Yorkskshire CCC v Worestershire CCC County Championship Div 1 at Headingley April 9-11(12)

Neil Whitaker reports

Day 1

NEW  Yorkshire captain Jonny Bairstow was controversially given out by umpire Mark  Newell in Yorkshire’s first home match of the season.

Bairstow who never  looked  at ease throughout his short innings, on  five he edged a pull off  former Yorkshire player Matthew Waite but the ball fell  five yards short of the advancing Adam Finch at fine leg.  

He certainly didn’t like the way he was given out. Bairstow tried to leave a short ball from  Finch and stumper  Gareth Roderick claimed a catch. Bairstow didn’t walk at first as he pointed to his chest to the umpire.  As he walked past the celebrating Worcestershire players he  appeared to have words with them.

Dawid Malan top scored with 98 and he shared in a fifth wicket partnership of  123 in 23 overs with George  Hill. He pulled Jacob Duffy to the mid-wicket boundary which none of the Worcestershire fielders had a clue where it had gone. It was one of his eight fours in his 50 which he brought up off the next ball when he guided Duffy to third man for a single.  His 50  came from 80 balls.  

He thrashed  Ethan Brookes to the long-off boundary to take him into the 90’s. On the stroke of tea he swept Kashif Ali over the square leg boundary for a six. But in the 90’s the Worcestershire bowlers managed to keep him away from the strike.  His innings ended in a tame way. With the first delivery with the new ball he slashed  at it but made no contact.  He had to play at the next ball and he guided it to Brookes at second slip.

He said: “A little bit disappointed. To get that close to  a century  is obviously a bit frustrating, especially when we went nowhere for the last 10 or 12 overs and didn't really rotate the strike enough. 

I thought Worcester bowled really well in that period and created chances and got themselves back in the game. But I think being put in on day one it has been a really good day for us.

I've hit the ball really well since I've been back. I had a good two or three-month break and have done a bit of work with the coaches here. I think we would have  bowled  as well if we had won the toss.

We'd left a lot of grass on because we wanted to make full use of that, and we knew the weather was going to be good and probably get drier and slower. So to try and get the first use of it, I think, was the idea, from my understanding.

At the moment, it seems like a good toss to lose. But it depends how we bowl in the first innings.”

Hill punched Finch to the long-on boundary to bring the hundred partnership with Malan off 122 balls. He top edged the next ball  over Roderick’s head to bring up his 14th first-class 50 off 71 balls with 10 fours.

The partnership was broken when Hill played his first loose shot of the innings when he top edged Ben Allison to Roderick to give the stumper his third catch of the innings. 

It was a day when every time Worcestershire took control of  the game they allowed Yorkshire to get back in. Worcestershire won the toss and put Yorkshire into bat and Adam Lyth steered  the first two balls from Duffy to the third man boundary.  With Finlay  Bean they blitzed their way to 50 in 12 overs on a glorious morning in Leeds. Then Tom Taylor and Allison in partnership bowled with a plan  nipping the ball off the seam and it was Taylor who got the breakthrough when he nipped one  away from Bean found his edge and Allison at third slip  took a good low catch.

Lyth brought up his second championship 50 of the season and his 75 in total when he guided Finch through the slips to Kashif Ali for a single on the third man boundary.  His 50 came from 85 balls and included nine fours. The shot of his  innings was when he  clipped Allison off his legs to the mid-wicket boundary.

The end for Lyth came when he got too far under a pull off Waite and found Kashif Ali on the point boundary.  His 67 came from 118 balls  with 12 fours.

James Wharton played  a classic cover drive off Taylor to the cover boundary for the shot of the morning. Two balls later he steered Taylor to the third man boundary as he hit four boundaries in that over.

Wharton pushed at one from Duffy which  was away from him and Roderick took a good catch diving to his right to give the Kiwi his first Championship wicket for Worcestershire.  With Lyth,  Wharton added 68 for the second wicket in 20 overs.  His  44 included eight fours from 63 balls.

Will Luxton used his feet to the part time spin of Jake Libby and blasted him over long-off for a six.  But in his next over Libby got his revenge when Luxton swept him to  Kashif Ali on the mid-wicket boundary.


Worcestershire assistant coach Kadeer Ali said: “It was a little bit disappointing after winning the toss and putting them in.  As a bowling unit we didn’t get our lengths right and if you miss your lengths here you are in trouble.

Winning the toss and bowling was the right decision but we had to bowl as well as we could and in patches we were good and in patches we were bad.  Against top clubs if you let them off they make you pay.  I felt that if we got them out just under 400 it wouldn't have been a bad day, it could have been better but full credit to the ninth wicket pair.

Yorkshire have got a lot of quality in their line-up but this is division one and we’ve got a young side and they are going to learn.  I hope we can finish the job early tomorrow and bat well.”

Day 2

YORKSHIRE dominated the second day with both the bat and ball as they added 31 to their overnight score and dismissed Worcestershire for 162.

Jordan Thompson hit his 10th first-class 50 and then took three wickets for 27 and Ben Coad took four wickets for 39 to add to his 31 with the bat.  Thompson brought up his 10th first-class 50 when he guided Tom Taylor to the point boundary.  His 50 came from 48 balls with five fours and two sixes.  He reversed scooped Taylor for a six to give Yorkshire their fifth batting point.

He skied Taylor out into the offside and  captain Brett D’Oliveria ran in and caught the ball but as he fell to the ground he spilled the chance.  Worse for Worcestershire and D’Oliveira he had to leave the field immediately with a dislocated thumb.

Thompson pulled   Ben Allison over mid-wicket where substitute Rob Jones was fielding a few yards from the boundary, caught the ball but realising he was going to cross the rope threw the ball in the air and dived forward to take the catch. Thompson hit four sixes and 10 fours in his 70 from 58 balls and  Allison finished with three for 58.

He said: “When I went out to bat I was more nervous than I’ve ever been but it felt good when I pulled  out that reverse scoop.”

Coad and Thompson added 10 to their overnight  partnership by hitting a couple of fours off the first over from Taylor but in  the second over of the day  their partnership of 75 in 11 overs ended when  Coad edged a big drive off Allison to Gareth  Roderick who took his fifth catch.

Worcestershire openers Roderick and Jake  Libby rotated the strike and blunted the Yorkshire attack until the 31st over when Jack White got his first wicket at Headingley for Yorkshire.  Roderick got a thick outside edge and the ball carried well enough  to Adam Lyth at second slip who took a comfortable catch.

Libby reached his first Championship 50 of the season with a back foot drive to the cover boundary off White.  His 50 came  from 94 balls with seven fours.

Kashif Ali shaped to leave one from Thompson but it came back at him grazed his bat and on to his leg stump. In the next over Libby edged a delivery which he should have left from Coad, which took a thick edge and gave Lyth a comfortable catch at second slip.

Thompson got his second wicket when Adam  Hose reached for a wide ball, Finlay Bean at third slip took a good low catch to his right.

Matthew Waite fended at one from Coad and his edge found George  Hill at first slip who couldn’t hold it but pushed it up and caught it again  in his outstretched right hand.

Worcestershire had lost four wickets for 10  runs in 16 balls as the  sky clouded over.  Thompson said : “It was tough up to lunch but after we got our rewards.  The heavy roller paid off for them early on.”

It got worse for Worcestershire. Taylor got an inside edge to Coad and Jonny Bairstow did the rest.  The two combined later to end the Worcestershire innings when Jacob Duffy edged one that left him to give Coad his fourth wicket.

 D'Oliveira, batting with a dislocated left thumb, bravely batted for 44 minutes facing 33 balls when he played down the wrong line to White and lost his off stump. On the stroke of tea Allison edged a drive off Hill and Dom Bess took a knee high catch at first slip. Worcestershire went from 90 for one to 136 in 25 overs.

Ethan Brookes defied Yorkshire for 128 minutes facing 73 balls for his 19 but he was the ninth out when he got too far under a drive and chipped Thompson to Dawid Malan at mid-on.

Thompson added: “We bowled well and worked as a pack.  Bowling is about building pressure and if you do that you will get wickets in clusters.  We didn’t enforce the  follow-on to give our bowlers a rest.”

With a first innings lead of  294 Yorkshire lost their first second innings wicket when Bean chopped on to Allison.  Night watchman Bess and Lyth saw Yorkshire to the close  without any further loss with a lead of 355. 

Libby said: “It was a tough day for us as they kept to their line and lengths.  After the start we had, our innings was disappointing.  They bowled really well and they’ve had two days of good cricket and showed us how it should be done. We are going to have to bat very long like we did at Taunton.”

Day 3

YORKSHIRE beat Worcestershire by 504 runs, their largest margin of victory, the largest margin by runs in County Championship cricket and Worcestershire’s heaviest defeat with over a day to spare at Headingley.

Worcestershire lost their last eight wickets for 33 runs in six overs after they had been set a nominal target of 610 in 163 overs. When Ben Coad got one to rise at Gareth Roderick off a length which knocked  Roderick’s bat out of his hand it was only a matter of when Yorkshire would win today.

Worcestershire lost their first wicket when Jake  Libby was caught in the crease to George  Hill in front  of  his stumps and was leg before for 11.

His partner Roderick followed him back to the hutch three overs later falling to the man that makes things happen, Jordan Thompson. Roderick drove  Thompson into the covers but found Dom Bess who took a great low catch moving to his left.  If the ball had gone either side of him it would have been four.

Yorkshire captain Jonny Bairstow brought on Adam  Lyth for the last over before tea and with his fourth ball he bowled Ethan Brookes who had batted well for 19.  Lyth turned one to knock Brookes’ off and  middle stumps out of the ground which sparked the collapse.

In the first full over tea Adam Hose went forward to Jack White raised his bat and lost his off stump.  Matthew Waite was strangled down the legside by Bairstow off Coad.  In the next over Kashif Ali didn’t offer a shot to White and umpire Steve O’Shaughnessy’s finger was up in a second.

Hill got one to rise at Worcestershire captain Brett D'Oliveira and took the shoulder off his bat to Bess at first slip.  In the next over Thompson got his second wicket when Tim Taylor fended him to Hill at first slip.  Hill sent Ben Allison’s off stump cartwheeling out of the ground without adding to the score.

Adam Finch guided Thompson to the third man boundary to bring up the Worcestershire hundred.  Last man Jacob Duffy feathered Hill to Bairstow and the celebrations started for Yorkshire.

Yorkshire Head coach Anthony McGrath said: “I said at the end of the Hampshire game, there were a lot of positives, even though we'd lost. I set the challenge this week in training, ‘Don't let the outcome of that result affect us’, and it hasn’t.We would have bowled as well. Obviously, we left more grass on the pitch than I believe we've done before here, and I think the pitch was a really good one. I think we dominated the game from ball one, and it was a very, very comprehensive victory in the end. Pretty much everyone put their hand up at some point. It was a great, great team performance.

I’m really pleased for Bess.  He's a fantastic cricketer. We've tried to give him as much encouragement this pre-season as we can because he's a genuine all-rounder. He balances a team. He’s very talented with the ball, but you've seen today what a batsman he can be. And that catch in the field as well. Something like that, out of nowhere, you then saw the effect after that. He’s a modern-day cricketer in terms of he can do anything.”

The majority of Yorkshire fans who turned up on the third morning expected them to score quick runs and give themselves 30 minutes before lunch bowling at Worcestershire.  Yorkshire scored quick runs but they batted to lunch until 2.07 before they declared, allowing Bess to hit his first Championship century for Yorkshire. He reached his century when he pulled Brookes  to the mid-wicket boundary to bring up his century from 115 balls with 12 fours and a six. On the stroke of lunch Bess went back to Libby,  missed the ball and was bowled. By thenYorkshire lead was 537.

Worcestershire’s Libby opened the bowling for Worcestershire on the third day in an attempt to tie up one end and Worcestershire did take an early wicket. Lyth’s quest for his first century against Worcestershire goes on after he  chipped Allison’s final ball of   his first over of the day straight back to Allison who casually took the catch in his right hand.

Bess reversed ramped Waite  over the stumper’s head for a four.  Worcestershire responded by placing substitute Rob Jones at long stop. Night watchman Bess got an outside edge to Finch through where first  slip would have  caught it to the boundary to bring  up his 50 from 71 balls with eight fours. He clipped  Taylor  over the square leg boundary for a six to take him into the 90’s.

With James Wharton they added 77 until their partnership was broken in spectacular fashion. Wharton, who got off the mark with a six off Allison, pulled Waite through mid wicket but found Brookes on the boundary edge  who took a great catch in mid air.  The partnership between Bess and Wharton forced Worcestershire on the defensive early on with six men on the boundary and for the last 20 minutes before lunch they had nine men.

Dawid Malan and Bess took full advantage of this.  Malan picked Duffy off his toes for a huge six into the East stand.  He then  pulled Taylor to the mid-wicket boundary which bisected two fielders.  He hoisted Brookes for a six over long-on and crunched Finch into the covers to bring up his 50 from 41 balls.

Worcestershire head coach Alan Richardson said: “It’s not been the best three days we’ve had playing cricket, it’s been extremely disappointing. At no stage did we have any control which made it difficult for us.  We cannot bat for two days in every game, so we have to learn from it,  move on and make sure that we are up to speed next week.  I thought Roderick and Libby worked hard and they are disappointed that they didn't move on in both innings.

He added: “Yorkshire bowled and batted  really well and put us under pressure.”

SCORECARD