Vaughan’s glimmer of light in the gloom
Yorkshire v Nottinghamshire (County Championship) : Day One
THE green shoots of a Michael
Vaughan recovery lit up an otherwise
dismal day at Headingley
as the weather washed out two
sessions of play to frustrate
Yorkshire and prevent new boy
Morne Morkel from waiting his
long awaited debut.
Vaughan has endured a nightmare
start to the domestic season,
having made just 37 runs in
four innings since the warm-up
game with Leeds, Bradford
UCCE last month but he looked
in much better touch yesterday
as Yorkshire defied the difficult
conditions to reach 55 for one,
with only 30 overs possible on
day one.
He ended the day unbeaten on
25, having hit five boundaries in
just under two hours, and although
he was fortunate, twice,
to see an edge fly past the slips
on its way to the boundary, who
would begrudge the England
captain such fortune after his recent
struggle?
His score looks even better
when the excellent bowling of
Ryan Sidebottom is added to the
equation. Vaughan's international
team-mate looked very
confident, bowling an incredible
seven consecutive maidens at
the start of his spell, although
all credit must go to Joe Sayers,
whose patience was near endless
before he eventually steered him
away to third man for a single to
break the bowler's momentum.
Vaughan wasn't in nearly such a
conservative mood as the opener
twice found the boundary before
the end of the over.
Sidebottom did much of the
work but it was Mark Ealham
who finally brought Sayers'
stubborn resistance to an end,
bowling the four-day specialist
for nine from 72 balls with a delivery
that nipped back through
the gate and into off stump.
Anthony McGrath joined
Vaughan at the crease and soon
after there was mild confusion
as play had to be stopped because
of a fox on the pitch, the
animal calmly made it's way
across the outfield before being
somewhat comically chased into
the stand and McGrath showed
all the cunning of the creature
that had just wandered around
Headingley to smash a beautiful
boundary off the very next ball,
lashing Stuart Broad for four
through deep point.
The veterans steered the
home side to an early tea from
which they would not return, a
torrential downpour bringing
the day's action to a premature
end.
Martin Moxon's confidence in
the batting capabilities of his
side is such that he was keen to
bat first, even on a wicket soaked
by overnight rain that seemed to
promise much to the attack.
It was a decision that was particularly
brave against an opposition
who can boast almost as
much venom with the ball as
Yorkshire, with the likes of Sidebottom,
Mark Ealham, Stuart
Broad and Charlie Shreck all
more than capable of causing
problems.
If Yorkshire can edge their
way to a good score they will be
very confident after their innings
victory over Hampshire
last week, especially with new
addition Morkel champing at
the bit to get his white rose career
off and running.
It remains to be seen whether
the weather will have the final
say, however, with the forecast
looking worrying at best.
SCORECARD
Yorkshire v Nottinghamshire
At Headingley Carnegie. Yorkshire Won Toss
Yorkshire First Innings Close
J J Sayers b Ealham 9
M P Vaughan not out 25
A McGrath not out 14
Extras (lb3 pens 0) 3
Total 1 wkt (30.2 overs) 51
Fall: 1-33
To Bat: J A Rudolph, A W Gale, A U Rashid, G L
Brophy, T T Bresnan, D Gough, M Morkel, M J
Hoggard.
Bowling: Sidebottom 8.2-7-9-0. Shreck 9-5-19-
0. Broad 7-3-14-0. Ealham 6-3-6-1.
9:45am Thursday 1st May 2008
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