Yorkshire and Leicestershire are the two counties with the closest memories of England cricket and soccer international, Willie Watson, and it was entirely fitting that they should be playing each other at Headingley last Sunday when both teams lined up for a minute's silence following Watson's death in South Africa the previous day.

The elegant left-hander, who left Yorkshire to captain Leicestershire in 1958, amassed 25,670 first class runs with 55 centuries during a distinguished career.

But it was not what Watson did with either county that led to him becoming an icon in English cricket.

He will always be remembered for his epic 109 against Australia in the Lord's Test of 1953 when his fifth-wicket stand of 163 with Trevor Bailey saved England from defeat.

Like Watson, former Test umpire Dickie Bird also moved from Yorkshire to Leicestershire, and it was Watson who persuaded Bird to join him at Grace Road.

Bird is in no doubt about Watson's genius as a batsman. "He was a great batsman on bad pitches and the only better ones I ever saw were Wally Hammond and Len Hutton," he said.

"Willie used to let the ball come to him and play it late rather than go chasing after it - and that is the difference between ordinary batsmen and top-notch ones."

Like all true Yorkshiremen, Watson took his cricket very seriously whatever the quality of the match he was playing in.

Many years' ago, I played in a Press XI friendly against a Bradford City XI which included Watson although at the time of the game he had moved on to manage Halifax Town.

Watson was batting when a heavy shower caused a stoppage and on the resumption he called for sawdust to be spread around because he was worried about losing his footing.

Though his career was long over he still played some wonderful shots until he was bowled out by television commentator John Helm who even now will go over the dismissal in great detail if given half the chance.

In addition to playing soccer for Huddersfield Town, Halifax Town and Sunderland, Watson also competed in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil when Yorkshire gave him special dispensation to be away from the county for most of the summer.

Gone, never to return, are the days when soccer came cap in hand to cricket.

Sunday's solemn line-up at Headingley was marred by the untimely appearance in the middle of the field of Scorch the Dragon, Yorkshire's coloured-clothing mascot, whose bowed green monster head brought a bizarre touch to the proceedings.

The identity of Scorch is a closely-guarded secret but rumours that the mythical creature is entirely without brains are obviously true.

It was inevitable, perhaps, that when the game began a Yorkshire exile would make his mark for Leicestershire, Dewsbury-born John Sadler rapping out a career-best 88 and putting on 165 with Jeremy Snape which was a record partnership for any wicket by opposing batsmen in a county league match at Headingley.

Then South Australian left-arm spinner, Claude Henderson, routed Yorkshire with figures of five for 24, the best ever for a Leicestershire bowler against Yorkshire in the competition.

The previous record holder was none other than Ray Illingworth, another Yorkshireman who took the well-worn path from Headingley to Grace Road.