Coles provides some warmth

posted by John Winn

The idea of 'The man on the Clapham Omnibus' as a measure of reasonableness has long been established in English Law . The man who boarded the Garforth Omnibus close by Headingley on Thursday evening, when Kent had lost only three wickets with under an hour to play,and announced 'I have had enough, I can stand no more', would not I suggest at that time have had more than a minority of followers. It was not clear whether he was referring solely to Thursday's play or had written off the whole season but by about 2:00pm yesterday an exit poll might have revealed growing support for his sentiments. For while it is bad enough seeing recognised batsmen take runs readily from the Yorkshire attack, as happened on the opening day, at least for much of the time it was warm and sunny. Either side of lunch yesterday tailenders Coles and Davies added 153 in 37 overs, just one short of the Headingley ninth wicket stand against a backdrop of dropped catches and chilling temperatures.
Many sought comfort in the long room where Leeds United offered a diversion for some, but they appeared no happier than those watching the cricket. Shortly before three when a Coles six brought him his century, Robert Key declared the Kent innings closed, leaving the two Joes an awkward nine overs to get through before tea. Had a couple of wickets fallen in this spell of play then 'Garforth man' might have increased his following to rival that of George Galloway, but Root and Sayers got through to what proved to be the close of play for the players,due to bad light, did not return after tea.They(Joe and Joe) did so with an ease and style which confirmed what many of us had been thinking, namely that this was a good batting wicket on which anything other than a draw is unlikely.
Tnat only nine wickets should fall in five sessions while 569 runs were scored is in contrast to most of the other championship games in progress round the country. The highest score in any other match is Notts' second innings 355 for 7 (after 20 wickets fell on Thursday)and given reasonable weather the games at The Oval, Trent Bridge, Chelmsford, and Grace Road may not need the fourth day.I shall not be at Headingley today and as I write outside it is cloudy and dull. The forecast suggests that it is unlikely to change much for the rest of the day. Too early for cricket? Ah but you should have been here last week.