Yorkshire v Leicestershire at Grace Road June 19-22
Neil Whitaker reports
Day 1June 20, 2026 10:28 am
AFTER winning the toss Yorkshire decided to bat on a pitch which was shaved at both ends with a big green patch in the middle but Yorkshire were dismissed for 185 before tea.
Because of the shaved ends Yorkshire opted for playing two spinners and Leicestershire are playing five players who can bowl spin. Will Luxton tried to turn Ben Green to leg but missed the ball. Sam Whiteman gave a gentle return catch to Josh Davey who caught the ball in his follow through as he tumbled to the ground. Adam Lyth was caught behind pushing half forward at Ben Green.
Alex Green got his first Championship wicket when Matty Revis tamely edged a drive without moving his feet to. Green said: “Today has been a really good day for us. We started off really well and everyone chipped in with everyone taking a wicket. Hopefully Rehan Ahmed and Nick Kelly will keep going in the morning.”
He added: “It was brilliant to get that first wicket, I’ve been waiting a long time. I made my debut two years ago, my debut, unfortunately, I didn’t get a wicket and I didn’t get a wicket last week, so I was chuffed about it.”
On the stroke of lunch Jonny Bairstow, who had played cautiously after a few big plays and missed to get off the mark, played down the wrong line to Joyey Evison and was bowled. With James Wharton he added 43.
Wharton top scored for Yorkshire with 56 and shared in two partnerships of over 40. The one with Bairstow and then 42 with George Hill. It was his second Championship fifty of the season but again he failed to convert it into a century. On one he edged Green but the ball fell well short off Rishi Patel at second slip.
He pulled Davey violently but only got as far as mid-wicket and Wharton only got a single. He turned Davey off his legs to the square leg boundary to bring up his fifty off 106 balls with eight fours. He played back to a short ball Alex Green and feathered it to Ben Cox.
Wharton said: “I thought the pitch got easier when I was batting with Hill. That’s why I was frustrated when I got out. We were starting to build pressure. My dismissal was a soft one and it’s not the contribution that I should have made. I was thinking about pulling the ball then I just hung my bat out. But quick wickets in the morning can change the complexion of the match.
Hill drove Davey to the long-off boundary to get off the mark after 20 balls. In Davey’s next over Hill drove him to the cover boundary and got an inside edge to his next ball which evaded stumper Cox and raced to the third man boundary.
Dom Bess got off the mark by drilling Alex Green to the long-off boundary. He dragged one back from Ben Green and was bowled.
Hassan Ali came out with the intention of not dying without wondering. He cut Alex Green to the point boundary and uppercut the next ball over the slips to the third man boundary. Taking a couple of paces down the pitch he intended to smash Davey to long-on but instead hit him to the third man boundary.
Hill took a couple of paces down the pitch to Ajax Patel and smashed him to the long-off boundary, but two balls later Hill went back and top edged a cut which was too close to him to Cox.
Hassan Ali tried to sweep Rehan Ahmed but missed the ball and was plumb leg before. Last man Jack White pushed the wrong line to Rehan Hamed and was leg before.
Yorkshire got their first wicket when Sheridon Gumbs offered no shot to Hassan Aliand was hit on his back leg.
Rishi Patel clipped White off his toes for a six over square leg and drilled the next ball to the cover boundary. Before the over was out he lofted White for a one bounce four over long-off.
He glanced Hill off legs to the fine leg boundary to bring up the fifty partnership with Rehan Ahmed and the first fifty partnership of the match. Patel pushed Revis to the long-on boundary to bring up his fifty from 49 balls, his sixth Championship fifty of the season.
When Dan Moriarty was introduced into the attack Rishi Patel drilled his first ball to the long-oo boundary. Worse was to follow in his next over when Rehan Ahmed took a couple of paces down the pitch and planted him over the long-on boundary
Revis got one to rise at Rishi Patel,on 60,which took the shoulder of his bat to Lyth at slip who pushed the ball around the post.
Moriarty got a wicket when he pushed one down the legside which Patel walked past and Bairstow had an easy stumping. He got his second wicket when he angled one in at hit his pad and rebounded on to the stumps.
Aussie Kelly hit two straight sixes off Moriarty: the first over long-off was the better of the shots while the second over long-on was a scruffy shot.
Day 2
NICK Kelly hit his first Rothesay County Championship century for Leicestershire to follow-up the 78 he made against Essex at the Upton Steel ground at Leicester in their last match.
Two balls before he reached his century he edged Hassan Ali between Jonny Bairstow and George Hill at first slip. He clipped the next ball off his legs to the square leg boundary to bring up his century off 167 balls with 15 fours.
In the morning session he added 76 in 20 overs with Rehan Ahmed. Both Rehan Ahmed and Kelly made brisk starts to the second day with a couple of early fours to take Leicestershire into the lead but after four overs rain drove the players off and kept them off for 48 minutes with five overs lost.
After that break Kelly seemed content to play the second fiddle to Rehan Ahmed. Rehan Ahmed guided White to the third man boundary to take him two shy off his century. Two balls later he edged Jack White to the third man boundary to bring up his first Championship century of the season from 128 balls with 15 fours. After he reached his century he scored runs with ease.
He thrashed Dan Moriarty to the extra cover boundary. Then he drilled Moriarty to the extra cover boundary with disdain and softly swept the next ball to the fine leg boundary. By now he was getting carried away with himself.
Much to Yorkshire’s relief the partnership was broken when Rehan Ahmed drove Matty Revis but took his left hand off his bat and found Sam Whiteman at cover. His 128 came from 168 balls in 253 minutes and it included 19 fours and a six. He fell eight runs short off equaling his highest first-class score after sharing in a fourth wicket partnership of 160 in 30 overs with Kelly.
It was his first Rothesay County Championship century of the season. After he had been beaten by two rising balls from White, Rehan Ahmed clipped him off his toes to the mid-wicket boundary as began to outscore Kelly. Rehan Ahmed used his wrists to play White through the onside. Then he turned his attention to Hassan Ali by drilling him to the mid-wicket boundary.
Rehan Ahmed said: “Me and Kelly kept talking to each other and we compliment each other. I think it was a good toss to lose. I’ve not got the runs I wanted this season but I just want to perform wherever I am playing. Obviously I want to play for England as much as I can but for me it’s about performing wherever I am. I’ll keep on pushing my claim and hopefully one day it will pay off.”
The Aussie born but qualified for New Zealand, Kelly went down the pitch to White and swung him over mid-off for a one bounce four. He drove Hill to the extra cover boundary for his shot of the morning.
He clipped Moriarty for a single on the legside, second fifty in three Championship innings. His fifty came from 107 balls with seven fours. He sliced drive offRevis to the cover boundary.
Even batting with Ben Cox and Joey Evison he continued to play a watchful innings and be the concrete in the Leicestershire innings. Kelly chipped White over the leaping Moriarty at mid-on as it sped to the long-on boundary. He blasted White over the long-on boundary. After taking Leicestershire past 400 Kelly played down the wrong line to Bess’ arm ball and was leg before.
Cox went down the pitch to Dom Bess and hit straight for a one bounce four and lofted the next ball over extra cover for another one bounce four. Yorkshire took the new ball as soon as it was available and were rewarded by getting Cox’ wicket with the fifth ball. Cox was beaten by the pace of Hassan Ali as he pushed forward and the ball hit the middle stump.
Evison slashed hard at Hassan Ali and the ball flew over the slips to the third man boundary. After the departure of Kelly, Evison went down the pitch to Bess and drilled him straight to the boundary. He steered Hassan Ali to third man for a couple to bring up, his first fifty for Leicestershire during his loan spell, from 84 balls with seven fours and a six.
After missing out on their fifth batting point Evison turned Bess to mid-wicket and didn’t move but his captain Green kept coming. Eventually Evison set off but couldn’t beat the throw by Substitute Ben Cliff. In the same over Josh Davey lofted Bess to Wharton at mid-on.
Ben Green went back to Moriarty which kept low and was bowled. Three balls later Alex Green played back and got an inside edge to Bairstow. Moriarty finished with four wickets for 85.
Yorkshire had 16 overs to survive but in the seventh over Will Luxton edged a drive off Davey and Gumbs at third slip dove to his right to take the catch. Four balls later Lyth turned Davey to Evison at leg slip. At the close Yorkshire were 236 behind with eight second innings wickets standing.
Moriarty said: “We were kind of fighting from the first day coming into today, so we are a little behind the eight ball. I think we showed bits of good cricket and quite a lot of character out there. I don't know if we can necessarily blame the wicket, but as a team we fought hard and we've got our work cut out for us now.
It’s not been an easy period for me. I've been trying to find ways to contribute when I'm not playing, whether that's for the team. I'm still doing my best, but it was nice.
I think I put a lot of work in before this game, probably more than I should have. But yeah, again, I love playing for this club and I love contributing in all sorts of ways, whether it's on or off the field.
It's definitely not a match-winning spell, but if we play good cricket, it could present an opportunity for me to win us a game. We've got some cricket to play, so it'll be good.”
Day 3
AFTER losing their last four Rothesay championship matches Leicestershire won their first Rothesay County Championship match of the season beating Yorkshire by an innings and 39 runs at the Uptonsteel ground.
It was their first Championship victory in Division one since they beat Kent by 10 wickets in three days of a match which was scheduled for four days at Leicester in 2003. Leicestershire’s last home victory over Yorkshire was by five wickets in 2002.
Leicestershire bowlers Josh Davey, Alex Green and Ajaz Patel each took three wickets and captain Ben Green took the other one wicket. For Yorkshire Dan Moriarty top scored with an unbeaten 51, his first Championship fifty and his spin partner Dom Bess hit 40. Last man Jack White hit 21 and shared in a last wicket partnership of 67 in 11 overs with Moriarty
Leicestershire captain Ben Green said: “It was probably a good toss to lose. I would have batted as well but we bowled well as a team and we were able to prolong the pressure for a long period of time. Our two fast bowlers showed how good they are on a surface that offered a bit for the seamers and spinners.
I am pleased for Alex Green but he’s a young bowler who has got a great amount of pace. I think this week has just shown to us what we are capable of as a group.”
Yorkshire head coach Anthony McGrath said: “I think that’s one of our worst performances of the season along with Warwickshire and Hampshire but I’ve got to say that Leicestershire outperformed us with the bat and ball, they caught better than us, so I don't want to detract anything away from them. They have been fighting for their lives, and I know it's their first win, so we have to give them our congratulations.
I thought our performance came from nowhere because we have been playing really well. So it’s baffling. But every time we get in a position to take that next step, we seem to back off. I think that has got to be a mentality thing.
It’s very easy to be an average where you can win a couple of games, and then lose a couple.
We can't be good all the time, and Leicestershire played their best which was fine. But for us to be a top team, we've got to do it day in and day out. Mentally, more than anything, because the skills are there, everyone knows I think it's just the attitude to go to that next step and then grow and actually someone's standing at me saying we are going be the guys to push you to that new level.”
The third day started under overcast and humid conditions and after only 20 balls Yorkshire lost their first wicket of the day when Sam Whiteman got an inside edge to Davey and stumper Ben Cox took a great one handed catch in his right diving to his right and it looked like the match would be over be lunch.
Matty Revis drove Ben Green to the extra cover boundary. He powered Davey to the extra cover boundary. But Ben Green and Davey had James Wharton and Revis playing and missing.
Yorkshire lost their second wicket in the first hour when Revis edged an expansive drive off Alex Green to give Cox another catch. Three balls later Jonny Bairstow, who Leicestershire fans thought was going to the danger man,was bowled through the gate.
Former Yorkshire player Ajaz Patel bowled Wharton with an arm ball, even though Patel and some of the close fielders were appealing for leg before, until Cox pointed to the dislodged bail. Even Wharton walked off thinking he was leg before.
George Hill played down the wrong line to an arm ball from Ajaz Patel and was plumb leg before to the first ball after lunch.
Bess came and must have wondered why the others couldn’t get the scoreboard moving as he hit Alex Green for three fours in one over. First Bess uppercut him above the slips to the third man boundary, followed by a push that made it to the long-off boundary and finally cut him to the point boundary. Bess added 28 for the ninth wicket with Moriarty until he went back to Ajax Patel and slashed him Rishi Patel at slip who took a good fast catch moving to his right.
Hassan Ali attempted to drive Ben Green but got too far under it and the ball went up the chimney. It was obvious that Nick Kelly was going to catch it that Hassan Ali had started to walk off before Kelly at mid-wicket took the catch.
Then we got the Moriarty batting class. He drove Davey to the cover boundary. Then swept Ajax Patel to the square leg boundary, in the next over he pulled Rehan Ahmed to the square leg boundary. He went down the pitch to Ajax Patel and lofted him over mid-off for a one bounce four. Moriarty clipped Alex Green off his legs to the fine leg boundary and two balls later he pulled Alex Green to the square leg boundary. The shot he will remember the most is when he went down the pitch to Ajaz Patel for a one bounce straight four to bring up his first Championship fifty from 84 balls.
The match ended when White backed away from Alex Green, showed him all three stumps and Green clipped his off stump.