[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

County Championship, Division Two

vs Yorkshire

New Road, Worcester

Day One: The Pears won the toss and put Yorkshire in to bat on a cloudy Monday morning in mid-July, but the summer's second experiment with the Kookaburra ball yielded no more good fortune than the first, with the visitors reaching 154-0 in the course of a wicketless, rain-affected day.

Day Two: A slightly delayed start on Tuesday after more rain, but at last a reward for the Pears bowlers as a full straight ball from Ben Gibbon beat the late forward prod of Adam Lyth to see him off LBW for 79; nevertheless, Yorkshire reached lunch 219-1. The afternoon brought belated inroads, with Matthew Waite getting his third ball to cut back and dismiss James Wharton LBW for 18, then bowling a pearler over the wicket on a perfect line and length to the left-handed Ryan Rickelton, who nicked behind. The same over-the-wicket tactic to fellow southpaw Finley Bean, Worcestershire's chief tormentor over the last day and a half, brought another LBW decision on 135 for Adam Finch, and tea was taken on 309-4. But Finch was back at it after the interval, dismissing Jonny Tattersall LBW for 16 before Josh Baker coaxed a bit of turn from the pitch to have George Hill caught behind for 55. Another for Finch followed, Matthew Fisher gloving behind down the leg-side, but the old story of the wagging tail did for Worcs once again, and Yorkshire were 399-7 before Gibbon had Ben Coad caught off a steepler. A couple of sterling deliveries - one clattering the off-stump of Mark Steketee, the other tempting a skyer from Matthew Revis - completed the innings and a five-fer for Finch as Yorkshire were 407 all out, but there was still time for both openers to depart early and cheaply before Worcestershire reached stumps on 46-2.

Day Three: More woes on another grey day at New Road as Worcestershire slumped; there was a desperately unlucky LBW decision against Jack Haynes, but 119-6 was the damage at lunch. And the wickets continued to fall at regular intervals, with no sustained partnership developing until the thirty-six-over last stand between Ben Gibbon and Adam Finch carried the Pears to tea on 215-9, then to within 15 runs of the follow-on target, at which point Finchy agonisingly edged Mark Steketee behind for 24. But as Yorkshire enforced the follow-on, this otherwise forgettable encounter gained its most memorable moment when skipper Jake Libby made the delightful decision to send the last pair straight back out as openers and nightwatchmen for the remaining nine overs, which they saw out capably and watchfully.

Day Four: Trailing by 143, survival was the only goal for Worcestershire under heavy Midland skies. A double-blow cost us Adam Finch run out in the morning, shortly followed by fellow nightwatchman Ben Gibbon caught at first slip, both for 15, but rain then arrived to wipe out the middle of the day's play. From there, with passing showers stealing extra overs here and there, Jake Libby and Gareth Roderick had only to dig in, and dig they did. Libby completed a 75-ball half-century en route to his 61*, and the Pears were one run away from parity at five o'clock when Yorkshire finally decided enough was enough.

Match DRAWN

The Verdict: Is anyone sorry to see the back of the Kookaburra? Joe Leach's post-match interview was telling, with the big man accepting the need for English bowlers (and the counties who employ them) to develop a few more skills than just "hit the seam and watch the wickets tumble," but lamenting the attritional cricket that the soft and straight Aussie ball engenders in English conditions as a result. The County Championship is more than just a nursery for the England Test side, and after last summer's bad batch of Dukes balls resulted in draws galore, coupled with some mediocre weather at times these last few months, the last thing county cricket needs is more nailed-on stalemates. But despite the air of inevitability about the outcome, there were some great one-on-one duels and cut-and-thrust cricket during this encounter, and the sight of Gibbo and Finchy marching back out of the pavilion as openers after their last-wicket heroics is one for the scrapbook.