Report: Yorkshire v Warwickshire, County Championship

Day Four

Will Rhodes and Sam Hain made excellent rearguard centuries and batted through the whole of the final day against Yorkshire to secure an LV= Insurance County Championship draw at Headingley.

Champions Warwickshire started day four on 57 for three in their second innings, a deficit of 148, and when the players shook hands at 4.50pm they were 252 for three with a lead of 47.

Hain and his captain Rhodes, a Championship winner with both of these counties, shared 227 inside 104 overs for the fourth wicket and finished on respective personal scores of 109 and 111.

This was a game which unbeaten Yorkshire had much the better of, but they had to settle for a fifth draw in six Division One matches this season. They took 14 points to Warwickshire’s 11.

In four of their five draws, Yorkshire have had final day victory chances both at home and away only to be thwarted by a mixture of determined batting in benign conditions and without the bowling firepower they would have wanted.

That was exactly the case here as the champions, against an attack minus quicks Matthew Fisher, Ben Coad and Haris Rauf through injury or illness, added their fourth draw to a win and a defeat.

Heading into the break for the start of the Vitality Blast, Yorkshire have gone third in the table, 15 points behind leaders Surrey (105), while Warwickshire remain sixth.

Hain and Rhodes batted through a quiet morning session with only a couple of obvious alarms and brought up their centuries off successive balls shortly after tea.

They batted with more purpose than they had done late on day three having come together at 25 for three following Jordan Thompson’s trio of new ball successes.

A Rhodes edge off Dom Bess flashed through Harry Brook at second slip before he had chance to react and Hain edged the same bowler in between his off stump and wicketkeeper Harry Duke to reach his fifty off 188 balls.

Seventy one runs came in the morning as the score advanced to 128 for three at lunch, with a minimum of 64 overs remaining. 

Yorkshire’s best hope was a new ball due seven overs into the afternoon, going some way to explain why they bowled double spin in the form of Bess and Joe Root either side of lunch. 

They took it with 57 overs remaining, when Warwickshire were 146 for three and still 59 behind.

The pitch had shown signs of offering turn and had been a bit two-paced during day three, but there was none of that 24 hours later.

Hain was particularly punishing on the cut shot, which brought him a solitary six off Matthew Revis. Rhodes was stronger to leg, both working through midwicket and pulling with authority.

When Warwickshire reached tea at 222 for three, they led by 17 with a minimum of 34 overs remaining with Rhodes on 98 and Hain unbeaten on 92.

During the afternoon, Rhodes had edged Steve Patterson short of Root at slip. Immediately the former England captain left the field, only to return to field in the same position with his right thumb strapped.

Rhodes and Hain reached their centuries in the early stages of the evening, by which stage they had only just recorded a double century partnership. 

Hain’s second hundred of the season came off 308 balls and a first of 2022 for Rhodes came off 268. Warwickshire were 232 for three, leading by 27 with almost 30 overs remaining. The job was complete.

It has been an inconsistent start to the season for Warwickshire, though rearguard this will give them great heart.

Under the guise of the Birmingham Bears, they start their Vitality Blast campaign against Northamptonshire at Edgbaston on Thursday evening. 

Twenty four hours earlier, Yorkshire host Worcestershire at Headingley.

Day Three

All-rounders Matthew Revis and Jordan Thompson helped Yorkshire enjoy a strong day in the LV= Insurance County Championship match with champions Warwickshire at Headingley.

Revis completed an entertaining career best 53 not out during the third afternoon to build the home side’s first-innings lead to 205 before new ball seamer Thompson claimed a trio of new ball wickets either side of tea.

He reduced Warwickshire to 20 for two before the break and then 25 for three afterwards before the visitors closed on 57 for three from 40.2 overs, with rain ending play 7.4 overs early.

Their late resistance through Sam Hain (19) and captain Will Rhodes (10) has given the visitors hope, but they still have significant work to do for survival.

Yorkshire, replying to 244, were bowled out for 449 midway through the afternoon, with Revis reaching his second career first-class fifty off 87 balls with a six.

Warwickshire Australian overseas all-rounder Nathan McAndrew impressed and claimed four wickets, while wicketkeeper Michael Burgess recorded five catches to go with his day one 96.

Adam Lyth completed an excellent 145, advancing from 118 overnight as  Yorkshire started on 269 for four. But when the left-hander edged a cut at McAndrew behind, he was two short of 12,000 runs in his first-class career.

The former England opener was one of three morning wickets to fall as Yorkshire added exactly 100 runs, to reach 369 for seven at lunch. 

Dom Bess skewed Danny Briggs’ left-arm spin to backward point before Thompson was the victim of a superb reflex catch by Rhodes at mid-on having hammered a pull at McAndrew.

Harry Duke posted a season’s best 48 and judged length well in cutting, pulling, driving and scooping. But he fell after lunch when McAndrew uprooted his off-stump – 383 for eight in the 131st, a home lead of 139.

The fifth catch for Burgess was his best, one-handed low down to his left off a Tom Loten inside edge against Oliver Hannon-Dalby (392 for nine in the 138th).

Revis played the innings of the day, hitting superbly off the front foot on the up. One cover driven boundary off McAndrew in his forties, and with the field out, was particularly memorable.

He reached his fifty by clattering Briggs over midwicket into Headingley’s East Stand during his tenth-wicket stand of 57 in seven overs with Steve Patterson (18).

He debuted in the Championship at the end of 2019 as an opening batter, aged 17. But he has been playing this season as more of a specialist hit the pitch hard seam bowler batting at number nine.

McAndrew ended the innings when he castled Patterson’s leg stump. When Yorkshire were bowled out, their total was 450 and Patterson 19.

But, at tea, it was announced the respective totals had been downgraded by a run, owing to confusion around a Briggs ball which hit a helmet placed behind the wicketkeeper and should have been called dead ball before a run was taken.

By that time, Thompson had forced miscues from Alex Davies and Rob Yates as the Warwickshire second innings started badly – 20 for two after nine overs. Davies chipped to Will Fraine at midwicket and Yates to Loten, diving towards short mid-off.

And there was another wicket on the way early in the evening when a back of a length Thompson delivery caught the shoulder of Dom Sibley’s (14) bat and flew to Bess at point, leaving Warwickshire at 25 for three in the 13th.

But their day ended on a brighter note, with the help of a touch of inclement weather.

Day Two

Harry Brook reaffirmed his England credentials with 82 as Yorkshire responded strongly to Warwickshire’s first-innings 244 during day two at Headingley.

Yorkshire, for whom determined opener Adam Lyth also scored 118 not out, have reached the halfway stage of this sixth round LV= Insurance County Championship fixture in control at 269 for four from 91 overs.

Brook, called up to England’s squad for the start of next month’s Test series against New Zealand earlier this week, recorded his eighth score of 50 or more in nine innings this season and is now the leading scorer in Division One with 840 runs at a remarkable average of 140.

The fourth-wicket pair shared 157 either side of tea after Yorkshire had started the day on 28 without loss from 12 overs. Joe Root only made eight during a day ended 17 overs early at 5.30pm by rain.

Brook and Lyth had to be in watchful mood at the start of their respective innings against the champions’ testing attack, batting in different fashion to usual. However, they found fluency after tea.

Rain meant only 18.5 overs were possible during a quiet second morning, which included only the wicket of opener George Hill for a pleasant 25.

His innings ended when he aimed a half-hearted cut at Henry Brookes in the fifth over of day as Yorkshire fell to 33 for one in the 17th.

Play was interrupted at 12.25pm by the first of a couple of squally showers before a resumption 55 minutes later with no overs lost.

Will Fraine played in a similar fashion to Hill had done on the way to 31.

He hit all of his four boundaries shortly after lunch, including two eye-catching cover drives off successive balls against the Australian overseas seamer Nathan McAndrew.

However, he fell caught behind down leg off the canny medium pace of visiting captain Will Rhodes as the score fell to 82 for two in the 40th over – the ninth of the afternoon.

Further, and key, success was to follow not too long afterwards when Root was enticed into a drive at a swinging delivery from impressive quick Brookes, whose second wicket left Yorkshire at 109 for three in the 47th and brought the game back into the balance.

By this stage, the floodlights were in use. But, given Brook’s recent form, it was unlikely to make any difference to a 23-year-old who could seemingly bat blindfolded at present. 

In reality, it was tricky early on for Brook and Lyth as Warwickshire bowled well. On another day, they would have had more success. 

Had they broken through again quickly, this fixture could have headed in a different direction.

But Lyth dug in and reached his fifty off 161 balls, by which time the score was 126 for three in the 55th over of the innings. That score became 167 for three after 68 at tea.

Then came more fluency for the England players past and future.

Brook, 30 at tea, pulled the first ball of the evening through square leg for four and reached his half-century with a guided four to third off Danny Briggs’ left-arm spin as he changed gears.
By that time, Yorkshire were 199 for three and closing in on a lead.

Lyth’s first hundred of the summer came up in 267 balls – 234 for three in the 85th and now batting against the new ball.Brook then fell to a smart Rob Yates catch at first slip off Oliver Hannon-Dalby, eight balls before the rain returned to end the day. That left Yorkshire 266 for four in the 90th over.

Day One

Michael Burgess crashed 96 and produced another master-class at batting with the tail to keep Warwickshire afloat – but Yorkshire’s depleted attack enjoyed much the better of day one at Headingley.

In this sixth round LV= Insurance County Championship fixture, the last before the break for T20, Yorkshire were led by three wickets apiece for Jordan Thompson and Steve Patterson as the Bears were bowled out for 244 inside 82 overs after winning the toss.

Had it not been for wicketkeeper Burgess, however, things would have been much worse for Warwickshire against a home attack missing quicks Ben Coad, Matt Fisher, Dom Leech and Haris Rauf through a variety of ailments.

Burgess, who hit 14 fours and a six in 106 balls, had already shared in tenth-wicket partnerships of 132 and 64 in posting centuries against Surrey and Essex this season, and here added 41 with last man Oliver Hannon-Dalby, who did not score. 

Yorkshire later closed on 28 without loss from 12 overs in reply.

For Yorkshire to perform like this having lost their first toss of the season was a significant triumph given the aforementioned absentees, including Pakistan overseas quick Rauf through a late illness. 

Balls from the new batch of Dukes were used and of course helped them during an opening day which started under an overcast sky before sunshine broke through just prior to lunch.

Without it being excessive, there was more assistance on offer than at any other stage of the opening two games here – draws against Kent and Lancashire.

Warwickshire certainly gave their hosts a leg up. Yorkshire’s catching has blighted them all summer, and they dropped three more – Sam Hain, Rob Yates and Will Rhodes. But none of the batters were able to add to their scores when dropped.

Yorkshire struck four times inside 21 overs, with two for Patterson sandwiched in between one apiece for new ball pair Thompson and Matthew Revis.

Thompson made the breakthrough in the 11th over when Alex Davies edged to England Test new boy Harry Brook at third slip for 19, leaving the score at 28 for one.

Dom Sibley was then trapped lbw by Patterson in the next over for nine, without further addition to the scoreboard.

Patterson struck again in the 18th – 41 for three when Yates was caught behind by Harry Duke – before the champions slipped to 43 for four in the 21st when Hain nibbled at a back of a length delivery from Revis and was caught at first slip by Joe Root at the second attempt.

The former England captain did remarkably well to maintain concentration amidst interference from wicketkeeper Duke, who himself had initially gone for the catch.

Matt Lamb batted with a flourish for 45 either side of lunch as he and Rhodes shared an important 74 to lay some sort of foundation.

However, Lamb was the second wicket to go to Revis when he edged a loose drive to Root at first slip – 117 for five in the 47th over, after lunch.

Rhodes, on 29 and against his former county, offered Adam Lyth his second chance at second slip, off Tom Loten’s bowling, only to mistime a drive almost immediately towards cover where Brook took a one-handed catch over his head as the score fell to 137 for six in the 52nd over.

Thompson added two more wickets either side of tea, Danny Briggs bowled shouldering arms and Nathan McAndrew caught at second slip by Lyth (188 for eight) in the 69th.

And when Henry Brookes skewed the impressive Loten to backward point, Warwickshire were 203 for nine in the 74th over.Burgess came to the crease with the score at 117 for five, so scored 96 of the remaining 127 runs. 

He took all the strike from Hannon-Dalby, often hit to leg and clattered Loten over midwicket for his only six.