Make no mistake, Yorkshire are in deep, deep trouble.

Having been top of the LV Championship table at the beginning of last month, they dropped into the bottom two following yesterday's chastening defeat to one of their main relegation rivals.

It was their fourth loss in five matches and it was by far their most comprehensive of a season that is fast unraveling.

The margins of defeat against Durham, Kent and Nottinghamshire were respectable, with Yorkshire showing commendable spirit to the death. Here, they were soundly thrashed, beaten by 10 wickets after being hurried out in lamentable fashion.

They are plummeting towards the second division. Their campaign has been marred by a succession of horrible batting collapses, and yesterday's was the most pronounced of the lot.

From 45-0, batting third with the scores level on first-innings, their top-order was blown away and they subsided to 54-5. From there, they limped to 107. It was not nearly enough but there was still a chance of victory if Matthew Hoggard, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Adil Rashid could emulate the lateral movement and control displayed in the morning by James Tomlinson and Imran Tahir.

They could not. Where Hampshire's bowlers had run riot, Yorkshire's did not even manage to beat the bat on a single occasion. Once Michael Brown and Michael Carberry had moved cautiously past 40, they cut loose and the hosts romped home in barely 24 overs.

The defeat was particularly galling given that Yorkshire had begun the day as favourites, batting third on a pitch that was becoming increasingly conducive to spin and with leg-spinner Adil Rashid in such terrific form. They felt that any target above 200 would be too much for Hampshire, who have struggled for runs all season.

"We had fought our way into a strong position and if we had batted anywhere near as well as we can, we would have been in the box-seat," said director of cricket Martyn Moxon. "But it all fell apart.

"Our disappointment is compounded by the fact that it has happened in four of our last five games. We can't afford to keep having these periods of play where we lose wickets in clumps. We showed we can do it, against Surrey and in the second innings at Notts. We have got some young players in the side, and you can get that inconsistency. We're trying these lads out, and we're finding out about them on a weekly basis.

"It's just important that they can learn quickly. At the moment, there are no plans to make wholesale changes, but this can't keep happening."
Their innings began so promisingly, as Andrew Gale seized upon a series of ill-directed balls from Hampshire's new ball pair, and Yorkshire cruised to 42 inside the seventh over.

In the 10th over, though, Hampshire introduced Tahir to their attack.

So unproductive in the lone match he played for Yorkshire last season, Tahir had taken 17 cheap wickets in his first two games for Hampshire, and the visitors expected their fate to depend on how they handled their former colleague.

They did not handle him very well. Tahir's fifth ball was a flighted leg-break that darted through Gale's expansive drive and bowled him. Tahir celebrated by dashing off towards the square-leg boundary, arms raised aloft as though he had just scored in the FA Cup final.

Tahir's next ball was the googly, which had Anthony McGrath lbw, although the Yorkshire captain claimed to have got some bat on it.
Tomlinson returned at the other end and quickly tempted Jacques Rudolph to try to force away an outswinger which caught his edge; Adam Lyth's first ball was the straight one, angled into his pads, lbw.

Gerard Brophy pushed at a ball that was slanted across him to give Tomlinson his 50th Championship wicket of the season and it was 54-5.

Rashid edged a loose drive at Tomlinson, opener Chris Taylor perished to Tahir's slider for a patient 23, David Wainwright was defeated by sharp turn from outside his off-stump and Matthew Hoggard nicked David Balcombe.

Shortly after lunch, Rana Naved was last to go, having biffed 22 runs, and Yorkshire were on their way to a three-day defeat. If this proves not to have been the nadir, then some very bleak times lie ahead.