Yorkshire v Lancashire: Yorkshire struggle to make deep impact in Roses duel

Times have changed since Kilner’s day.

In the County Championship Roses game at Liverpool last May, Lancashire pace bowler James Anderson was warned by the umpires for sledging the batsmen.

Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale was so unhappy with Anderson’s chatter he said his side would not be cowed this week by “bully-boy tactics”.

Anderson is not playing in this match – he is on Test duty at Lord’s – and the opening day of the 253rd Roses game was a thankfully tranquil affair.

The cricket was still characteristically competitive, but gone were the unacceptable high-jinks that did Lancashire no credit and set a poor example to any youngsters watching.

Instead, the talking was done with bat and ball – apart from when Lancashire’s Steven Croft was dismissed on the stroke of tea.

Bowled by a low full toss from Shahzad, Croft appeared to complain to the umpires that he did not see the ball because the light was so bad.

Croft’s departure for 54 to the final delivery of the afternoon session left Lancashire 193-5 and the day in the balance.

But the visitors edged in front during the evening’s entertainment, advancing their total to 304-7 on the back of an unbeaten stand of 53 in eight overs between Glen Chapple and Saj Mahmood.

Yorkshire bowled well at times but would have been disappointed not to have dismissed their opponents after winning the toss. The pitch, however, looks good for batting – as evidenced by the fact only Stephen Moore failed to reach twenty.

Gale’s decision to bowl first meant the crowd had to wait for Jacques Rudolph’s first innings back with Yorkshire.

The South African arrived in England on Tuesday after rejoining Yorkshire until the end of the season, with the club hoping his run-scoring prowess will help them stave off relegation.

The crowd had to content themselves watching Rudolph in his customary position at first slip, where he claimed a regulation catch to dismiss Karl Brown off Ryan Sidebottom which left Lancashire 41-2 in the 13th over.

It was a dreadful shot by Brown, who had looked in decent fettle before aiming a wild drive to a ball well outside off-stump.

Sidebottom had claimed the first wicket in the day’s third over when he had Moore lbw pushing forward.

The left-arm pace bowler was highly impressive; his first spell was 8-2-10-2.

Opening partner Iain Wardlaw found it harder going after Yorkshire handed him a Championship debut.

The 26-year-old pace bowler has acquitted himself well in Twenty20 cricket but his first six overs in the Championship finished on 0-32.

Wardlaw almost broke through when Brown edged him over Joe Root in the fifth slip region, Brown rubbing salt into Wardlaw’s wounds by dispatching his next ball to the cover boundary.

Shahzad bowled with high pace after replacing Wardlaw from the Kirkstall Lane end and knocked Mark Chilton’s bat clean out of his hands with one brutish ball from back of a length.

Rich Pyrah offered fine support after replacing Sidebottom at the Rugby Stand end, going past the bat so often he must have driven over a black cat on his way to the stadium.

After lunching on 79-2, Lancashire lost a wicket in the second over after the break when Paul Horton was caught behind off Shahzad.

The visitors slipped to 116-4 when Sidebottom had Chilton caught low at second slip by Anthony McGrath, who then dropped Croft in the same position off the same bowler when the batsman had made 25.

It would have left Lancashire 139-5 and Yorkshire in charge, the visitors advancing to 193 by the time Croft eventually fell following a stand of 77 in 22 overs with Tom Smith.

Pyrah was also guilty of a miss when Cross, on six, edged to third slip off Shahzad, the fielder appearing to lose the ball completely as it flew past him to the Rugby Stand boundary.

Wardlaw claimed his maiden first-class wicket in his third spell when he had Smith caught behind for 51, which left Lancashire 235-6.

It was another poor shot from Lancashire’s point of view, Smith clearly annoyed with himself as he trudged off following an 81-ball innings that included nine fours.

Pyrah claimed deserved reward when he had Cross lbw for 30 but Yorkshire were frustrated by Chapple and Mahmood, the latter striking Adil Rashid for two straight sixes on his way to an unbeaten 27 from 20 balls.