Day 4
The final day of the LV= Insurance County Championship between Yorkshire and Division Two leaders Durham at Scarborough was abandoned due to a wet outfield, resulting in a draw.
Day three was called off for the same reason before heavy afternoon and early evening rain left the grounded awash with puddles.
Umpires Steve O’Shaughnessy – he has recovered from a bout of sickness which ruled him out of standing on day three – and Surendiran Shanmugam inspected the outfield this morning and called for further inspections at 12pm and then again at 1pm. They called it off at the latter inspection.
Durham would have resumed on 106 for one in their first innings reply to Yorkshire’s 340 all out.
Instead, the runaway leaders had to settle for seven points having lost a point due to slow over rate – with Yorkshire also picking up 7 points.
Durham have moved to 173 points with their fifth draw from 11 games, added to five wins.
Sixth-placed Yorkshire moved to 98 points with their seventh draw in 10 games.
This was the final round of four-day matches before the start of the Metro Bank One-Day Cup next week.
The next round of Championship matches starts on September 3. Durham host Sussex at Seat Unique Riverside while Yorkshire host Derbyshire here at North Marine Road.
Day 3
Yorkshire and Durham were frustrated by the weather at Scarborough as day three of their LV= Insurance County Championship clash was abandoned due to a wet outfield.
Heavy overnight rain in the East Coast town left areas of the outfield unplayable, first of all forcing a delayed start and an early lunch at 12.30pm.
With umpire Steve O’Shaughnessy having reported sickness overnight, the decision was left to his partner Surendiran Shanmugam and match referee James Whitaker.
Play was abandoned for the day at 2.10pm, by which time it was raining heavily.
Division Two leaders Durham were due to start on 106 for one in their first innings reply to Yorkshire’s 340 all out, with in-form opener Alex Lees unbeaten on 65 and chasing a fifth hundred in six Championship innings.
The contest is now heading for a draw – what would be the first Championship stalemate at this North Marine Road venue since the 2013 season.
That is, of course, unless the two camps get together and engineer a contrived finish during tomorrow’s fourth day.
An example of such a scenario would be for Durham to declare their first innings, Yorkshire to bat briefly to add to their lead and set up a Durham chase through the majority of the day.
With Durham already holding a pre-game lead of 54 points at the top of Division Two, it is likely that mid-table Yorkshire would be the keener of the two counties to set up a result.
Yorkshire, who still have designs on promotion, were 22 points behind second-placed Sussex with a game in hand before a ball was bowled here.
Day 2
Alex Lees continued his fine red ball form with an unbeaten 65 as Durham closed day 2 of their LV=Insurance County Championship fixture on 106/1 in reply to Yorkshire’s first-innings 340 all out.
Yorkshire opener Adam Lyth made his way from 75 not out overnight to 111 off 188 balls before fellow left-hander Lees dominated after tea with 65.
Lees is currently on a run of four hundreds in his last five Championship innings. Number five could follow on day three.
Lees, 30, is the only player to have topped 1,000 runs in either division of the Championship this season, while Lyth is now inside the top 10 scorers in Division Two with 757.
Lyth was the cornerstone of Yorkshire’s 340 and was supported in thrilling fashion by Jordan Thompson’s 54 off 52 balls, including four fours and as many sixes.
As Yorkshire advanced from 142 for two overnight, new ball pair Matthew Potts and Ben Raine finished with four for 111 and four for 93 respectively. Raine claimed three of his wickets on day two.
Lyth drove particularly well, especially on day one, and brought up his century off 157 balls.
Durham clearly had more success with the ball during day two, claiming eight wickets. But they will have been frustrated at dropping a couple of slip catches, and Yorkshire will have been delighted with their work having been inserted.
Just when it looked like Durham had created an opening, the lower order frustrated them.
Raine trapped Ryan Rickelton lbw as Yorkshire reached an early lunch on 211 for three, with rain preventing play between 12.35pm and 2pm.
He then had Lyth caught behind cutting before wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson also helped Potts remove Matthew Revis, but at the second attempt after steepling bounce.
And when Jonny Tattersall dragged a pull at Bas de Leede onto his stumps, Yorkshire were 236 for six in the 69th over having lost three wickets for 24.
But a trio of handy contributions, led by Thompson, helped Yorkshire reassert their authority as another 104 runs were added.
Ben Coad made 19 and Matthew Fisher 24, ably supporting Thompson’s freewheeling innings. He crashed four leg-side sixes off and de Leede and Raine, one of them going out of the ground into the gardens surrounding this venue.
Thompson was the last wicket to fall, caught at long-leg on the stroke of tea pulling against Potts, who matched Raine’s four-for.
Lees hit all of his first seven boundaries down the ground or through cover off front and back foot, added to a lofted straight six off Coad’s seamers.
Having lost opening partner Michael Jones caught behind off Thompson, leaving the score at 42 for one in the 10th over, he went on to reach his latest fifty off 64 balls.
He shared an unbroken 64 for the second wicket with captain Scott Borthwick, who will begin day three unbeaten on 29.
Day 1
Day 1 between Yorkshire and Durham at Scarborough proved to be a wet one as only half a day’s play was possible due to hail and heavy rain at Scarborough – as Matthew Potts claimed two late wickets before bad light halted play.
Lyth and Bean shared 113 inside 31 overs after the visitors had elected to bowl at the start of this LV= Insurance County Championship fixture, contributing to a close of play 142 for two from 38 overs.
Lyth led the way with 75 not out off 118 balls at the North Marine Road venue where he played his league cricket growing up. Fellow left-hander Bean made 46 but was the first of two wickets to fall – lbw to England Test quick Matthew Potts almost immediately after a 5.30pm resumption.
Hail at lunch prevented an afternoon restart, and when umpires Steve O’Shaughnessy and Surendiran Shanmugam attempted to get going again at 2.30pm heavy rain returned as they and the players walked back onto the outfield.
Puddles had formed all over the square within 30 minutes, and it took until 5.30pm for conditions to improve enough for nine more overs of play before bad light ended the day just after 6pm.
Potts trapped Bean lbw with the seventh ball back – his first after the resumption – and later removed George Hill the same way for seven.
New ball seamer Ben Raine will have counted himself unfortunate not to have removed Lyth with either of two confident lbw appeals in the opening over.
But, aside from that, the visitors were unable to build pressure before lunch as they failed to hit a consistent line or length, allowing Lyth and Bean to continue their excellent recent form.
The pair shared 177 for the first wicket in the draw against Worcestershire at New Road earlier this month, a game in which Bean scored a century.
Lyth was particular strong on the drive and Bean on the cut, with 17 runs coming from the morning’s penultimate over – bowled by the seam of Netherlands international Bas de Leede.