Yorkshire take big plusses from friendly with Lancashire

Literally.

After Lancashire scored 269-7 declared on the opening day, and after Yorkshire hit 381-8 declared on day two, both sides agreed to bat for half of the third and final day in what amounted to nothing more than a practice match.

Lancashire hit 163-3 second time around, and, after Yorkshire went past that total to 164-5, they continued batting and lost a further two wickets to close on 164-7.

Some might say it was also a game without a point, but they would be wrong.

Although it clearly lacked the interest and significance of a bona fide Roses contest, it was not without value in terms of boosting form and confidence following the opening round of County Championship fixtures.

In that respect there were three major pluses to emerge for Yorkshire, along with several minor filips as most players spent some time in the middle and/or got overs under their belts.

The biggest pluses included the return to action of Tim Bresnan following his elbow operation, the England pace bowler taking 2-23 from 10 overs yesterday to go with 1-16 from 10 overs in the Lancashire first innings.

Bresnan reported no adverse effects as he attempts to bowl himself back into England contention, while he also displayed good form with the bat with an unbeaten 46 in the first innings.

The second big positive was Jonny Bairstow’s 131 on day two, which served as a timely reminder of his talent after Kevin Pietersen was ruled out of the forthcoming Test series against New Zealand.

And, perhaps most significantly from a Yorkshire perspective, there was an encouraging display from Adil Rashid, who scored 103 on day two and bowled really well after lunch yesterday as he gave the ball plenty of air and the best chance to spin.

With fellow spinner Azeem Rafiq having what Yorkshire first-team coach Jason Gillespie described as “a couple of little niggles”, Rashid is a strong contender for the Championship match at Durham starting on Wednesday.

Yorkshire will further assess Rafiq today as they continue preparations for the game at Chester-le-Street.

Lancashire’s Tom Smith played the standout innings yesterday, scoring 89 from 148 balls with 14 fours and a six, while Karl Brown contributed an unbeaten 45.

When Yorkshire replied, Joe Root hit 23 before he was lbw to Oliver Newby, Phil Jaques top-scoring with an accomplished 56.

Adam Lyth and Liam Plunkett both made 28, while captain Andrew Gale contributed 14.