Yorkshire wait on their Pakistan captain as Ottis Gibson gives update on temporary signing

Yorkshire were playing Cambridge University in an early-season match at Fenner's.

Afterwards, Cowan expressed surprise at how Trueman - by then an established bowler - had steamed in hard against the students.

"By 'eck, you slipped yourself a bit today, Fred, didn't you?" laughed Cowan.

"Aye, and I always do when I come here," said Trueman, "and do you know why?

"It's because the wickets count towards the first-class averages, and when it comes to picking the England team they're not bothered about who you've got but how many."

Times have changed since Trueman's day.

Not only has international selection become much more data-driven, with no stone or statistic left unturned, but the county/university matches are no longer first-class.

Consequently, wickets or runs that might have given a player an ideal kickstart ahead of the Test summer do not count towards their final tally.

“I don’t know what’s going off out there,” as Trueman might have said - and frequently did given the opportunity.

Spare a thought, therefore, for Dom Bess, Fin Bean and Ben Coad, especially, who each achieved personal milestones in the three-day friendly against Leeds-Bradford MCCU, which ended in a draw.

Bess top-scored with 113 not out in the Yorkshire first innings, Bean retired out with 105 to his name in the second innings, and Coad captured 5-17 in the students’ first dig. All would have been useful additions to their first-class figures but it was not to be.

As workouts go, this was a useful one for a Yorkshire side who begin their County Championship campaign against Leicestershire at Headingley on Thursday.

Ottis Gibson, the Yorkshire head coach, felt that his side got out of the fixture what they needed.

“The bowlers have got their loads up and the batsmen have spent some time at the crease, so it was good,” said Gibson, who is optimistic that Jonny Tattersall will recover from a finger injury in time for Thursday’s opener.

“Everybody is in a good place and hopefully now ready for the start of the season.”

Gibson said that Yorkshire are still waiting to find out whether Shan Masood, their captain, will be available for Thursday due to international commitments, and he confirmed reports that the club is looking to sign Masood’s Pakistan team-mate Saud Shakeel, the 27-year-old batsman, on a short-term basis.

“We haven’t heard anything yet regarding Shan,” said Gibson, “but if he’s available then hopefully we can get him on a plane as soon as possible.

“We’ve had discussions with Saud Shakeel, but the reality is that when it comes to Pakistani players getting visas it takes longer than normal, and he’s been trying for about two weeks now to get a visa and nothing’s happened with that.”

In front of no more than a handful of spectators, who had pretty much full blocks of stands to themselves in pleasant sunshine, chief interest at the start of day three focused on James Wharton and whether he could convert his overnight 35 into a half-century.

He missed out by one run, caught behind driving off an inside edge, after Yorkshire had resumed on 266-5 in their second innings, a lead of 493.

Yorkshire lost three wickets for two runs in 10 balls before declaring 35 minutes before lunch on 341-9, Matt Milnes skying to mid-on after a useful 39, Ben Coad striking to cover and Mickey Edwards lofting to long-off.

The students, for whom Kurtis Watson (3-50) was the most successful bowler, made a much better fist of their second innings, which they began 568 runs in arrears.

They lost Sam Dorsey early, caught low down at fourth slip by Jordan Thompson off Matty Fisher, who bowled eight overs as he continues his recovery from a broken hand. Henry Dobson played well for 43 before being bowled by Ben Mike, who then had his Yorkshire team-mate Harry Duke - who batted for the visiting side - dragging on.

Zac Perren chipped in with 25 before edging Matty Revis to Bess in the gully, but the star of the show was Tom Keast, the wicketkeeper, who first raced to a 34-ball half-century and then advanced to the top score of 86 from 73 balls with 11 fours and three sixes, missing out on what would have been a deserved century when Coad judged a good catch running back at mid-off off the bowling of George Hill.

After Abhishek Paradkar skied Bess to Matt Milnes at mid-off, Keast’s brother, Nic, departed for a well-made 42 from 46 balls with eight fours when Bess trapped him in front.

Hands were shaken at 5.50pm, the students finishing on 253-7.​