Jonny Bairstow back with a bang and three catches for Yorkshire

The eyes of the batsman, David Lloyd, lit up like those of a student presented with a free bar, and he edged a booming drive into the hands of wicketkeeper Bairstow, who yelled ‘Yes!’ as the ball lodged safely in his gloves.

After eight months out through serious injury, the broken leg and dislocated ankle that he sustained in a freak golfing accident, Bairstow was back with a bang and a smile.

Later, he took another two catches as Glamorgan scored 245 after being sent into bat, Yorkshire stuttering to 62-5 at stumps on day one.

First, Kiran Carlson was taken in memorable style, Bairstow flying one-handed to his left to pouch an inside-edge off the bowling of George Hill.

The same pair then accounted for Marnus Labuschagne, who got a fine delivery that shaped away from him, Bairstow thus landing the first blow in the phoney Ashes war between himself and Labuschagne, who top-scored with 65 in a little under three-and-a-half hours.

If that innings was the antithesis of “Bazball” – more “Snoozeball”, you might say – then it emphasised that batting was never easy beneath mostly leaden skies.

On a green-tinged pitch with some help for the bowlers, Labuschagne needed to be watchful, the right-hander noticeably playing the ball from right under his eyes, and particularly impressive when working off his pads.

Glamorgan were in a pickle before he had even got his eye in, Coad following his dismissal of visiting captain Lloyd with that of Andrew Salter, lbw for a 12th-ball duck as the ball made a beeline for the middle and leg stumps.

Coad’s 200th Championship wicket, on his 51st appearance, left Glamorgan 1-2 inside five overs, but Coad’s day ended in disappointment when he limped out of the action after bowling the penultimate ball of his 10th over; later, it was confirmed that he had a groin niggle.

Labuschagne could not take his team forward alone and he found a useful ally in Sam Northeast, who played three games for Yorkshire in 2021, managing four runs in total.

That being the case, any alien visitors to Headingley might have wondered why Yorkshire had named a stand after him; of course, the Yorkshire members know better, and Northeast set about showing the sort of form that had persuaded Yorkshire to sign him in the first place.

Northeast and Labuschagne batted for the rest of the morning session, which Glamorgan improbably shaded given their earlier predicament to reach the interval at 83-2.

But Northeast should have gone for nine - and Glamorgan should have been 12-3 - only for Adam Lyth to spill a straightforward opportunity at second slip off Matty Fisher, the sort of miss that can break a bowler’s heart.

Northeast finally fell to the third ball after lunch, one short of a half-century, when he turned his back on a ball from Mickey Edwards that seemed to catch the glove as it looped out to Fin Bean at third slip.

Labuschagne, who had only 19 to his name at lunch despite having arrived at the crease in the game’s opening over, emerged from his shell a bit more afterwards to reach a 142-ball half-century with a nice clip off his legs to the boundary off Hill.

After adding 82 with Northeast, Labuschagne shared 52 with Carlson, whose departure to Bairstow’s diving brilliance left the visitors 135-4.

Wickets now tumbled at regular intervals.

After Labuschagne’s departure, Chris Cooke chipped Jordan Thompson to Fisher at mid-wicket.

Michael Neser had something of a brain fade when he left one from Edwards that sent the off stump flying in the direction of the Northeast Stand, where a good number of patrons looked down on proceedings (the crowd seemed a little higher than it had been for the first Championship game here).

Billy Root, playing against his former club, drove Edwards to backward-point where Jonny Tattersall, substituting for Coad, took the catch.

Lyth made amends for his earlier spill by catching James Harris at second slip off Fisher, and the Glamorgan innings ended when Jamie McIlroy edged Hill to a diving Bean at third slip, Timm van der Gugten ending unbeaten on 35. Edwards was the most successful bowler with 3-54, Hill returning 3-62.

Lyth went early in the Yorkshire reply, lbw to van der Gugten, who then bowled Bean through the gate.

Neser trapped Saud Shakeel lbw before having both nighwatchmen – Edwards and Fisher – caught in the slips as Yorkshire lost four wickets in the closing stages, bringing Bairstow unexpectedly to the crease and with plenty of work to do on Friday morning.