Yorkshire v Somerset: Sidebottom underscores his talent is undimmed

Yorkshire needed a batsman to replace Jacques Rudolph, many said, while others questioned the wisdom of handing a 33-year-old a three-year contract.

But when Yorkshire are relegated to Division Two, as they probably will be at some point today, no one can point the finger at Sidebottom.

In a season of few individual success stories, the former England man has been one of the biggest, his performances standing out if not quite like a beacon in a black-out, then certainly like a cigarette lighter at a rock concert.

Sidebottom may be in the twilight of a career that brought him 131 international wickets but he remains a highly-talented performer. The bones surely creak after all those years spent charging in for Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and England, but the spirit remains impressively willing and the flesh is seemingly strong to boot.

Not only has Sidebottom never taken more first-class wickets in a season than the 59 he has managed this year, he has only once bowled more than the 465.5 overs he has sent down this summer.

Although old-timers would be quick to point out that such a workload is hardly Fred Trueman-esque, it is still 17.2 more overs than that bowled by leg-spinner Adil Rashid and testimony to Sidebottom’s fitness and fortitude.

In recent weeks, the left-armer has evoked memories of his greatest days.

His haul of 4-34 against Somerset yesterday followed a return of 4-61 in the first innings and a five-wicket bag in the previous match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

Two games before that, Sidebottom claimed a five-wicket return against Sussex at Scarborough and, such has been his consistency this year, he has only three times failed to take a wicket in the 27 Championship innings in which he has bowled.

Although Yorkshire are on the relegation precipice, clinging to the cliff face by their fingertips, they would have plunged into the abyss long ago but for Sidebottom’s solid contributions.

Yesterday, he breathed life into a match Yorkshire must win to preserve their microscopic hopes of avoiding relegation.

First, after the home side slipped to 133-8 in reply to Somerset’s first innings 265, Sidebottom featured in a ninth-wicket stand of 53 with Rich Pyrah as Yorkshire rallied to 195.

Then, with his hair escaping in wild curls as he raced in from the Rugby Stand end, he reduced Somerset to 26-3 with a three-wicket salvo that brought Yorkshire back into the game.

Sidebottom’s efforts at least gave the home crowd something to smile about after a largely dismal batting display in which too many batsmen perished in a rush of rash strokes.

Even accounting for a pitch that has offered appreciable seam movement, conditions that have played into the hands of quality bowlers such as Sidebottom and Somerset’s Alfonso Thomas and Steve Kirby, Yorkshire’s first innings was highly disappointing.

Moreover, their failure to gain a single batting point means that even were they to win this match, they would still be relegated if Worcestershire draw against Sussex at New Road today or, failing that, if Worcestershire gain just a solitary point from their final fixture at Durham next week.

As it is, Yorkshire go into the final day of their own season with this game intriguingly poised – if nevertheless in Somerset’s favour.

The visitors are 124-6 in their second innings, a lead of 194, and although Yorkshire are not yet out of the reckoning, they would have to play well to chase any sort of target against Thomas and Kirby.

Before that can happen, Thomas will resume this morning on 25 along with Craig Meschede (30), their seventh-wicket stand of 46 potentially worth its weight in gold in a low-scoring contest.

Thomas made light work of the Yorkshire first innings on his way to 5-66 and will be confident of causing more complications. It was a typically whole-hearted effort by the Somerset acting captain, who was ably supported by Kirby (3-65), county cricket’s greatest trier.

Indeed, as one watched Kirby on the prowl like a tiger in a jungle, one could only wonder how Yorkshire contrived to let him go in the first place, his presence a mocking reminder of the last time the club had a trophy-winning team.

After Yorkshire began the day on 20-0, Thomas and Kirby removed both openers lbw in the space of nine balls.

Anthony McGrath followed for a duck, caught in the slips, and Jonny Bairstow sliced to point.

Gary Ballance was caught behind wafting, Rashid bowled shouldering arms, Adam Lyth caught by the wicketkeeper after an attractive half-century, and Ajmal Shahzad taken at fourth slip.

Sidebottom and Pyrah fought hard to repair the damage but it is Somerset who have the upper hand.

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