Sussex v Yorkshire: Yorkshire suffering as Rashid takes real pounding

“A ruddy disgrace,” he said. “The worst performance I’ve seen.

“You’d think our batsmen would be scoring a lot quicker than 17 runs in seven overs.”

As complaints go, it seemed of the non-pressing variety, considering Yorkshire had managed only four wickets in 150.4 overs – two of those to run-outs.

But even the most ardent Yorkshire follower might see the funny side after two days at Hove that have thrown up precious little to laugh about from a Yorkshire perspective.

Yorkshire’s supporters may be a hard lot to please but they were entitled to feel dischuffed after Sussex amassed their gargantuan total having been sent into bat.

Murray Goodwin finished unbeaten on 274, the third-highest individual innings against Yorkshire after WG Grace’s 318 for Gloucestershire at Cheltenham in 1876 and Matthew Wood’s 297 for Somerset at Taunton six years ago.

Goodwin shared a stand of 304 in 90 overs with Luke Wells, who contributed the small matter of 174 from 338 balls with 26 fours and a six.

On a day when record books were rarely out of reach, Adil Rashid also achieved one of the unwanted variety.

The leg-spinner’s return of 0-187 from 35.4 overs was the third-most number of runs conceded in an innings by a Yorkshire player after Richard Stemp’s 5-191 against Kent at Maidstone in 1998 and George Hirst’s 1-189 against Somerset at Headingley in 1901.

But for Michael Yardy’s declaration half-an-hour before tea, which surprised a good many who braved another day of brisk winds and murky skies, Rashid would have had more than 200 against his name as Goodwin, in particular, took him to the cleaners.

Just about the only good news from Yorkshire’s point of view was that the last 27.4 overs were lost to bad light.

Joe Root and Joe Sayers had raised the score to 21-0 from 11.2 overs when umpires Richard Kettleborough and Neil Mallender took the players off in conditions seemingly no worse than those experienced for much of the game.

Root and Sayers needed no second invitation to return to the pavilion following a decision that increased Yorkshire’s chances of saving the game.

But such officiating does county cricket few favours in an era when the entertainment industry offers plenty of alternative attractions on a Bank Holiday Monday.

If Andrew Gale was not rueing his decision to insert Sussex following an opening day in which they cruised to 295-2, he might have been within moments of yesterday’s action.

All the talk in the lengthy pre-match warm-ups (do players really need all those after 13 successive days on the road?) would have been of early wickets and a spirited fightback.

Instead, Ajmal Shahzad’s opening ball from the Cromwell Road end set the tone, spearing far past Goodwin’s leg-stump and going for five wides.

Twelve runs came off the opening over, another boundary followed from the first ball of the second over, bowled by Ryan Sidebottom, and Yorkshire quickly looked tired and dispirited.

Wells, 143 overnight, went to his 150 with a cover-driven four off Shahzad, who conceded 33 runs from his first four overs.

When Rashid replaced him, his first ball was also carted for four – through cover by Wells, who then smashed the spinner over mid-off for six.

Yorkshire did not even manage a bowling point, a remarkable statistic considering they won the toss.

The visitors did not pick up their third wicket until 45 minutes before lunch, Wells run-out looking for a second after Goodwin had turned Steve Patterson to leg.

It was just about the only way Yorkshire looked like taking a wicket and prompted suitably muted celebrations.

Yorkshire should have struck again before the interval but Sidebottom put down Michael Yardy on two at backward square-leg off Rashid.

After lunch, Rashid was taken apart.

Twice Goodwin hit him for three successive fours as he brought up his double hundred from 341 balls with 25 fours.

The Zimbabwean needed only 39 more balls to reach his 250 before breezing past the previous highest first-class score in England this season – Nick Compton’s 254 for Somerset against Durham at Chester-le-Street.

Yardy fell with the total on 448 when he patted a delivery from Oliver Hannon-Dalby back down the pitch, thought about a run and was then beaten in an attemptto regain his ground when the bowler kicked the ball on to the stumps in his follow-through (perhaps all that football practice is worthwhile after all).

Goodwin looked nailed-on for a triple hundred before Yardy’s declaration put Yorkshire out of their misery.

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