Jonny Bairstow cruelly denied in first innings as Yorkshire CCC captain on home soil

If Bairstow’s stumping in the Lord’s Ashes Test was technically within the rules if not the spirit of the game, after he had walked out of his crease at the end of an over believing that the ball was dead, this seemed a cast-iron case of an umpiring howler.

Midway through the afternoon session of a run-filled first day, which Yorkshire finished on 425-8, Dawid Malan top-scoring with 98, Adam Lyth contributing 67 and George Hill 63, Bairstow was given out caught behind as he swayed back and dropped his hands to Adam Finch, the Worcestershire seamer, whose “celebrappeal” was instantly upheld by umpire Mark Newell.

Not a man known for taking a backward step, Bairstow stared back at Newell in disbelief and seemed to indicate that the ball had brushed his stomach/chest area, before seeking non-forthcoming support from Steve O’Shaughnessy, the square-leg official, and exchanging words with the Worcestershire fielders as he left the scene in a state of high dudgeon, swishing his bat in annoyance after he crossed the boundary rope.

It curtailed his contribution at seven runs from 13 balls with one four and left Yorkshire 179-4 in the 48th over, a frustrating finish to his first innings at Headingley as the club’s new captain.

The exuberance of Worcestershire’s fielders was hardly unexpected - they celebrated as if there had been a three-foot deflection off Bairstow’s bat. But it denied a crowd of just over 2,000 the chance to watch the maestro proceed in the afternoon sunshine, the weather perfect for the first day of cricket at Headingley this year as the mercury climbed into the 20s.

One could scarcely believe that it was April 11, in fact, with barely a cloud in a lovely blue sky, as Yorkshire established a strong position.

No doubt seduced by a green-looking pitch which was itself indicative of an effort to produce a positive result, with eight of the last nine Championship matches here having been drawn, Worcestershire chose to bowl on what felt like more like a batting day and did not exploit what help there was on offer.

The new ball tended to drop too short or wide, allowing Yorkshire to get off to a fine start, which they did through Adam Lyth and Fin Bean, who shared 55 before Bean was held low at third slip. By lunch the total was 103-1, Lyth having reached an 85-ball half-century that built on his hundred at Hampshire last week, and James Wharton having forged a useful platform, the young right-hander having taken Tom Taylor for four fours in an over.

Wharton fell in the fifth over after the break, edging behind off Jacob Duffy, the New Zealand overseas player who was expensive on debut. A bit of extra bounce, perhaps, and maybe a touch of away movement seemed to do for Wharton, who struck 44 from 63 balls.

Lyth had looked well on course for another hundred - he started this innings needing 144 to reach 15,000 first-class runs - when he was suddenly undone by Matthew Waite, his former Yorkshire team-mate. Waite, that most admirable of all-rounders, had not conceded a run until Lyth cover-drove the first ball of his sixth over to the boundary, but two deliveries later he had his man, the left-hander fetching one from outside the off stump that he did not get quite enough on as Kashif Ali completed the catch at deep square-leg.

Malan looked imperious against this attack, not one to strike terror into First Division batsmen, and came into his own to ensure a good recovery after Bairstow’s departure.

He raised his fifty from 66 balls, driving with all of his usual flair, and inspired a moment of amusement when a leg-side six off Kashif landed on the roof of the practice net in front of the West Stand, Jake Libby improvising with an orange practice stump as he several times jumped to dislodge it from the netting and bring it back to earth.

Malan had 75 at tea, which Yorkshire took at 270-4, and shared in a fifth-wicket partnership of 123 with Hill, who struck 11 fours in a fine 82-ball innings.

Hill betrayed his frustration after wafting at Ben Allison to be caught behind, and Will Luxton would not have been happy to fall just before the second new ball when he lofted the part-time off-spin of Libby to Kashif at deep mid-wicket having made 25 from 27.

That second new ball was just two deliveries old when it accounted for Malan, the left-hander edging Duffy low to second slip, having faced 133 balls and hit 12 fours to go with the six.

Duffy struck again when Dom Bess was lbw before Jordan Thompson – who replaced Ben Cliff (side injury) in the only change from the Hampshire match – enjoyed himself towards the end, clubbing 48 from 43 balls with four fours and two sixes and sharing in a screw-turning stand of 65 with Ben Coad, who hit 22 from 28.