Relegation is almost sealed as bad light ends hope

A draw against title-chasing Warwickshire was not enough to give Yorkshire a realistic chance of saving their skins.

They go into their final match against Somerset at Headingley Carnegie on Wednesday 15 points adrift of safety.

Even if Yorkshire gained a maximum 24-point win, they would be relegated if Worcestershire managed just 10 points from their final two games against Sussex and Durham.

Yorkshire, in fact, are now in serious danger of finishing bottom – just 12 months after nearly winning the title.

The four relegation candidates are positioned as follows: Sussex are sixth with 136 points from 14 games, Worcestershire seventh with 133 from 14, Yorkshire eighth with 119 from 15, and Hampshire ninth with 114 from 14.

The fact Yorkshire have played one game more than their rivals and sit out the final round of fixtures means they will be playing in Division Two next year barring a miracle.

Yorkshire, however, do not find themselves in this predicament because of the way they performed at Edgbaston.

On the contrary, any Martians in the crowd might have wondered who was the title-chasing team as Yorkshire gained a moral victory.

Under the authoritative leadership of acting captain Joe Sayers, Yorkshire were undoubtedly the better side.

In the end, Warwickshire were perhaps grateful to take nine points from the contest to stay second in the table – seven points behind new leaders Durham with a game in hand.

After Sayers set Warwickshire 349 from 78 overs on the final day, the match petered out.

Bad light brought a premature conclusion with 20 overs remaining, at which point Warwickshire were 214-3 and both sides still had an outside chance of victory.

With around an hour-and-a-half to go, Ashley Giles, the Warwickshire director of cricket, approached his Yorkshire counterpart Martyn Moxon to see if a positive result could be contrived.

Yorkshire responded by serving up a few enticing deliveries to Jim Troughton and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, which enabled Warwickshire to stay interested, before the conditions worsened just as Yorkshire’s bowling had returned to serious mode.

Moxon explained: “Ashley Giles came to me about 28 overs out and asked whether we would be interested in a game.

“We were interested in a game from the start of the day but the bad light, unfortunately, put an end to that.

“Obviously it was in our interests to try to make something happen, but it wasn’t to be.

“Although we didn’t get the result we wanted and needed, I was very proud of our efforts and the way the lads played.”

Yorkshire responded well to Moxon’s criticism of their performance against Warwickshire the previous week, when the visitors romped to an innings win at Headingley Carnegie.

The players also reacted well to the stewardship of Sayers, who should surely be retained as captain this week.

Moxon said he was unsure whether Jacques Rudolph – who had been leading the team in the absence of injured club captain Andrew Gale – would be back for the final game against Somerset, which was always the plan if Yorkshire were effectively unable to stay up.

“I need to speak to Jacques,” said Moxon. “We need to look at the table and assess the situation, while I understand there seem to be a few problems going on at Titans (Rudolph’s club in South Africa) with one of the coaches having left or something. But I was very impressed with the way Joe led the side.

“He’s a very intelligent guy, very considered in what he says, and I really can’t praise him highly enough.”

Sayers said he would jump at the chance to take the reins once more.

“I would be delighted to do it,” he said. “Despite the result, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I got some positive feedback from Martyn and the players.

“I thought the players gave everything against the title contenders and we can walk away with our heads held high.

“Hopefully, we can apply ourselves against Somerset as we have done in this game.”

Sayers declared one hour into Saturday’s action – time enough for Gary Ballance (92 overnight) to progress to his maiden Championship century.

It was a superb innings by the 21-year-old, who is developing into a top-class performer. Ballance went on to 111 before he was caught at mid-on having faced 159 balls and hit 13 fours.

His dismissal ended a sixth-wicket stand of 188 in 45 overs with Adil Rashid, who also played a magnificent innings of 82 from 139 balls before he was brilliantly caught by a diving Troughton at long-off.

Warwickshire’s second innings began disastrously when they lost a wicket to the seventh ball, Varun Chopra caught behind after driving airily at Ajmal Shahzad.

But on a pitch that did not deteriorate as much as Yorkshire would have hoped, Ian Westwood and Will Porterfield steadied the ship with a second-wicket stand of 82.

Westwood was trapped lbw by Rashid for 31 and Porterfield caught behind for 47 off the excellent Steve Patterson, but Chanderpaul and Troughton prevented further incursions and Yorkshire’s fate in Division One now looks sadly doomed.

[email protected]