Meanwhile, back at Headingley,

 posted by John Winn

I spent last Sunday watching bat dominate ball at Headingley when Yorkshire elected to field after winning the toss. 'Frightened of Jimmy Anderson' was a commonly held view and if this was true then rarely can a player have had such an influence on a game without taking the field for four days later when the match was abandoned only four Lancashire players had taken part, Jimmy not amongst them. 

Despite all the restrictions imposed on the watching public it was with some excitement that I drove to LS6 on Sunday morning for the first time since Sussex had come to town in early June. Not only that but championship cricket provided welcome relief from the hype about England's match with Italy at Wembley that evening and my bête noir, Wimbledon, don't get me started. And hard as it was to take Jennings and Davies batted beautifully to post 163 for the first wicket while Yorkshire used seven bowlers in their efforts to split the pair, there were ironic cheers when, well into the afternoon,Bess became the sixth to try his hand. 

I left before Jennings became the second and last wicket to fall in the match and  as Tony has described I made the journey to The Riverside  on Monday when, for only the second time in more than twenty years of visits, I saw no play. Back to Headingley on Tuesday and not surprisingly after Monday's downpour a delayed start but when play began at noon Lancashire took up where they had left off but this time with Wells and Bohannon at the crease. 

Messrs Leech, Duke and Hill sport their newly presented second XI caps.

We had hardly digested our slightly delayed lunch when occurred the incident that was to finish the match giving Yorkshire 8 points for turning up and Lancashire only three more for scoring 411 for 2 with Luke Wells on 97 not out. Leech's slide in an attempt to prevent a boundary was halted by a collision between the young bowler's knee and a concrete barrier from which he sustained a serious injury. He received treatment from a succession of physios and medics until St John's Ambulance  carried the unfortunate Leech away on a stretcher.  

The umpires, Gould and Llong, spent some time inspecting the outfield in front of the Emerald Stand before summoning the two captains at which point the players left the field to take tea. There followed an ominous lack of news other than a cryptic message on the scoreboard to the effect that there was none  until at last silence was broken when we were told that the field was unfit for play and that there would be an inspection at some unspecified time. By the time this came I was doing my best to avoid the Great Yorkshire Show traffic and when I reached home play had already been abandoned for the day.

I had not planned to watch cricket on Wednesday so was not amongst those who turned up at Headingley on a lovely sunny morning only to find a 9:00 inspection had concluded 'conditions at the Emerald Stand End have not sufficiently improved' and the match was abandoned. Cricket is due to resume at Headingley tomorrow afternoon with a T20 International between England and Pakistan. Given unbroken sunshine for the last few days one assumes the Emerald Marshlands will be dry enough for play to begin at 2:30. 

County Championship cricket now goes into hiding for a little over six weeks before its resumption on August 30th. We know the three new divisions that will contest the final stages and the points each county will carry forward. Despite being one of only two counties to win five matches in the qualifying stages, Gloucestershire were the other and they didn't make Division 1, Yorkshire will start bottom of the table with 4.5 points while Warwickshire lead the way with the distinct advantage of having 21 points in their locker before a ball is bowled. What is not known, unless I have missed ti, are the fixtures when the competition resumes. Yorkshire's fixture for August 30th is still shown as tbc. The group of men by whom I was seated on Sunday and who appear not to miss a ball of Yorkshire's Championship campaign home and away will be anxious to sort out their transport and accommodation for the four matches. Not lacking in confidence one of their number has already made his arrangements for The Bob Willis Trophy Final at Lord's.