Yorkshire celebrate but keep eyes on the title

“It’s frustrating,” said Gillespie, after word arrived from South Wales that play had been abandoned for the day with Glamorgan 36-3, just 25 runs short of a victory that would have confirmed Yorkshire’s return to Division One regardless of events at Chelmsford.

“It would have been nice to have gone up (last night) but we can only focus on ourselves and on winning our game.

“If we go on to beat Essex, it doesn’t really matter what happens at Cardiff.”

The interviews were just being concluded when Gillespie, the Yorkshire first team coach, was suddenly tapped on the shoulder and informed that the game at Cardiff was improbably back on.

“The word is that the Kent and Glamorgan players have insisted on finishing it,” said an excited messenger, so Gillespie returned to the dressing room to monitor events, the journalists returned to the press box to monitor events, and all parties agreed to reconvene when the Cardiff match was finally over.

Glamorgan duly completed the formalities and so, in surreal manner, Yorkshire’s promotion back to the First Division was confirmed, one year after they suffered the heartbreak of relegation.

Within moments, that surreal theme continued when one Yorkshire player playfully threw grapes from the players’ balcony on to the outfield at Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale as he, too, gave interviews to the media.

“If that’s that Azeem Rafiq chucking those grapes, he’s only doing it because he’s had a good game and because he thinks he can get away with it,” quipped a smiling Gale as Rafiq hid behind the considerable frame of coach Paul Farbrace.

It was a snapshot, if any were needed, of the team spirit that has taken Yorkshire back into the First Division, a spirit visibly etched across Gale’s proud face.

For the captain, promotion was the culmination of a personal mission to put Yorkshire cricket back where they belong.

And as his team-mates celebrated on the balcony above him, there was no hiding his delight at what they had achieved.

“Last year hurt a lot,” said Gale. “A massive club like Yorkshire shouldn’t be in the Second Division and we knew we had the talent to go straight back up.

“Given good weather this summer, we’d probably have gone up three weeks ago, but I’m over the moon that we’ve finally done it.

“We set out to get back into 
Division One at the start of the year and we achieved that goal at the first attempt.”

Gale could well be smiling more broadly today.

For if Yorkshire beat Essex on the final day of the Championship campaign, and if Derbyshire do not defeat Hampshire, Yorkshire will win the Second Division title.

They are in the box seat at Chelmsford with Essex 28-2 chasing an improbable 388 for victory, while it is anybody’s match at the County Ground in Derby, where Hampshire closed on 142-6, a lead of 139.

Yorkshire would also clinch the title if they draw and Derbyshire lose, although draws in both games – which would leave both sides level on points – would see Derbyshire prevail by virtue of having won more matches than Yorkshire.

“We want to go up as champions now,” stressed Gale.

“It’s Derbyshire’s title to lose, but all we can do is try to win this game and finish on a high.

“We’ve proved we can compete with the best teams in the country and I think we’ve got a squad at Yorkshire that can go a long way.

“We’re maybe one or two players light at the moment, but, hopefully, we can address that in the winter.”

Yorkshire had begun the day two points clear of Derbyshire at the top of the table. But two batting points for Derbyshire en route to a first innings total of 275 put them back on top by virtue of the most-wins tie-breaker. Yorkshire could do no more than concentrate on themselves, and after resuming on 44-3, a lead of 179, they knew any lead of 300-plus would more or less put Essex out of contention.

Adam Lyth and Gary Ballance set about doing just that as they played with appropriate caution in the morning sunshine, repelling some disciplined and determined bowling.

The left-handers had added 59 in 28 overs when Lyth fell for 51, caught at short-leg off the off-spinner Tom Westley having recorded his second half century of the match.

Ballance departed on the stroke of lunch when he cut Westley to point, and Andrew Hodd perished five balls after the break when he was caught behind off a Tom Craddock leg-break.

Yorkshire, at that stage, were 111-6 – effectively 246-6 – and a clatter of wickets then might have caused problems.

But Anthony McGrath and Rafiq added 110 in 42 overs before McGrath pulled the second new ball to deep mid-wicket after scoring 68 from 179 balls.

Steve Patterson was bowled by Tymal Mills but Rafiq also recorded his second half century of the match, going on to 75 from 135 balls before Yorkshire declared on 252-8 with 11 overs remaining.

It was time enough for Rafiq to have Jaik Mickleburgh caught at short-leg and for Patterson to have Westley caught behind.