Yorkshire v Notts at Scarborough County Championship

Neil Whitaker reports

Day 1

JONNY Tattersall fell eight short off his first Specsavers County Championship century but his 92 gave the holidaying Yorkshire fans something to cheer about at Scarborough.

When he came into bat in the sixth over Yorkshire were four down for 13 and the Yorkshire fans faced the prospect of spending a day at least walking round the town with no cricket to watch.  By the time he was eighth man out on 204 the Yorkshire bowlers had something to bowl at.

Tattersall rode his luck early in his innings.  On four he got a faint edged to Jake Ball and the ball ran wide of stumper Tom Moores to the third man boundary. Then on 11 he pulled Luke Wood inches wide of despairing dive by Ball at mid on.  Wood said: “It was never a chance he didn’t get anything on it.”

 He survived a strong leg before appeal from Paul Coughlin but umpire Martin Saggers was unmoved. Tattersall turned Wood off his legs for a couple to bring up his fifty up of 103 balls. He clipped Luke Fletcher off his legs for a single to take him past his previous best Championship score of 70. Nottinghamshire eventually got him when he went back to Liam Patterson-White and cut a ball which was too close and Moores collected an easy catch.

He said: “It’s nice to get some runs and to build a partnership with Tim Bresnan.  The conditions favoured the bowlers from one end but there’s something in the pitch for the seamers.  The new ball did a bit and the one that got Gary Ballance was’nt that short but it it climbed a bit and took his bat.  Keshav Maharaj bowled beautifully today, hopefully he can do that again tomorrow and build some pressure and hopefully our batters can get some runs.”

With Bresnan he rescued the Yorkshire innings with a sixth wicket partnership of 121 in 41 overs.  The second consecutive season that Bresnan and Tattersall have shared in a century stand at Scarborough.  Last year they added 100 for the seventh wicket against Surrey after coming together at 166, this year they came together in the 15th over and were parted in the 55th over when Bresnan pushed forward at Liam Patterson-White and edged him to Moores.

Bresnan brought up his fifty when he turned Wood off his legs for a couple to bring up his third consecutive fifty against Nottinghamshire.  On 36 he tried to pull a short ball from Coughlin but he missed it and the ball hit on his knee roll. The Nottinghamshire players went up for strong leg before appeal but again Saggers was having nothing to do with it.

Sheffield born Wood haunted the county of his birth by taking his first  Championship five wicket haul for Nottinghamshire. He finished with five for 67 but it should have been a sixfer because Duanne Olivier before he had scored edged him to Moores but Wood had bowled a no ball.  Wood added: “That was my fault I shouldn’t have over stepped the mark.”

In overcast conditions Nottinghamshire opted not to have a toss and Wood struck in his first over.  Wood squared Adam Lyth up and took his outside edge to stumper Moores took a low catch. Four balls later and without conceding a run Wood got his second wicket when he got one to rise at Ballance and the ball flew to Libby at point.

Wood’s third victim was Tom Kohler-Cadmore when he squared him up and bowled him. Harry  Brook hung his bat out to Wood without moving his feet to give Moores his second catch of the innings and Yorkshire were 13 for four in the sixth over.

 Only Will Fraine, a former Nottinghamshire players, looked capable of building a big innings especially when he pulled Wood to the mid wicket boundary. But he was another Yorkshire player who was done by a short ball from Wood when he fended it to Cris Nash,skippering the side in place of Steven Mullaney, at third slip.

Wood said: “It was special to get my first Championship five wicket haul but I was backed by some good fielding by our lads.  To get a wicket in your first over builds your confidence but to get two is unbelievable, it was just one of those days when everything goes for you and they nick it instead of playing and missing.  To get five wickets before lunch was a dream start but they were always going to get a partnership.”

Maharaj pulled a bouncer from Fletcher over the square leg boundary for a six to get him off the mark and bring up his 3000 first class run. He only added another single when he got and inside edge to Fletcher and dragged it on to his stumps.

Ben Coad was caught in no man’s land playing neither back or forward to Patterson-White and was leg before for four.  The innings was over when Olivier had a big sweep at Patterson-White and was bowled giving the 20 year old Sunderland lad his fourth wicket.

After reaching 35 without loss and seeing Olivier with the new ball Ben  Slater gave the first chance of the visitors’ innings but luckily he edged Maharaj just wide off Lyth at slip.  There were no further chances as Slater and Jake Libby saw Nottinghamshire to 41after 17 overs.

Day 2

ADAM Lyth hit his ninth championship fifty at Scarborough as Yorkshire took control of this match with two days left they lead by 215 runs with eight wickets standing against Nottinghamshire.

Seven weeks ago he made 55 and 68 against Surrey.  His 81 today included two sixes both off Liam Patterson-White.  He hit his first when he swept Patterson-White over the square leg boundary.  Lyth’s second six was a straight one. He reached his fifty when he chopped Luke Fletcher down for a single which came from 95 balls with a six and six fours.  

With a first innings lead of 48 Lyth and Will Fraine batted for 18 overs to tea taking their lead to 109 with no trouble at all.  But in the third over after tea Fraine tried to work Fletcher off his legs and was plumb leg before. Fraine must have thought he had got an inside edge because he looked disappointed with the decision. 

Lyth was joined by Gary Ballance and again the pair didn’t look in any trouble and Ballance atoned for his first innings duck with an unbeaten 52.  Ballance reached his 50 when he elegallantly drove Patterson-White to the extra cover boundary. The partnership was broken in the penultimate over of the day when Lyth swept Patterson-White to Paul Coughlin at short fine leg.  He and Ballance added 108 in 29 overs.

Nottinghamshire wicket keeper Tom Moores top scored with 48 as Nottinghamshire disapointedly fell 48 runs short off Yorkshire’s 232. He came into bat  five overs before lunch with Nottinghamshire struggling on 125 for five. Moores got off the mark in the penultimate over before lunch when he opened his shoulders to Keshav Maharaj and hit him straight to the sight screen for a six.

After lunch he hit Maharaj out of the ground when he slogged him over mid wicket.  Three balls later he drove Maharaj for another six over mid wicket. Ben Coad replaced Maharaj at the Peasholm Park but it made no difference to Moores as he drilled Coad’s first ball over the mid wicket boundary for another six.   He flat batted Coad for straight one bounce four.

Moores enterprising knock ended with first ball after a restart after rain had took the players off for 11 minutes when he edged a push shot off Duanne Olivier.  Nottinghamshire Head coach Peter Moores said: “Tom played really well and counter attacked, he picked his shots, it was a shame that the rain stopped play when it did and I am pleased for him.”

Resuming on 41 without loss Nottinghamshire would have hoped to see it through to lunch with losing three wickets at most but they got off to the worst possible start when they lost their first wicket to the first to they first ball of the day.   Coad, bowling from the Peashome Park end instead of the Trafalgar Square end where he operated on the first day, angled one across Ben Slater who edged it to Jonny Tattersall.

Three overs later Jake Libby dragged a wide ball from Olivier on to his stumps.  After bowling a couple of wild deliveries to Chris Nash, who smashed seven boundaries in his 33, was induced by  Olivier into giving the South African a simple return catch.

Moores added: “He won’t score a better 33 than that as he got on top of the ball. He was frustrated with the way he got out.  Tomorrow we have to get some early wickets and put some pressure on them. All our batters know that they have to bat we’ll in the second innings.  It’s a good pitch if you get past the new ball and everyone knows what they have to do.”

Nottinghamshire lost their fourth wicket of the first hour when Joe Clarke pushed at one in the corridor from Coad to give Tattersall a simple catch.

Ben Duckett went down the wicket to Mahraji  and lofted him over long on, on to the roof of the pavilion dislodging a few tiles and scattering a few birds.  The ball eventually rolled off the roof and avoided hitting the spectators on the balcony and on the ground level.  He then added two from his next 24 balls and eventually his lack of run activity tied him down. Trying to work Maharaj off his legs he was bowled off his pads.

Patterson-White struggled during his knock but he managed to deny the Yorkshire attack until the fifth ball of the final ball of the last over before lunch when he tried to leave one from Steven Patterson but got the faintest of edges.  He had a life on seven when he edged Maharaj to Lyth at slip but Lyth couldn’t hold on to it.

Nottinghamshire went seven down in the third over after lunch when Coughlin got too far under a drive off Maharaj and Harry Brook at mid on took a good catch running backwards.

Luke Wood gave Lyth catching practice at second slip and Coad picked up his third wicket. The Nottinghamshire innings ended when Fletcher backed from Olivier and  top edged a pull off to Brook at point.

Day 3

YORKSHIRE need six more Nottinghamshire wickets on the final day for victory after bad light ended play with Nottinghamshire needing another 252 to win.

Nottinghamshire had 44 overs left in the day plus the whole of the final day so they had plenty of time left in the game to get the 387 without doing anything silly after they dismissed Yorkshire for 338 in their second innings. But in eighth over Ben Slater edged a drive off Duanne Olivier and with four slips Tom Kohler-Cadmore took an easy catch at first slip.

They lost their second wicket six overs later when Steven Patterson struck with his fourth and Jake Libby got a feather touch to Jonny Tattersall.  Joe Clarke played down the wrong line to Keshav Mahara who found his outside edge to give Tattersall an easy catch.

The ball after bring up the fifty partnership for the fourth wicket Chris Nash and Ben Duckett, Nash was leg before to Maharaj, a decision which Nash was not pleased with.

Luke Fletcher took  four wickets for 41 in 11 overs with the new ball to dismiss Yorkshire for 338 and move the game along as Yorkshire seamed to be batting too long in their second innings.

It was the sixth time in his career that Fletcher had bagged five wickets in an innings and the second time against Yorkshire.  He said: “Any time you get 5-wicket hauls it is special because you don’t do it too often,” he said. “To do it here, against a big county like Yorkshire at Scarborough is amazing. You get your name up on the board in the dressing room, so it’s a really proud moment for me.

It’s been a tough game for us but I really enjoyed bowling out there this afternoon.”

Fletcher had just one wicket to his name when he was handed the second new ball straight after lunch. He was still bowling an hour and three-quarters later after dismissing Tattersall, Bresnan, Kohler-Cadmore and Ben Coad.

Whenever you are picking wickets up you manage to find a bit of energy,” he reflected. “I was fine when I was bowling my spell. It’s when you sit down afterwards and take your boots off. You think I don’t know if I can get up any more!  But I’m really chuffed to bits. It would be even more special if we could manage to get a result at the end of it but that’s a long way off yet.”

The ‘Bulwell Bomber’ revealed he almost didn’t get the chance to get his fifth wicket, with skipper Nash contemplating a bowling change.

“When they were eight wickets down he came to me and said, ‘I’m thinking of getting spin on, so just hold it there.’  I can’t tell you what I actually said but I managed to get him to give me another one and luckily I managed to get the fifth wicket in my next over.”

Then (jokingly) he added, ““We’ll all have a good night in Scarborough now, get some fish and chips down the beach and come back and go again tomorrow.”

Fletcher also revealed that partner Kirsty and their two children were on the ground watching his achievements. “The last time she came to an away match I got five wickets at Worcester last year, so we might have to do it more often,” he laughed.

Yorkshire surprised many fans in the morning session Yorkshire as they  only added 63 in 29 while losing three wickets. Leading by 225 at the start of play  they only added eight in 32 minutes before night watchman Steven Patterson top edged a slash without moving his feet off Paul Coughlin to Nash at second slip who took an head high catch.

Gary Ballance pulled Luke Wood’s first ball the day to substitute Louis Bhabra on the fine leg boundary who misjudged the catch and had to go back to take a tumbling catch.  Harry Brook top edged a pull off Liam Patterson-White skied the ball and Jake Ball took the catch running and turning at mid on.

A straight drive from Kohler-Cadmore off Fletcher with the new ball was the shot of the day.  Then Fletcher got to work with the ball. His first victim was Tattersall who got squared by Fletcher and edged him to Duckett at first slip who took a comfortable catch.

Bresnan’s 29 minute innings was thankfully ended when he too got squared up by Fletcher but this time the edge went to Tom Moores. It took Bresnan 24 minutes to get off the mark.

Kohler-Cadmore offered no shot to Fletcher after getting hit in midships and was leg before.

Maharaj gave a hard return catch to Ball who dropped the ball in his follow through before Maharaj got off the mark.  After that he gave impetus to the end of the Yorkshire innings and got the fans cheering. He hit a four and a six off consecutive balls off Ball to bring up the Yorkshire 300 and take their lead to 350.

After an enterprising ninth wicket stand of 28 in four overs Ben Coad backed away from Fletcher got an outside and the ball squirted to Coughlin at first slip.

Maharaj hit his second six when he pulled Coughlin over square leg scattering the crowd on the popular bank.  He flat batted the next ball for another six over long on but for the next ball he got too far under the ball and skied it.  Coughlin took an unconventional return catch running behind his stumps and diving forward.

He said: “One or two more wickets tonight would have been ideal, but we’ll take four right now. It was tough conditions in terms of toiling for the boys, but we got our rewards for hard work.

Nottinghamshire bowled really well in the first session, and then the way Kohler-Cadmore batted managed to get us a little bit of momentum.  Olivier and Coad then bowled really well for us first up and set the platform to get a few wickets. We’re going to have to work hard tomorrow because the wicket seems to be getting that bit better to bat on. But we are prepared to win the game in the last session of the day if that’s what is needed.”

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