Yorkshire v Lancashire (County Championship) : Day Two

YORKSHIRE did better with the second new ball in the Roses match at Headingley yesterday but Lancashire still managed to reach 417 for nine before declaring.

Bad light and then rain restricted the second day's play to 57.3 overs but at lunch Lancashire were in control at 368 for five.

Tighter bowling after the interval meant they could only add 49 further runs in 19 overs for four wickets.

For a large part of the innings Yorkshire's bowling had been mediocre but they had the consolation of gaining maximum bowling bonus points.

It is disappointing, however, that they have yet to bowl out a side in the first innings for under 300 this season and their leading pair of Jason Gillespie and Deon Kruis are still misfiring.

Gillespie has worked hard, bowling 147 overs in three-and-ahalf matches, but he has captured only eight wickets at a cost of almost 50 runs.

Kruis is in only his second match after recovering from a pre-season calf injury but his two for 135 yesterday were the most expensive figures he has registered since joining Yorkshire in 2005.

Lancashire were contemplating a substantial score when they came out for the afternoon session but found life harder against the second new ball or, to be more accurate, the third. The second ball was only two overs old when umpires Barrie Leadbeater and Rob Bailey noticed it had the purplish look of balls issued five or six years' ago.

Play was halted while the mystery was investigated and the umpires found that the ball was a rogue one in a box of otherwise new balls.

First to fall to the genuine new ball was Luke Sutton, lbw to Kruis for 46 after putting on a tiresome 81 in 28 overs with Glen Chapple, who brought Gillespie a wicket when he drove to Tim Bresnan at mid-off.

Bresnan was the pick of the bowlers. He struck twice in consecutive overs, Kyle Hogg looping an intended hook to wicketkeeper Gerard Brophy and Dominic Cork mishitting to John Blain at mid-on after facing 25 balls for his 11.

Yorkshire were less disciplined in the morning, when Lancashire resumed on 228 for three with Mal Loye and Stuart Law already having added 142 together. Kruis and Gillespie were attacked as 40 were scored in the first half-hour.

Loye hooked Kruis to Bresnan at long leg and was out for 138 off 179 balls with 20 boundaries.

Law soon completed his own century off 143 deliveries with 17 fours by square driving Blain for two but he missed the next one and was lbw.

Scorecard

Yorkshire v Lancashire at Headingley

Overnight: Lancashire 228-3 (M B Loye 113 no,
S G Law 59 no).

Lancashire First Innings
M B Loye c Kruis b Bresnan 138
S G Law lbw b Blain 101
L D Sutton lbw b Kruis 46
G Chapple c Bresnan b Gillespie 35
K W Hogg c Brophy b Bresnan 12
D G Cork c Blain b Bresnan 11
T C Smith not out 1
G Keedy not out 4
Extras (b1 lb3 nb22 pens 0) 26
Total 9 wkts dec (111 overs) 417
Fall: 1-15 2-17 3-86 4-292 5-300 6-381 7-385 8-
411 9-412
Bonus Pts: Yorkshire 3 Lancashire 5
Bowling: Gillespie 33-7-97-2. Kruis 29-4-135-2.
Bresnan 22-2-65-3. Blain 12-0-79-2. McGrath
10-0-28-0. Lehmann 5-0-9-0.