Yorkshire v Warwickshire: ‘Hungry’ Steve Patterson celebrates milestone at Headingley

STEVE PATTERSON looks like he could carry on playing forever.
Yorkshire's Harry Brook and Gary Ballance run between the wickets. Picture: Paul Currie/SWpix.comYorkshire's Harry Brook and Gary Ballance run between the wickets. Picture: Paul Currie/SWpix.com
Yorkshire's Harry Brook and Gary Ballance run between the wickets. Picture: Paul Currie/SWpix.com

The Yorkshire captain, who turns 38 next month, is certainly still bowling as well as ever, still putting in the performances, day-in, day-out.

Patterson has a contract until the end of next year and, on this evidence, he would deserve a new one should he so desire.

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As Yorkshire reached 95-8 on day one of their County Championship match against Warwickshire at Headingley, after dismissing the visitors for 155, Patterson led the way for the hosts with figures of 4-34, his final wicket, that of the 17-year-old first-class debutant Jacob Bethell, his 450th on his 172nd first-class appearance.

Steven Paterson of Yorkshire celebrates taking the wicket of Chris Benjamin of Warwickshire. Picture: Paul Currie/SWpix.comSteven Paterson of Yorkshire celebrates taking the wicket of Chris Benjamin of Warwickshire. Picture: Paul Currie/SWpix.com
Steven Paterson of Yorkshire celebrates taking the wicket of Chris Benjamin of Warwickshire. Picture: Paul Currie/SWpix.com

“I didn’t realise (it was my 450th),” said Patterson, who made his first-class debut for Yorkshire in 2005.

“It’s always been a goal of mine to try and achieve 500 first-class wickets; realistically, I’d probably need two more years from now to make 500, but who knows what will happen? I still enjoy playing because of this group of lads we’ve got, and I think we’ve got some real potential in the squad. I’m certainly still hungry to keep performing.”

Patterson added: “It’s just nice to contribute again. As I’ve always said, being in the team as captain, you want to be in the team first and foremost for your cricket, and it’s about performing, and I feel like I’ve not pulled my weight in the last couple of games, so it’s nice to make a contribution.

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“I thought in general we did a decent job with the ball; we certainly didn’t bowl as well as we bowled in the last couple of weeks discipline-wise, but we bowled enough wicket-taking deliveries to bowl them out and were happy with that score. But we just found it quite tough with the bat and haven’t played as well as we wanted to, so we’re a little bit behind where we want to be, but there’s a long way to go and if we can get as close to their score as possible then it’s effectively a one-innings game.”

Patterson’s first contribution was to win the toss – the 10th time he has done so in 13 Championship games this year. There was help for the bowlers beneath overcast skies but balanced competition between bat and ball, Yorkshire showing two changes to the side that beat Somerset at Scarborough as Dawid Malan returned in place of Tom Kohler-Cadmore following the cancellation of the Old Trafford Test, with Ben Coad in for David Willey.

Coad was hit for two boundaries in the opening over by Will Rhodes, the Warwickshire captain and former Yorkshire all-rounder, who off-drove him and clipped him through mid-wicket, and Dom Sibley worked his first delivery from Matthew Fisher to the mid-wicket rope.

But after a promising start by the visitors, Yorkshire struck three times with the total on 24. Fisher had Sibley leg-before, playing around his front pad, and Coad took two in two when Rhodes edged a good one to wicketkeeper Harry Duke and Sam Hain looped to backward-point.

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Matthew Lamb thick-edged the hat-trick ball to the third man boundary and Chris Benjamin got off the mark with a top-edged pull for six off Fisher over the slips, neither shot convincing.

Lamb did produce a couple of handsome, free-flowing boundaries off Patterson before Benjamin left a delivery from the skipper that knocked out off stump, Warwickshire sliding to 55-5 when Patterson sneaked one through Lamb’s gate.

Patterson’s hot streak from the Emerald Stand end continued when Chris Woakes was leg-before, stuck on the crease, and Tim Bresnan, the former Yorkshire and England all-rounder, suffered the same method of dismissal to George Hill on the stroke of lunch, which the visitors took at 103-7.

Patterson’s landmark wicket of Bethel, caught behind as he attempted to defend, was followed by a brilliant grab from keeper Duke, diving one-handed to his right, when Coad found Craig Miles’s outside edge.

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After Burgess went to a punchy half-century from 77 balls, Coad rounded things off by having the same man pulling to deep backward-square leg to finish with a season’s-best 4-48.

Burgess scored 66 from 90 balls with six fours and a scooped six off Coad, with Lamb’s 16 the next-highest score.

In the murky, slightly chilly conditions, with the floodlights beaming in the final session, Yorkshire’s reply was soon in distress.

Hill went leg-before to Woakes and Lyth went leg-before to Liam Norwell, which left the hosts 5-2. When Malan cut Woakes to backward-point, where Bethell took a good low catch, that became 27-3 and a nip-and-tuck theme had been firmly established.

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Matters swung Warwickshire’s way after tea when Yorkshire tumbled from 63-3 to 76-6, Harry Brook leg-before to Woakes pushing forward, Dom Bess bowled by Norwell as he tried to drive, and Duke leg-before to the impressive Norwell.

When Jordan Thompson miscued a pull off Miles to mid-on, and Fisher edged the same bowler to first slip, Yorkshire were rocking on 93-8 moments after Gary Ballance had brought up a fine half-century from 93 balls with six fours, the left-hander looking in excellent touch.

Only two more runs were added before bad light ended play at 5.30pm with 12.2 overs left, the contest intriguingly poised.

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