Pyrah's technics

Posted by John Winn

'For those who like that kind of thing, that is what they like' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark.

For those who like county championship cricket today is what they like. Sixteen wickets, almost three hundred runs and a game so poised that tomorrow's first session may well determine who takes the winner's points.
Yorkshire wrapped up Lancashire's first innings quickly enough but home supporters, of whom there was a goodly gathering, had to try and eat lunch with the board reading 45 for 6 and Kyle Hogg having taken five wickets and twice been on a hat trick.Discussion in the long room was subdued, a tad bitter and the most pessimistic were making plans for Friday, let alone Saturday. For those for whom the glass is half full things could only get better, but they would have to wait until they had got worse for before two o'clock the score was pessimists 45 optimists 8 and Sidebottom had joined Pyrah at the crease.
By tea 45 for 8 had become 217 for 9 with the home crowd having spent the afternoon bobbing up and down to acknowledge a succession of milestones. Pyrah's fifty, the hundred partnership, Sidebottoms' fifty, the avoidance of the follow on,Pyrah's hundred, his first in the championship, the 150 partnership, to name but a few and not necessarily in that order. I was not alone in thinking that their teammates might have applauded their efforts from outside the dressing room, rather than from behind glass.Perhaps they were blushing at their pre- lunch collapse.
When Sidebottom was finally dismissed there followed something akin to 'Stars in their Eyes' with Ian Wardlaw announcing 'Tonight Matthew I shall be Tim Bresnan', for it was Tim who emerged from the pavilion, released by England but arriving in time to bring up the rear for Yorkshire and together with Pyrah add another 30 valuable runs.When 'Rich' was last out Lancashire's advantage had been cut to 89 which they extended to 122 by the close, but not without the loss of three wickets. Two of the three went to the late running Bresnan courtesy of catches by McGrath and in the last over Shazad removed Brown to set up an intriguing day tomorrow.
Having left at six I heard the closing overs on local radio where the feeling was that Yorkshire would not wish to chase more than 250 in the last innings. With Root, Gale and Ballance each on a pair I think most who were there today would agree.