THE tedious cricket continued at Headingley this morning, with Jacques Rudolph and Anthony McGrath completing workmanlike centuries as both teams concentrated on denying each other bonus points.

Yorkshire reached 408 for three at lunch but made no attempt to go for the fourth batting point and succeeded in denying Durham a single bowling point.

The cut-off for bonus points came down from 130 overs to 120 last season, and to 110 this year, at which point Yorkshire were 329 for two. They had added only 25 in ten overs today at that stage, and 11 of those came off the tenth.

Durham achieved the maximum of three bowling points in every match last season. They dropped only one in 2007 and the four they missed in 2008 were due to the weather.

When they did finally take a wicket in the 24th over of the day it came from a run-out and resulted in the fielder, Dale Benkenstein, limping off with what appeared to be a knee injury. It didn’t look serious, but it meant yet more work for physio Nigel Kent, who will soon be having sleepless nights if the casualties continue to pile up.

The fates are certainly conspiring against Durham at the moment and it was not a good sign when Scott Borthwick came on for the 22nd over of the day and immediately spin two balls past Anthony McGrath’s bat. The second one turned very sharply and Yorkshire’s spinners, Adil Rashid and David Wainwright, must have been licking their lips.

Rudolph was first to his century, off 208 balls, reaching the mark with a straight drive for his 15th four in Mark Davies’s first over after Chris Rushworth and Ian Blackwell had bowled for the first hour.

McGrath was on 97 at the time and after being stuck on that score for some time he saw a fierce straight drive glance off Rudolph’s helmet to bounce short of deepish mid-on and prevent any run.

He finally went down the pitch to Blackwell and although the lofted straight drive wasn’t middled it carried for four to take McGrath to his hundred off 240 balls. It was his 30th first-class century and he surely hasn’t scored a slower one.

He was run out for 105 when he drove Borthwick to mid-off and set off for the run, with Rudolph rightly declining to respond as Benkenstein swooped. Rudolph was on 123 at lunch, with Andrew Gale on 13.