Amazing start by England in the final Test match in Hobart, Australia 12 for 3 wicket s in the first 10 overs, but what happened next has certainly already put England on the back foot. A pity that rain stopped play in the 59th over because as the floodlights came on England might have had the Aussies all out as the ball started to swing. Jonnny Bairstow not fit enough to play, but another fine innings from Travis Head as Australia finished on 241 for 6. Despite his having played for Yorkshire in 2016 I can hardly call him one of our own.
I awoke this morning with the news that Mark Wood had decimated the Australian batsmen with roar pace and had taken 6 wickets for 37 runs and that England were 68 without loss but lost their first wicket at the same score in the last ball of the 16th over. Mind we let the Aussie tail to wag as at one stage they had been 65 for 6. Even so another 207 required with one session under the floodlights and a full day tomorrow in my naivety I really thought that England were slight favourites to win.
What happened next was a calamitous collapse as all ten wickets went down for a pathetic 56 runs and had lost by 146 runs.
Congratulations to Adil Rashid on making his 200th international appearance in all forms of cricket. The best Yorkshire spinner since Johnny Wardle, in fact better than Wardle. I love watching his variation of tricks, just a pity he hasn’t played for Yorkshire enough.
Nice to see some cricket played at Chester-le-Street where Yorkshire declared in this 14 a side match and at 221 for 6 although two of those wickets were actually not out retired with Adam Lyth, George Hill and Dawid Malan all not out after scoring half centuries. On day 2 Durham were once 77 for 9 but eventually declared at 177 for 10, after which Yorkshire finished on 77 for 2 in their second innings by close of play although it’s perhaps doubtful that much play if any will take place today in this 3 day match.
Great start by Yorkshire in the Vitality Blast T20 last night. It didn’t start too well though with Joe Root deputising as captain whilst David Willey was unavailable. With Brett D’Oliveira and Jack Haynes rattling up an impressive second wicket partnership of 63 runs in 25 balls during the power play for Worcestershire before a small crowd of 4,717 at Headingley in evening sunshine but soon turning to cool cloudy conditions once the sun disappeared. Indeed pace bowler Jordan Thompson conceded 22 runs in his first over whilst Joe Root conceded 20 runs in his first 5 balls before having D’Oliveira caught on the last ball with he score on 70 after 6 overs.
The west county men then reached 123 for 3 wickets after 12 overs and looked likely to exceed 200, but the leg spin of Adul Rashid and Shadab Khan and more likely the fact that Jordan Thompson’s final 3 overs yielded only 13 more runs for 3 wickets accounted for Worcester only scoring a further 30 runs from the last 27 balls as they finished on 179 for 9.
Dawid Malan opened the batting with Whitby born Adam Lyth and they took Yorkshire’s reply to 70 in the 8th over before the latter was caught by Gareth Roderick from the bowling of Ed Barnard, which started a mini collapse to 88 for 3 wickets with only 9 overs remaining. However cometh the hour cometh the man as Harry Brook scored 60 runs in 27 balls ably assisted by Joe Root’s 35 in 24 balls seeing the the Vikings home with 11 balls remaining.
It was almost like the apprentice taking over from his master, as Harry Brook continues his excellent start to the season with a total of 900 runs in all forms of cricket at an incredible average of 150. On to the Roses match at Old Trafford on Friday night before a probable sellout crowd despite it being televised on Sky Sports. I can’t wait for that one, so come on Yorkshire and set the pace especially as the following five matches are all at home!
What a fantastic T20 Roses from Old Trafford tonight. Lancashire won the toss and batted first scoring 58 for 1 wicket after 6 overs in the power play, but the leg spin of Adil Rashid particularly slowed down the run rate to 81 at the half way stage of the innings. However some lusty hitting towards the end of the innings especially from Phil Salt who made 59, Liam Livingstone and Tim David got the Red Rose team to 183 for 7 which was slightly above par for the Old Trafford wicket in cold and windy conditions.
Yorkshire made a poor start with Dawid Malan out for 5, Adam Lyth 21 and Joe Root in 3 all gone by the 7th over. Yorkshire were always behind the required run rate as Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Harry Brook started tentatively but just unable to pierce the field at first. However a series of dropped catches let the Vikings into the match so that by the end of the 16th over only 48 were required from 4 overs and as long as Kohler-Cadmore and Brook were there at the end Yorkshire looked like winning. However the former was run out on the last ball of the penultimate over., so 13 were required from the last over. With only 3 runs from the first 3 balls of the 20th over, the Red Rose county appeared to be in the ascendancy. Shadab Khan then hit a 4 and a single so 5 were required from the last ball. But then the fifth ball was deemed a no ball and a free hit for Yorkshire so the adjustment meant that 3 were now needed from 2 balls. A misfield then allowed Brook to just about to avoid a runout and brought the scores level but then he was given out lbw and the match ended in a tie with Yorkshire on 183 for 5.
Tom Koehler-Cadmore and Harry Brook had forged a partnership of 115 runs in 12 and a half overs with 67 and 72 respectively, but Brook was named man of the match.
How did Yorkshire lose at Headingley this afternoon to a side that was bowled out for 89 only yesterday? No aggression shown by our batsmen after Adam Lyth was out. Joe Root again a failure in one-day cricket for the Vikings. At least Harry Brook got the 28 runs to reach 1,000 runs before the end of May, only the 10th occasion that this has occurred in the history of the sport, Graeme Hick being the most recent in 1988. Nevertheless Yorkshire can’t rely on Brook to pull them out of the mire time after time. At the moment he has scored 1,001 in all forms of cricket this year at an average of 111.22
Yorkshire lost at Headingley for the second successive match in a shortened 8 overs a side encounter last night due to rain which surprised me as it was a coolish day in Redcar but dry all day. It’s always difficult to win these shortened matches if one loses the toss because batting first is always a disadvantage. That’s what happened last night as Derbyshire won the toss and inserted the Vikings. Adam Lyth was out first ball and Shadab out in the last ball of the first over caught behind trying to scoop the ball as Yorkshire’s first over finished on a paltry 2 runs for 2 wickets. The result thereafter was never in doubt despite a recovery to 61 runs after 6 overs before Dawid was out immediately after reaching his half century in 23 balls as Yorkshire finished on 83 for 3.
Despite Derbyshire losing their first wicket from a run out with the score at 15 from the first 12 balls, it was too easy as only 14 were needed from the last 2 overs as the visitors drew level with 4 balls remaining and easily won by 9 wickets. The one redeeming feature was the concession of only 14 runs from the two overs bowled by fast bowler Haris Rauf whereas Jordan Thompson’s solitary over went for 19 runs. As it happened if the rain had continued Yorkshire would have taken one point from an abandoned match.
What is happening behind the scenes at Headingley where in a matter of days another player Tom Kohler-Cadmore has decided to leave the Tykes at the end of the season having signed a three year contract for Somerset next year. This follows the decision of David Willey to return to Northamptonshire and stating that Yorkshire seem more concerned about righting the wrongs of the Azeem Rafiq affair than looking after the welfare of its present staff.
We don’t know yet about the future of Gary Ballance who is yet to make an appearance this season. Yorkshire CCC already face losing about £1M over unfair dismissals of 16 staff, and it’s still fearing points deductions in at least one of the 3 competitions that they feature, though whether that comes into force this year or next year is unclear.
The members are also at odds with the Board over past players leaving, such as Middlesbrough born Liam Plunkett to Surrey, and current England opening bat Alex Lees as the Tykes seem to be relying on short deal contracts to foreign international players to supplement the County’s current academy players. I acknowledge that Yorkshire have lost too many players to England in recent years, and have been unlucky with injuries especially amongst the bowlers, but whilst it’s gratifying to see so many Yorkshire players being selected for England the scheduling of the current domestic scene although not Yorkshire’s fault, has put extra strain on some club’s resources.
I’ve mentioned it before but Cricket is at the crossroads now with too many domestic competitions, especially the Hundred Competition which is too much of a gimmick for those that love cricket and needs to be jettisoned at the end of this season in my opinion.
Make a note of 20 year old Finlay Bean of Yorkshire CCC who has just become the first player to score a triple century in Second Division cricket. After Nottinghamshire were all out for 534 he and captain James Wharton had replied with an opening partnership of 287, young Finlay went on to score 365 not out as the Tykes finished the 3rd day’s play on 676 for 4. With the match heading for a draw perhaps Yorkshire’s Second XI might continue batting today to see if Finlay can reach 400. At the moment he is one run ahead of Len Hutton’s score for England against Australia at the Oval in 1938 when England declared at 903 for 7 and then bowled the Aussies out for 201 and 123, the biggest margin of victory in a Test Match as England won by an innings and 579 runs.
A lucky day for Yorkshire CCC as despite a poor performance at Grace Road, Leicester last evening where they were thumped by 60 runs in the Northern group of the T20 competition they were lucky to reach the quarter finals against Surrey at the Oval on Wednesday. In normal circumstances Leicestershire’s win would have eliminated the Vikings but during the morning the ECB announced that a 2 point penalty had been invoked on the Foxes for abuse by Arron Lilley on Northamptonshire’s New Zealander James Neesham during Friday’s match and on Leicestershire’s Afghanistan pace bowler for bowling a couple of deliberate beamers in the same match.
One wonders if this is the ECB’s attempt to cut out sledging in cricket, and if so and universally accepted I for one would welcome such a decision. The recent Test series between England and New Zealand has shown how cricket should be played in a sporting manner.
However Yorkshire will be without Dawid Malan, Harry Brook and David Willey against Surrey on Wednesday due to call-up calls by England for their one-day squads against India, so it’s up to the Vikings’ depleted XI to overcome the strong Surrey team on a venue which this year has shown some very high scores in all forms of cricket.
As the Azeem Rafiq racism case still meanders on at a snail-pace decision, Yorkshire themselves await a possible points deduction in the forthcoming months or even next year in both red and white ball competitions.
On a more cheery note Adrian Meronk has become the first Polish golfer to win a DP World Tour event, the Irish Open Championship at Mount Juliet, Kilkenny yesterday as the traditional summer sports including the century celebration of Wimbledon’s Centre Court and the upcoming 150th Open Golf Championship from St Andrew’s next month at least will be a relief from football for the next few weeks.
What an amazing night’s cricket at the Oval tonight. Yorkshire unable to score more than 35 runs in the first 6 over power play with Adam Lyth being out first ball and also losing Finn Allen for 3 to be only 9 for 2. Then a stand of 93 from David Willey and Tom Koehler-Cadmore (two players who are leaving Yorkshire at the end of the season) in 80 balls and then taking 52 runs from the last 4 overs to finish on 160 for 5 which was probably at least 25 runs short of a competitive total.
Yet Surrey also struggled at first and found themselves needing 68 from the last 6 overs and Yorkshire on top. But with Surrey’s Jamie Overton scoring 40 in 21 balls and Laurie Evans 35 in 26 balls, Surrey only needed to score 5 runs from the last over to win but up stepped Jordan Thompson and the over went like this - dot ball, then 2 singles, then Overton brilliantly run out by Kohler-Fraine and Yorkshire then winning by only one run.
So Yorkshire go into the Finals day at Edgbaston on 16th July when both semifinals and the final will be played. Considering Yorkshire were without Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Harry Brooks missing on England duty, whilst Adil Rashid was in Mecca for Ramadan this was a fantastic win.
Current maximum temperatures in Lagos are 30 degrees for the week with minimum of 26 degrees, rather Boro players than I. Still better than Lisbon where it’s 39 degrees.
than me.
This is the Yorkshire XI in batting order that for one reason or another didn’t play against League leaders Surrey at Scarborough today:- Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Dawid Malan, Gary Ballance, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jonny Bairstow, David Willey, Matt Fisher, Adil Rashid, Ben Coad and Dominic Leech.
And this is the Yorkshire XI with their current scores that did play:- Adam Lyth 152 not out, George Hill 0, James Wharton 3, Will Fraine 14, William Luxton 31, Matthew Waite 15, Jonathan Tattersall 104 not out, Dom Bess, Jordan Thompson, Steve Patterson and Shannon Gabriel, so after a poor start at 125 for 5 to reach close of play on 364 for 5 after 96 overs including 45 extras (36 of which were no balls) is a sensational recovery. Also the Tykes are now likely to get 5 batting points by reaching 400 after 110 overs for the first time this year. Of course until both sides have played one innings each it’s difficult to state what is par for this pitch. Nevertheless an enjoyable day’s play considering how the Tykes have been so depleted this year. Let’s see how good the West Indian pace bowler Shannon Gabriel is, and the second win of the season could be well on the cards.
Well done so far, especially to young Tattersall as I think that this was his maiden first class century today.
I spent the morning watching highlights of England’s T20 win against South Africa and another amazing batting display from Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali as they scored 106 runs in just short of 6 overs for the 4th wicket as England won by 41 runs. Let’s hope they can keep this form as the World Cup starts in Australia on the 16th October. With the Rugby League World Cup in England and the Football World Cup in Qatar also taking place this Autumn I wonder what chances we have in celebrating an England treble.
Yorkshire’s young colts will today go on the road in the Royal London 50 over competition to the 4 county grounds beginning with the letter C -Cardiff, Chelmsford, Canterbury and Chesterfield before returning to Scarborough on the 23rd of this month in their quest to reach the playoffs of this competition by finishing in the top 3 of their group.
More cricket news to give you is that Whitby born former England Test batsman Adam Lyth has been suspended from bowling as his action has been declared illegal as his bowling arm extension exceeds the 15 degree threshold requirement. He will now have to moderate this before being allowed to bowl in ECB matches again.
In my youth I always thought that Surrey won so many County Championships was because left arm spinner Tony Lock had a suspect action and also deprived Yorkshire’s Johnny Wardle of so many England Test caps.
What an amazing turnaround by Yorkshire on day one of the Roses match at Old Trafford completed yesterday as Lancashire stumbled from 180 for 0, and then 231 for 1, to 276 all out with 6th change bowler George Hill taking the first 6 wickets for 26 runs in 16 overs. As I followed the match on podcast I feared that the Red Rose County would amass 500 plus and then win by an innings, but in effect they lost all 10 wickets for 96 runs.
A smart 42 runs from 20 year old Harrogate born Finlay Bean has enabled the Tykes to finish on 140 for 4 on a rain affected day yesterday to keep Yorkshire in the match, though I fear that rain will play a part over the next two days.
You may recall that I wrote earlier in the year that Finlay scored a mammoth 441 for the Tykes Second XI, a record for that competition and enough to earn him a contract extension until the end of next year. He is a left-handed opening batsman in the mould of Joe Root.
However Yorkshire still face a relegation battle on and off the field of play as a decision has yet to be made whether they will be deducted points over the ‘racism affair’.
Well the County Championship relegation fight is going down to the last day of the season as Steve Patterson played his last match for Yorkshire. He came to the wicket with Yorkshire losing its 9th wicket with the Tykes needing 50 runs to win. Not particularly known for his batting
Well the County Championship relegation fight is going down to the last day of the season as Steve Patterson played his last match for Yorkshire. He came to the wicket with Yorkshire losing its 9th wicket with the Tykes needing 50 runs to win. Not particularly known for his batting with a top score of 63 not out Stevo lasted for 40 minutes on nought as Dom Bess finished on 79 not out , the highest score of the match whilst also shielding Stevo from the bowling as much as possible but still 19 runs short of the required target.
It’s now up to Hampshire to prevent Warwickshire from winning tomorrow and thus saving Yorkshire from the drop by 3 points.
My bet is Warwickshire will seek to pile on runs very quickly on the last day to try to force a win. But against a very strong Hampshire side, they’re going to need something in excess of a 250 run lead, I guess. Given likely inclement weather, too, I think (and hope) they’ll fall short, with the draw the likeliest outcome.
But that’s too close for comfort. What a dreadful county season Yorkshire have had. Only one win all season and ignominious defeats along the way to some of the division’s weakest sides, let alone Lancashire! I suppose that’s what happens when you lose half your senior squad to England - at various stages this year Root, Bairstow, Malan, Willey, Rashid and Brook have all been unavailable for the county. Ben Coad and Jordan Thompson were out injured for long spells. This has meant we’ve had to rely on too many young and inexperienced players. Now we’ve possibly compounded this situation by retiring the excellent Steve Pattison and top batsman Kohler-Cadmore is off to pastures new (as is the aforementioned Willey.) If we do survive tomorrow 🤞🤞🤞🤞, we’ll need to do much better next season. It looks like a recruitment drive of Wilder-like proportions will be necessary!
@clive-hurren - It has been a very poor season for Yorkshire. We MIGHT survive if Warwickshire fail to win on the last day of the season, but the table doesn't lie. We are near the bottom because we have won only ONE game all season and have failed to draw when we could have avoided defeat. YES - we have lost a number of very good players to England but the rest have failed to do the job. If we survive, we will have been lucky.
WHAT a last day of the County Championship! Drama just doesn't describe it. Warwickshire needed to beat Hampshire in order to avoid relegation to Division 2, and that win would relegate Yorkshire instead (for any who have not been following the cricket this year). On the other hand a win by Hampshire would make them runners-up to Champions, Surrey.
In a low-scoring game, Hants were bowled out for 177 leaving Warks to score 138 to win. They failed by 5 runs and, taking the last 2 wickets in a double-wicket maiden over, Norwell took 9 wickets in that 2nd innings for 62 runs. An absolutely magnificent performance with the ball, under pressure and Norwell's must have been the performance of the season.
So, sadly, Yorkshire end a terrible season off the field with a terrible season on it. I'd like to say that Yorkshire will be back after a promotion season next year but experience tells me it is better to be sensible. I'd like to THINK we can go up, but wouldn't put any money on it. Of course it doesn't help that Yorkshire has been providing so many players to the England red-ball and white-ball teams, and that those players have not been available to play for the county even after the Test Matches have been completed etc (though Surrey fielded 3 of its England/England squad players when Yorkshire played them, and lost to them, last week). No, Yorkshire has been relegated because, over the season only ONE match was won, and the table doesn't lie. It wasn't one match but a whole season of failure to perform. And that must improve next year.
I then turn to the Championship table of the EFL. That isn't looking good for Boro either. This is shaping up to be a real Annus Horribilis for my teams. Even Hartlepool United is looking under real threat of relegation from the EFL Division 2, and getting back up again will not be easy or even achievable. I hate sport sometimes.
BUT... well done to Warwickshire. (GRRRR!).
Dormo
Just a point of correction. It was Hants who needed to score 138 to win, not Warwickshire.
I agree with everything you’ve said. Yorkshire had some near misses, especially lately, losing by just one wicket to Essex and 18 runs to Gloucestershire. Winning or drawing just one of those two games would have saved us. Tough - they were still losses, and both extremely damaging.
With Hants needing just 138 yesterday, it looked odds on them winning and relegating Warwickshire. How typical (reminiscent of typical Boro at our best) that a relatively unsung bowler, Liam Norwell, should turn in a once-in-a-lifetime performance of 9 for 62! Unbelievable, Jeff.
You’re right, of course. The final table doesn’t lie and Yorkshire got what we deserved. It risks being a long and painful exile from the top division. Firstly, Andrew Strauss’ proposed structural reforms might postpone promotion for at least one season. Secondly, Yorkshire might yet face a points deduction from the ECB over their disastrous mishandling of the Azim Rafiq affair.
My neighbour is a Lancashire season-ticket holder and member. In my mind’s eye, I can see him gloating already. I’m going to find a hole to hide in and will keep well away from him for the next few weeks.
There has been a swell of Yorkshire players wanting to leave because of the racism reports, not all confirmed by the way. I get the feeling that Azeem Rafiq will be happy now that Yorkshire have been relegated, though will be happier still if Yorkshire start next year with a points deduction in both the red ball and white ball competitions. However the main villain of this whole scenario is Lord Kamlesh Patel in sacking 16 backroom staff including coaches and medical staff who the players trusted. He should resign if he has any conscience as just about every sacked person has won their case with the fair tribunals commission and cost Yorkshire CCC something like 2 million pounds in compensation for unfair dismissal. By the way Warwickshire were County Champions last year and have suffered their fair of injuries this year like Yorkshire especially to their leading pace bowler Liam Norwell who was making his comeback against Hampshire (some comeback by the way) whilst former Yorkshire academy pace bowler Oliver Hannon-Daley and Norwell bowled almost unchanged yesterday.
Yorkshire legend Steve Patterson aged 39 has announced his retirement from professional cricket following the Tykes relegation. He was not offered a contract for next season and despite offers from other counties including Kent has stated that he didn’t wish to play for any other county. He made 344 appearances for the White Rose county of which 184 were in first class cricket having taken 672 wickets of which 489 were in first class cricket with his best return 6 for 56 against Durham at Chester-le-Street in June 2016. Always known for his accuracy his economy rate was 2.63 runs per over in first class cricket and 5.13 in one-day cricket in which he took 124 wickets. Overall his average strike rate was 27.6 in first class cricket, 28.9 in limited over cricket and 29.7 in T20 cricket.
As far as I can ascertain his highest score as a batsman was 63 not out, but will certainly be missed as a player and a captain with Yorkshire after 20 years service and a valued member of the Championship winning side of 2014 and 2015, and I’d like to wish him a happy retirement as he devotes his time to his family property business.
@clive-hurren Yes. You're correct, Clive. It WAS Hants that needed 138 to win, but fell 5 short.
@ken _ I would echo your best wishes to Patto now that he has announced his retirement from County cricket.
He wasn't the greatest of captains but he was a very good county bowler in English conditions, mostly very accurate and difficult to score from. He did his job over many years and nobody could doubt his loyalty to the county. If you like, a Robbie Mustoe of a cricketer: if he's fit, he plays and will fulfil his part week in, week out. He will be missed.