Bresnan’s return can be key to Yorkshire fortunes

In what is expected to be the wettest April since records began, run-making has been a precarious business as bowlers generally have filled their boots.

Only one county – Somerset – gained maximum batting points during the opening three rounds of Championship fixtures, and Mark Ramprakash this week described conditions as the worst he has encountered in 25 years.

The former England man also accused administrators of devaluing the Championship by playing as much of it as possible in April to accommodate Twenty20, and he will find few dissenting voices in the Broad Acres, where support for the four-day tournament remains commendably strong.

Against that backdrop of sorry weather and sodden pitches, Yorkshire’s 247 on the opening day of this match had to be put into appropriate context.

It was by no means the greatest total in the world but nor was it the worst after they were asked to bat in conditions that favoured seam and swing.

So much rain fell in Canterbury the day before this game that it was nothing short of incredible that play even started on time thanks, in the main, to a gale-force wind that dried the outfield as well as any ‘Super Sopper’ and which several times blew the caps off the Kent fielders’ heads.

Batting was certainly never straightforward and, when a strong attack was firing on all cylinders, distinctly difficult beneath mainly overcast skies.

The big frustration for Yorkshire was that all their batsmen got starts but no-one cashed in.

Jonny Bairstow handled conditions better than anyone and lost his wicket when seemingly well-set.

Bairstow had just struck pace bowler Matt Coles for three successive fours from the Nackington Road end – a pull, a cut and another pull – when he perished attempting a fourth consecutive boundary.

The 22-year-old timed his cover drive sweetly enough but only into the hands of Sam Northeast to end a promising innings at 32, although Bairstow could not be criticised for sensing that attack was surely the best form of defence.

Plenty of players were unable to go on.

The top-eight batsmen were all dismissed between 12 and 38 as no Yorkshire player reached 50.

However, it was one of those days when it was difficult to judge the balance of power.

Only when Kent – 4-0 at stumps off one over – have replied in full can we assess the merit of Yorkshire’s score.

What is beyond question is that Yorkshire’s bowlers would have enjoyed the conditions which Kent relished.

One could argue Yorkshire are fielding their strongest possible side in this match owing to the availability of England’s Tim Bresnan, who would have been a handful along with Ryan Sidebottom, Ajmal Shahzad and Steve Patterson.

As it was, after Geraint Jones won the toss, with Kent captain Rob Key having failed a fitness test on an ankle during the warm-up, it was Mark Davies, Charlie Shreck, Coles and Darren Stevens who made the most of that fortune.

There was movement through the air and also off the pitch, watched by a shivering but good-sized crowd.

The opening exchanges resembled that period in a chess match before any pieces are captured.

There was much delicate manoeuvring and jockeying for position as Joe Root and Joe Sayers faced a demanding test of their defensive capabilities.

That runs were hard to come by was evidenced by the fact only 15 arrived during an opening hour in which 14 overs were bowled.

Not until that 14th over did we see the first boundary, Sayers hammering a pull off Stevens.

But after 80 minutes of solid resistance, the first wicket finally fell with the total on 23 in the 21st over when Sayers shouldered arms to a ball from Coles that nipped back and took the off-bail.

Root followed him back to the pavilion just before lunch, trapped leg before on the crease by Stevens after scoring 21 from 77 deliveries.

After dining on 52-2 from 30 overs, Yorkshire were more expansive in an afternoon session in which bursts of sunshine were occasionally present.

Andrew Gale looked in good order before he, too, departed when set, superbly caught by a diving Jones off Davies for 22.

Phil Jaques also appeared set for a score, having progressed nicely to 30, whereupon he was lbw to Stevens attempting to drive.

But having slipped to 120-5 when Bairstow was out, Yorkshire rallied.

Gary Ballance and Bresnan added 51 in 17 overs before Bresnan went lbw to James Tredwell for 33, and Ballance and Adil Rashid accumulated 50 in 14 overs before the former was bowled with the second new ball by Shreck, who then had Rashid caught behind off a jaffa.

Shahzad was caught on the square-leg boundary off Coles, the innings coming to a close when the same player bowled Sidebottom for 17.