Yorkshire v Warwickshire: Yorkshire look fearsome again as they post warning to title rivals

It has not done, of course, or at least not yet, but that is how it felt in terms of its significance.

To beat Warwickshire, one of their main rivals for the title, inside three days, was a clear statement of intent by Andrew Gale and his team.

It was a statement that said: “We might not have played our best cricket up to now, but we are running into form at just the right time and have no intention of relinquishing our crown.”

Even at 75 per cent, which is the kind of ballpark in which Yorkshire have been operating, they have managed to keep in touching distance.

Injuries have bitten deep, as though the gods of cricket have imposed an arbitrary handicap, but no-one has got away from Yorkshire and taken advantage.

Now, with Ryan Sidebottom having come through his first game for over three months, and with Jack Brooks also back from injury, there is a reassuringly familiar and fearsome look about the team.

The combination of Brooks and Sidebottom with the new ball, followed by that of Steve Patterson and Tim Bresnan, along with the wiles of leg-spinner Adil Rashid, may yet write more history before autumn leaves descend.

Perhaps the key trait of Yorkshire’s cricket in recent times – and certainly last season – is that someone invariably stands up when needed.

In the first innings here, there were two such heroes in Patterson and Sidebottom, whose stand of 53 lifted Yorkshire from 204-9 to 257 all-out in a match in which the victory margin was 48 runs.

At the time, one sensed that it might prove significant, and that Yorkshire’s total – ostensibly nothing to write home about – was actually better than it seemed on a difficult pitch.

In fact, it turned out to be the highest of the match, Yorkshire following it with 150 in their second innings, to which Alex Lees contributed 70, before Warwickshire – dismissed for 179 first time – were bowled out for 180 in pursuit of 229.

It was with the ball, however, that Sidebottom shone brightest, the left-armer following his three wickets in the first innings with two in the second, including the vital one of Tim Ambrose, brilliantly caught at third slip by Jack Leaning diving full length to his right.

If catches win matches, then Leaning’s won this one, or at least went a long way towards doing so. Warwickshire were 105-3 at the time, with Ambrose and Jonathan Trott having added 91 in threatening fashion.

When Trott fell six balls later, caught-and-bowled by Brooks for the second time in the match, for a splendid 59, the game was effectively up for the visitors.

Rashid nipped in to take the last four wickets, justifying his nickname in the dressing room of ‘The Hoover’, on account of his knack for cleaning up the tail.

In the best weather of the match, with the sun beating down from a cobalt blue sky, Rashid had started the day with his pads on and three runs to his name with Yorkshire 78-5 in their second innings, a lead of 156.

‘The Hoover’ promptly sucked two half-volleys onto his bat from Rikki Clarke, dispatching them to the cover boundary in front of the West Stand, and neither Rashid nor Lees (39 overnight) were unduly troubled in the first half-an-hour.

On a dry pitch that offered plenty of help, a wicket was never too far away, and Rashid was caught at short-leg by Sam Hain off Jeetan Patel, who took up residency from the Pavilion End. It left Yorkshire 99-6, which became 115-7 when Bresnan skied a slog-sweep off Patel to mid-on.

Hain was forced off after damaging his left shoulder when crashing into advertising hoardings in trying to stop a boundary in front of the West Stand, although he later reappeared two places down the order at No 7 to make a gutsy 34.

Chris Wright had Andy Hodd and Lees caught behind, the latter resisting for 13 minutes over four hours in one of his best and most important innings, before Sidebottom was last out when he edged to slip off Patel.

Sidebottom trapped Andy Umeed just before lunch, and Brooks won lbw verdicts against Varun Chopra and Ian Bell in the space of four balls with the score on 14.

Once Ambrose and Trott were removed, Patterson pinned Clarke lbw and Rashid did the rest, rounding things off nine balls into the extra half-hour.

Victory took Yorkshire into third place, right on the coattails of Middlesex and Somerset, with a game in hand and a spring in their step.