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Yorkshire v Nottinghamshire, County Championship, Headingley, 1st day
Dour Yorkshire grind through the wet
John Ward at Headingley
April 30, 2008
Yorkshire 51 for 1 v Nottinghamshire
Scorecard
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Michael Vaughan was watchful on the opening day against Nottinghamshire
© Getty Images
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Geoffrey Boycott would have approved of it: dour batting by Yorkshire against quality seam bowling in helpful conditions, with only one wicket falling in two hours play. Nottinghamshire's four-man seam attack bowled 30 overs and the hosts made it to 51 for 1, with Michael Vaughan on 25 and Anthony McGrath on 14.
It was a surprise that Yorkshire chose to bat against the only other Division One team to win a match so far this season, but their batsmen performed creditably in the best Yorkshire tradition. Most pleasing would be the innings of Vaughan, who had survived for 81 balls at the close.
The sun shone early on, which meant that play on a damp outfield started after an early lunch, but more rain fell before tea and forced a premature end. Importantly for Yorkshire they only lost one wicket, that of Joe Sayers, who made 9 off 72 balls. Slow it may have been, but it was an intriguing battle.
The main points of interest were the batting of Vaughan and the bowling of his England team-mate and former county colleague Ryan Sidebottom, although they rarely came up against each other. Sidebottom moved the ball away from the left-hander Sayers, tying him down with seven consecutive maidens and the batsman only got off strike with a leg-bye in the last.
Vaughan mostly handled the bowling of Charlie Shreck and was off the mark second
ball, with a neat dab for three past gully. He was beaten several times, but broke through every now and then with strokes of pure class, such as when he flicked Shreck past square leg for four and then drove the next ball to the cover boundary.
He ruined Sidebottom's opening figures with two more boundaries - an edge through the slips and a classic extra-cover drive - leaving Sidebottom with 8-7-9-0. Vaughan did at times show impatience at being tied down, flashing on a couple of occasions, but Sayers was the one who fell, playing on to Mark Ealham with the total at 32.
Stuart Broad, in his first championship match for his new county, also bowled well, getting lift as well as movement. His seven overs cost 14 but he was unable to make a breakthrough.
There was a brief and unusual interruption at one stage when a fox seemingly thought it was required as a substitute fielder, straying onto the outfield before disappearing as mysteriously as it had come. Presumably it had been wearing a media pass, or else the gatekeepers had been lax in allowing it in without paying. Perhaps they thought it a costume-day participant who had got his Test dates mixed up.
Sidebottom had just returned for a second spell before tea when bad light closed in, quickly followed by rain, and the day's play was over. More of the same on the second day may frustrate fans who have become used to Twenty20, but it will be strongly competitive in the best traditions of the northern game.
© Cricinfo
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