Looking forward to Headingley

 posted by John Winn

Championship cricket returns to Headingley tomorrow for the first time since the ill-fated roses match in July. Warwickshire are the visitors for the last home match of the season and Yorkshire will go into it in good heart and with a realistic chance of being crowned champions at Trent Bridge the following week. Their strong position owes much to the remarkable  events at Scarborough last Monday when I was part of a group of eight or so who had travelled from the Lower Ure Valley.

Having been told just a few days before by a man from Bradford that there was 'not a bed to be had in Scarborough' it was a somewhat disappointing crowd that saw Yorkshire resume their first innings already in a healthy position having bowled out Somerset for just 134 on the first day. A century from Brook and a fifty from Thompson gave Yorkshire a first innings lead of 174. 

To Somerset, who had failed to reach 200 in three attempts since red ball cricket resumed. this lead must have seemed higher than the Mendips and so it proved for in a whisker over ten overs Willey and Fisher had reduced them to 18 for 5 with the latter having taken 4 for 5. At this point, and perhaps out of kindness to those spectators waiting to hear David Gower speak at the festival dinner that evening, Patterson replaced Fisher in the attack. This allowed Somerset's middle order to effect some sort of recovery but Patterson chose to take the extra half hour and with just one ball left in the day's play Thompson dismissed de Lange  for 21, an innings which had occupied just 14 deliveries, a rate of progress that suggested Somerset were not intent on a draw.

 Above is the table before tomorrow's matches with Yorkshire having done much to offset the paltry number of points they carried over from phase1. The more observant of our readers will spot that it doesn't really make sense, look at Yorkshire's statistics for example, but all teams have played the same number of games and the points gained tallies with the BBC's version. Notts go the Ageas tomorrow where a draw would suit Yorkshire nicely and could set up a cracker at Trent Bridge for the last round of matches providing of course that Warwickshire don't throw a spanner in the wheel. 

The two day finish at Scarborough cleared the way for me to travel to Chester le Street on Tuesday in anticipation that Durham might complete a three day win over Glamorgan. The visitors resumed their second innings still almost three hundred behind and by lunch Durham had taken three wickets to leave the board looking like this, five wickets down and still 261 to make Durham bat again. 

The afternoon did not work out quite as anticipated for after the early wicket of Cooke  Douthwaite and Salter added 163 for the seventh wicket and it was not until 5:30 that the small crowd who had remained got their reward when Douthwaite who had been tied down in the nervous nineties by the spin of Trevaskis and Borthwick, tried to hit the former over the top and was well caught by Potts. Salter and van de Gugten dug in until stumps were pulled at 5:50. The extra half hour was not claimed and the teams returned on Wednesday morning for Durham via Rushworth and Coughlin to finish matters off in ten overs.

Durham's last two matches are away and as I left the ground the gateman, having established I would not be returning for the last knockings thanked me for my attendance and said 'winter well' which given it had been a scorcher might have seemed a little premature but it was kind of him anyway. 

This is the Division 2 table and makes sense if we assume it has been compiled on a points per game basis following the cancellation of the Durham Surrey fixture two weeks ago. Durham travel to Northants tomorrow which given the slender margin between them makes for an interesting fixture. Essex are at the Oval and Glamorgan are at home to Gloucestershire