CLOSE OF PLAY, DAY TWO:
Durham 178 and 26-1, Yorkshire 313 (Yorkshire 6 pts, Durham 3pts)
Headingley Carnegie:Link Weather:Link Yorkshire CC form guide (Most recent last) D D L D L
League table: Link Yorkshire averages: Link BBC Radio: Link Durham website: Link Next Match : July 15 | PRO40: Yorkshire vs. Worcester (Worcester)
Its been a struggle. Its never easy, is it? One wonders if we can't force a win in this match, when will we? Somebody has to step up with an inspired performance, and Hoggy is my nominee.
Anyone know why Naved has been bowled so little in the second innings? Bressy, Hoggy, Rashid and Shahzad have all bowled more overs. He's only allowed 20 runs in the 13 overs he did bowl, so he must be doing something right. An injury, perhaps?
Not been able to get to this match at all so far because of visits by non-cricketing friends. Following it by other means it looks another absolutely terrific game. (We've been involved in three or four this season.)
Once again, we seem to be competing well but may be unable to quite convert effort into achievement.
Devious negotiations with interested parties have enabled me to escape to Headingley tomorrow. I can't wait. I have a suspicion I may be witness to something special - and if not, there'll be something to grumble about on the site!
Have the crowds been OK so far? I hope there's been lots of positive encouragement for the team.
Today showed a major problem with Yorkshire cricket. After a year of not winning the team (& it must be said the crowd) have forgotten how to win. Basically whilst there was effort the 'killer edge' that rolls teams over is absent. One friend actually asked 'do the team want to win'. Another said 'the luck hasn't goe with us'.
Its not that we've bowled badly ... although it must be said that Rashid has been disapointing. There have been many 'ooh' moments where the a wicket was 'close' (an edge not going to hand, a ball beating the bat but not getting an edge etc etc) ... but we've never looked as though we're going cause a collapse. Bairstow missed a stumoing & a catch down the leg side in the morning session ... & Naved bowled someone offa no ball ... but it hasn't been a question of bad fielding. When we took the 2nd new ball there were too many 'leave alone' deliveries that let the pressure go.
There's also been some odd umpiring .... there were 3 'stong' lbw calls from the football stand end ... the weekest sounded as though it hit the bat .. yet it was Rasghid who got Benkenstein.
Hopefully we'll knock over the last 3 early tomorrow & knock the runs off ... but I wouldn't bet on it
Something of an attritional day, with both sides striving to establish dominance, in weather which was never less than pleasant (even in the Football Stand).
Characteristically, YCCC tended to adhere to the tactical fag packet (there was a predictability, though little imaginative challenge about YCCC's activities in the field), whilst Durham were heavily dependent upon the grit of DiVenuto and Benkenstien.
On a wicket, which I am repeatedly informed by those who know far better than do I, favours seam bowling, Rashid (the leg spinner) bowled over a third of the overs and was by far the most threatening bowler. Early on, he bowled one over of such exquisite delight, that although all six balls looked identical as they left his hand, each was consummately different to the batsman, and at the end of the (maiden) over, the intense silence which had fallen on Headingley, was interrupted by almost universal applause.
Over all the proceedings the "Hanging Towers of Fitzwilliam" stood (it being a Sunday) in respectful contemplation as the representatives of Deira and Bernicia struggled for ascendancy. For those who have not seen them, I should explain that the two tower cranes have orange bases and green extensions, only the latter of which can now be seen, as the lower stories of the ultimate super-structure begin to infill. Consequently, the said cranes now appear to be entirely green. "Four-fingered Bernard" concluded, therefore, that the meccano-like pointers had been entirely repainted in order to mark the transition from the sponsorship of Yorkshire Cricket by Taylors of Harrogate to Leeds Met Carnegie, whilst the "Grinder of Sheffied" pointed out that on the contrary, it was nothing more than the green shoots of recovery.
In imitation of our last overseas fast bowler (Gillespie) Rana bowled "back of a length" and conceeded little, but equally, threatened little and his only wicket was, sadly, no-balled by Umpire Gough. Beyond that, Shazhad (the pick), Hoggard and Bresnan laboured whole-heartedly in search of reward, but the truth lay in the assessment that YCCC would have been better served by selecting a contrasting spinner, who fielded with his hands rather than his feet, and who was a batsman rather than a hitter.
Did YCCC appear to be "up for it"? Yes, they certainly did, though not quite so over-whelmingly so as they had been at Taunton last week. Are the green shoots real or merely illusionary? Undoubtedly, the green shoots are showing, but is YCCC directed towards growth. Could it be that we are pre-occupied with getting maximum value from fertilizer purchased, as if by Cressus, but after its sell-by date before the beginning of the 2008 season.
If we win this one, which perhaps, with luck, we might, it will be inspite of the selection policy which determined the make-up of the team. That leaves very big questionsabout the direction of Yorkshire cricket!
i don't think anyone bowled badly - but we just lacked a little spark. In fairness, they batted well and with enormous application. I thought our fielding was a little sloppy at times - we certainly gave them ten more runs that we should have done. Mags was working hard - and Hoggy was chief cheerleader. I'm afraid to say it, but i though Bairstow was a little shaky behind the stumps - he missed a regulation stumping and I thought he dropped two difficult chances. He's also a bit anonymous behind the stumps - I want a bit more from a keeper - he needs to be geeing up his bowlers a bit more. perhaps this comes with age?
One or two balls were keeping low later in the game - I think 200 could be a challenging target..