Bairstow who  jarred his finger into the ground and  Bean took the gloves.

The new season at Sophia Gardens finally got underway at 4.15 with 36 overs to bowl because of overnight rain.   Before play started there was a minute’s applause for former captain, opener and Chief executive Hugh Morris and  John Williams, a Glamorgan board member, who died in the winter.

Day 2

COLIN Ingram hit his fourth Rothesay County Championship century for Glamorgan, his second against Yorkshire and his first against Yorkshire at Sophia Gardens.

He reached his century, which came from 225 balls when he drove Ben Coad to the cover boundary.  But Ingram’s patent knock was over when he feathered the  next ball to  stand-in keeper Finlay Bean.

It wasn’t a faultless innings, Yorkshire had their chances to get rid off him but they didn’t take them and Ingram stuck at his game. On 82, he  pushed George Hill into the off-side and set off for a single.  Dom Bess’ shy at the stumps missed and ran to the boundary.

When Yorkshire took the new ball Ingram squeezed the second delivery with it through the slips to the third man boundary.  He rehearsed the shot when he reached his 50, which included eight fours and a six, from 105 balls, off Hill. Then he delicately late cut Bess to the third man boundary.

Ben Kellaway and Ingram added another 30 to their partnership taking it to 101 before Kellaway was bowled by Bess’ third ball of the morning.  Bess floated one up and turned it through the gap between Kellaway’s bat and pad.

Kellaway had started the day by driving  Coad to the cover boundary. Two overs later he  drove Coad straight  for another boundary.  He  pushed the next ball into the covers and set off for a single but Ingram was back on his heels and just beat the throw to  keeper Bean.

He  clipped Hill off his toes to the fine leg boundary to bring up his 50 off 91 balls with eight fours.

Chris Cook pulled Logan van Beek to the fine leg boundary. Bess should have had his second wicket when Cook edged the last ball before lunch to Adam  Lyth at slip who dropped the chance. That was the first of two dolly’s that he dropped.  Later he dropped Timm Van Der Gugten on 21 off Jack White.

After adding 67 with Ingram, Cook played a half hearted shot at one that  came back at him from Matt Revis which clipped his off-stump.

Van Der Gugten blasted Coad through the slips to the third man boundary.  Later he scythed  Hill to the cover boundary.  He guided Van Beek through point for a single to bring up the 50 partnership with  Mason Crane in 23 overs.  He lofted Bess over long-on, it looked odds on for a six but the ball dropped inches short of the boundary.

Yorkshire finally got off Van Der  Gugten when he pushed at Bess who turned one and Van Der Guten was bowled for 40 from 122 balls in 145 minutes.

Crane turned Hill off his pads for a couple to bring up his 50 from 92 balls from balls and also the Glamorgan 300.

Yorkshire got their ninth wicket when Andy Gorvin hooked  Hill and with the ball going for a six  Van  Beek at fine leg stuck out his right hand and caught the ball going backwards. Glamorgan’s innings was wrapped up in the next over when Crane slogged Bess to Revis on the long-on boundary.

Bess said: “With  the wind, the bottom end was pretty trickiest so it was my role to  hold that bottom end. We’ve dropped 2 or 3 simple ones, but then we've taken some absolute screamers, which again, I think is actually really positive signs. The fact that we took half chances it’s  really pleasing, because  it gives a lot of confidence to a lot of different people.”

Day 3

MASON Crane took his fifth first-class five wicket haul for Glamorgan as he took five wickets for 55 to go with his first innings knock of 51.

Crane was the fifth Glamorgan bowler to be used on the third morning.  His first victim was Yorkshire’s new signing Sam Whiteman.  Whiteman  fell two short of his 50 when he played back to Crane and was leg before.  He hit nine fours  in his first knock for Yorkshire and looked like  he had plenty of runs in his tank for Yorkshire.

Four balls later James Wharton pushed forward at Crane and the ball went between his bat and pad and was leg before. Will Luxton  drove Timm Van Der Gugten to the cover boundary.  But with lunch approaching he tried to sweep Crane and was bowled around his legs.

Crane got his fourth wicket when he bowled George Hill with the perfect leg spinner’s delivery.  The ball pitched on leg stump and hit Hill’s off stump. After an entertaining last wicket partnership of 20 in three overs between  Ben Coad and Jack White when there were a lot of long handled shots, Crane got his fifth wicket of the innings when Coad sliced a drive to Ingram at slip.

Yorkshire suffered an early loss in the Cardiff morning sunshine when Finlay Bean feathered Van Der Gugten to stumper Chris Cook who took a low tumbling catch moving to his left.

Adam Lyth and Whiteman got the scoreboard moving and in particular Whiteman when he hit consecutive fours off Andy Gorvin after that over Gorvin was replaced by Ryan Hadley.  Their 50 partnership come up after eight overs. On 29  Whiteman edged a drive of Ben Kellaway but Colin Ingram  at slip could only get his fingertips to it.  

Whiteman said: “They bowled well and put  on a bit of pressure.  I think all three results are possible going into tomorrow. It’s  still a very slow pitch, which kind of makes it quite hard to break through  and score quickly.  It's tough work for the seamers and the spinners feel like they're in a game. So, we are going to have to play spin a bit better in the second innings.

I thought I played well.  You always want more than you get don't you? So, I would have loved to have gone on with it. But it was nice to get away and get a little bit of time in the middle.”

Aussie Hadley who bowled with pace, took his first wicket for Glamorgan when he  got one to rise at Lyth which  hurried him taking the shoulder of his bat and Ingram at first slip took the catch in his midriff.

He said:  “It feels like a long time,  coming after the first day was  nearly washed out. It was good to get out there and grease the wheels last night with my four  balls.  Crane made my job easier  at the other end. I played the enforcer role a little bit and threw  a few halfway down the wicket and it sort of worked  for me today.

The pitch is playing as I expected when I heard it was like coming here. S  a little bit docile, but we have similar wickets like that at home. And I think the balance of our bowling attack and the way we sort of bounce things off each other is really good. I think it’s  probably getting flatter, but hopefully it spins more as well tomorrow. So I don't know if I'll be in the game as much tomorrow. 

It’s been really  good here actually. The first  few days I was a bit lonely. I was sitting on the couch and the boys were in Taunton playing a practice game, so I was just twiddling my thumbs trying not to fall asleep on the couch, but since they've sort of come back, they've taken to me,  I like to think and hope that they are saying the same thing that I fit in pretty well and I’ve really enjoyed the last few days.”

Acting captain  Bess  and Matty Revis showed some resistance, adding 42 for the seventh wicket. Bess pulled Hadley to the square leg boundary and he reversed swept Crane to the cover boundary.  He guided Hadley to the point boundary.  Just when he looked set to guide Yorkshire to a batting point,because he didn’t look in any trouble,  he was beaten by one that Van Der Gugten angled in at him and was adjudged leg before.

Revis clipped Van Der Gugten off his toes to the mid-wicket boundary.  Revis reached his 50 with six off Hadley over square leg and if it hadn't been for the advertising hoarding the ball would have reached Cardiff bay.  However it was all over for Revis the next ball when he top edged Hadley to stumper Cook.

Hadley got his second wicket when he bowled Logan Van Beek a bouncer and took the the shoulder of his bat.  Van Beek didn’t know where the ball had gone, it looped in the air to Asa Tribe at second slip who waited for the ball to come down.

Leading by 76 Glamorgan’s second innings almost came to a halt when Tribe tried to hit Bess across the line,  missed the ball and was leg before to become Bess’ 300th first class victim.

Sean Dickson, who got a duck in the first innings, got frustrated at being tied down went down the pitch to Bess and smashed him to Revis who took a good catch coming in from the long-on boundary.

With Eddie Byrom looking certain to reach his 50 he hooked a bouncer from Van Beek but found Revis coming in from the fine leg boundary.

Before play started it was confirmed that Jonny Bairstow had been substituted out of the match because  he sustained a small fracture of his thumb on his right hand on the first day.  So Bairstow will not be available for the match against Hampshire which starts on Friday at Headingley.  His place in this match was taken by Will Luxton and Bean continued behind the stumps.

Day 4

YORKSHIRE battled it out in the last  session to draw with Glamorgan after they had been set 295 in 68 overs to win.

At tea Yorkshire  needed 170 runs to win with nine wickets standing and everybody thought it was going to be a Yorkshire win or a draw.  But Glamorgan took a wicket

with the second ball when Sam Whiteman chipped Mason Crane to  Ben Kellaway at short mid-wicket.

James Wharton tried to pull Crane but the ball kept low and he was bowled by a leg spinner.  Will Luxton played across the line to Ryan Hadley, who again bowled with pace, and was hit on the back pad.

Adam Lyth, who top scored with 97 smashed a full toss from Crane to the square leg boundary to bring up his fifty from 57 balls with nine fours.  He cut Crane to the mid-wicket boundary to take him into the 90’s. But he fell three short of his century when he edged Kellaway and stumper Chris Cook took a low catch.

Matty Revis and George Hill battled for 13 overs adding 38 until Revis feathered Hadley to Cook.  The pace of Hadley took the edge of Dom  Bess’ bat and Colin Ingram at first slip took the catch in his midriff. Logan Van Beek and  Hill had to face four overs to save the match.  Near the end  Crane bowled with six men around the bat.

The Yorkshire openers Lyth and Finlay Bean were hardly troubled by the new ball and after  six overs Crane was brought into the attack.  Bean hit 10 off his first two balls: the first was a pull to the square leg boundary, the second was squarer and a six.  But it was Crane who got the  breakthrough when Bean pushed at him and was plumb leg before.  Bean was walking before umpire Nigel Llong’s finger was up.


Yorkshire Head Coach Anthony McGarth said: “Obviously, we wanted to win the game and get a good start to the season.  We were not at our best this game, particularly with the bat, but I think at tea, we still very much fancied our chances. I thought we probably had  our best period of the game. That partnership with  Bean and Lyth and then with Whiteman,with 170 needed with 34 overs left  with nine wickets, we felt as if we could back well for that first 10 overs after tea, then we could have really put our foot down, but as we did in the first innings, we lost key wickets and soft wickets, and that ultimately didn't allow us to push on. 

But we’ve got 10  points and we'll take that particularly as I say, we probably blew a few cobwebs off there.  I thought the pitch  was pretty placid and slow, really, obviously a little bit of turn.  I think  Crane landed it well. But there weren't too many demons in the pitch. So even when they got 300, I thought if we could bat well and get a lead. 

It’s early April, and you don't normally see so much spin but I think it’s a great part of the game when you see a leg spin. There's always something going on.  We just didn't adapt well enough.” 

The timing of Glamorgan’s declaration surprised everyone at the ground when it came at six minutes before lunch after  Ingram had gone down the pitch to Bess and smashed him over long-off but found Revis coming in from the long-off boundary.

Glamorgan started the final day 187 ahead with seven wickets standing and added 107 for the loss of one wicket in 28 overs before they declared six minutes before lunch setting Yorkshire 295 to win.

The one wicket to go down was that of skipper Kieran Carlson at noon. He played back to Bess and the ball turned back and kissed his off stump to give Bess his sixth wicket of the match. On 48 Carlson had a big swing at Hill but missed the ball but he brought up his fifty when he clipped the next ball for a couple through square leg.  His fifty came off 102 balls with three fours.   

Ingram brought up his second fifty of the match when he gently guided White for a single.  This fifty came from112 balls with four fours. He swept Bess for a six over square leg.  

Kellaway a full blooded straight drive off White after missing consecutive reversed slogs.  In White’s next over Kellaway lofted him over mid-wicket and the ball plugged inches from the boundary and just crept over the line for a four. By  this time  Yorkshire had six men on the boundary as Glamorgan accelerated.

MATCH DRAWN

SCORECARD