YORKSHIRE skipper Anthony McGrath recorded the first double-century of his career at Edgbaston as Warwickshire’s bowlers were put to the sword in the County Championship.

McGrath racked up 211 before being bowled by Neil Carter after giving himself room to the leg-side.

Along with Joe Sayers they set a new record Yorkshire stand for the third wicket of 346 – bettering the tally of Herbert Sutcliffe and Maurice Leyland in Huddersfield back in 1928.

“When you go past the landmark like that, it does make you very proud,” enthused McGrath, “especially when it was set by great players of Yorkshire’s past. So it’s a great feat for us and one that we don’t take lightly.

“As well as being happy for myself, I’m delighted for Joe too because every player has a tough spell in his career and he had that last season but he’s shown plenty of courage here.

“For me, it’s nice to get a double hundred having been close on a few occasions so I’m really delighted. It’s put us in a great position and if we can be patient in the field, bowl maidens and build pressure then you never know what might happen.”

At the venue where Mc- Grath had registered his previous career-best of 188 not out two years before, it didn’t take long for Warwickshire to appear bedraggled in the Birmingham sunshine, a state of mind reflected in their wicket-less morning session.

Sayers built on his first century in almost two years by batting until midway through the afternoon session with a classy array of late cuts backward of square.

He was in sight of his own career best when Jeetan Patel took the left-hander’s edge, thus ending a knock of over nine and a half hours.

As the 25-year-old had intimated on the first evening, Yorkshire were keen to build their position in the match rather than to risk their strength chasing quick runs for a maximum haul of batting bonus points.

The Tykes were able to glean just two runs from the first five overs of the day but still managed to pick up four batting points, justifying their pedestrian pace in patches with a mammoth total of 600 for eight before the declaration left Warwickshire to face 18 overs before stumps.

McGrath was the fifth man out and his departure came mid-purple patch for Carter, who also removed Andrew Gale (12), Adil Rashid (0) and Rana Naved (32), all to catches behind the wicket.

Yorkshire’s cause was enhanced when Deon Kruis took the edge of Tony Frost with the new ball, Jacques Rudolph taking a comfortable catch in the slip cordon.

Ian Bell and Ian Westwood took the score to 81 for one by the close but the task remains a mountainous one for the Bears, who still need 370 runs to avoid the follow-on.

Scoreboard

Warwickshire v Yorkshire At Edgbaston

Overnight: Yorkshire 258-2 (J J Sayers 114 no, J A Rudolph 62).

Yorkshire First Innings

J J Sayers c Clarke b Patel ...................173

A McGrath b Carter ............................211

A W Gale c Patel b Carter ......................12

G L Brophy not out .............................40

A U Rashid c Trott b Carter .................... 0

Naved ul-Hasan c Ambrose b Carter ...32

A Shahzad c Ambrose b Trott .............. 5

G J Kruis not out ................................. 1

Extras (b5 lb10 w1 nb32 pens 0) 48 Total 8 wkts dec (167.4 overs).600 Fall: 1-93 2-124 3-470 4-505 5-514 6-514 7-578 8-597

Did Not Bat: M J Hoggard.

Score at 130 overs: 2-413

Woakes 28-10-68-1. Rankin 27-6-85-0. Carter 30.4-4-129-4. Patel 36-1-150-1. Clarke 25-8- 64-1. Trott 16-2-62-1. Bell 5-0-27-0.

Warwickshire First Innings Close

I J Westwood not out ..........................24

T Frost c Rudolph b Kruis ..................... 8

I R Bell not out ....................................33

Extras (b8 lb2 nb6 pens 0) ..........16

Total 1 wkt (18 overs)................81

Fall: 1-12

To Bat: I J L Trott, J O Troughton, T R Ambrose, R Clarke, W B Rankin, J S Patel, N M Carter, C R Woakes.

Bonus Pts: Warwickshire 0 Yorkshire 5 Hoggard 3-1-9-0. Kruis 5-1-20-1. A U Rashid 6-0-31-0. Naved-ul-Hasan 4-1-11-0.