Plan B pays off (for once)

Plan A this week was Riverside today, Headingley tomorrow, but looking at the forecasts for Yorkshire and Country Durham I decided that a reversal of that (aka Plan B) was the better option and so it was that I was at Headingley in good time this morning to learn that Northants had won the toss and would bat. Patterson , who six weeks ago was not considered worth his place was presented with his cap before the match and claimed two early victims to leave the visitors at 20 for 2 and in fairly short time this became 45 for 5 with a wicket for Sidebottom and two for Starc, who quickly put the nightmare of the Hove slope behind him. Gradually Northants recovered with stands of 76, 42 and 69 following, all of which had the common denominator of skipper Andrew Hall at the crease and when he was eighth out for 79 the total stood at 232.
There is always a danger that things can go haywire for the fielding side in these situation with the tail giving it the long handle and then the openers being dismissed  before stumps. Quite the reverse however, David Willey, son of Peter, went for 39 at the same score his skipper and although the last pair added 21 most of the faithful, and there was good turn out today, would have settled for 252 all out. But perhaps not at 45 for 5.
Lyth and Root stood firm to the close and off five overs added 27 without being separated, leaving Yorkshire in a decent position. Alas the forecast does suggest that our run of ten or so days of high temperatures will come to an end tomorrow with rain forecast. Had I stuck to Plan A then I would have seen Durham's batting fail to get remotely near a batting point and then take 8 Lancashire wickets before the close, but a period of time was lost to rain in the afternoon while Headingley escaped except for ten miutes immediately after lunch when a certain hesitancy on the part of the umpires whether to resume gave opportunity for some to express their disapproval.
The forecast for Chester le Street suggests some thing close to a washout tomorrow and if I see any cricket it is likely to be at Headingley. Even here interruptions look more than likely. More depressing than tomorrow's weather however is how few championship cricket days will be left after the conclusion of this match. If you want further evidence of how quickly time flies Friday marks the tenth anniversary of the death of Hansie Cronje. No, I couldn't believe it either.