MATTHEW Wood became the first Yorkshire batsman this season to reach 1,000 first class runs before the rain-ravaged Championship match against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham fizzled out into a tame draw.

It was a good day, also, for Steve Kirby who captured four wickets to give him a match return of ten for 183 and leave him with 38 dismissals in his last five Championship outings.

Kirby's name has started to reach the ears of Duncan Fletcher and if the England boss is bold enough to pick an in-form bowler for the third Test at Trent Bridge next week then the red-haired paceman could be in with a shout.

The draw leaves Gloucestershire still holding on to the third promotion place but they are only one-and-a-half points ahead of Yorkshire who have the advantage of a game in hand.

And the home side had only themselves to blame for the stalemate because they refused to dangle the carrot and did not declare until they had thrashed 284 for six which left Yorkshire an unlikely victory target of 322 in a minimum of 45 overs.

If Gloucestershire had expected Yorkshire to be pressured into getting themselves out they were soon shown to be mistaken as openers Wood and Stephen Fleming survived the first 21 overs together and both sides were happy to call it a day with Yorkshire on 75 for two from 40 overs.

Fleming was first to go, lbw to Shoaib Malik, and when Wood got his legs in front against Ian Fisher he had taken his season's tally to 1,001 - the third time he has exceeded the 1,000 mark in first class cricket.

There was plenty for the home fans to cheer as Gloucestershire went about adding to their first innings lead of 37 and the run bonanza was led by New Zealander Chris Spearman who hammered 94 off 118 balls with eight fours and four sixes, but he was aided by some indifferent bowling, with the exception of Kirby who grabbed the first four wickets to fall.

Matt Windows chipped in with his second half century of the match but it was Shoaib Malik who had the crowd gasping with some ferocious hitting which brought him 60 from just 32 deliveries with three fours and five sixes. Malik drove four consecutive balls from Richard Dawson high into the hospitality tents but in attempting to make it five sixes in a row he was stumped by Simon Guy and Gloucestershire promptly declared.

Yorkshire now have a Championship breather before returning to action at Scarborough next week but time is beginning to run out and with only five games remaining draws are not enough.