Yorkshire v Hampshire (County Championship) : Day One

IT WAS unlucky 13 for England captain Michael Vaughan, out to his 13th delivery for only a single on his Championship comeback for Yorkshire against Hampshire at Headingley yesterday.

And little else went right for Yorkshire after Craig White had won the toss for a sixth consecutive time until they had stuttered to 205 for eight, when Tim Bresnan and Jason Gillespie came together in a record ninth-wicket stand for the county against Hampshire.

The pair had put on an unbroken 118 by the close to guide Yorkshire to 323 for eight, Bresnan having reached a Championship-best 79 from 110 balls with 11 fours and a six and Gillespie 33 off 91 deliveries with three boundaries.

Vaughan's sparkling run-a-ball 67 off Scotland's attack in the C&G Trophy on Monday had the home fans hoping that he would serve up another vintage display but things could hardly have turned out more differently.

First of all he had to dive headlong into the crease to beat Dominic Thornely's throw at the stumps when he got off the mark with a sharp single. Then, in the day's fourth over, he drove at Billy Taylor and had his off and middle stumps knocked back, only to see umpire Peter Willey signal no-ball.

Three balls later, the sturdilybuilt Taylor sent down an excellent delivery which lifted as it left Vaughan who could not avoid making contact and wicketkeeper Nic Pothas took a straightforward catch.

In the next over, Anthony McGrath suffered a rare failure when he was superbly caught by Pothas diving in front of first slip off James Bruce and things went from bad to worse as Matthew Wood fell lbw playing across a well-pitched up ball from Taylor to make Yorkshire 13 for three.

Darren Lehmann helped himself to four boundaries off Dimitri Mascarenhas as he attempted a recovery with fellow left-hander, Michael Lumb, but at 55 the Australian could not hide his displeasure at being run out.

Lumb played Richard Logan towards mid-wicket and both batsmen seemed to hesitate before going through for a run but Lehmann could not beat Michael Carberry's direct hit. As he made his way back to the dressing room he hurled his helmet into the boundary board and followed up with his gloves.

It needed a good innings from Lumb to repair some of the damage for which he had been partly responsible and both he and White looked confident in taking Yorkshire to lunch on 96 for four.

They continued their good work after the interval, with Lumb reaching his 50 off 131 balls with seven fours and White driving offspinner Greg Lamb arrow-straight for six before cracking him through the covers to reach his own half-century from 110 deliveries with five other boundaries.

But when they had put on 120 in 40 overs for the fifth wicket, Lumb spoiled himself by flashing wildly at Thornely to be stunningly caught by Shane Warne leaping far to his left at slip and departing for 67.

White followed soon afterwards, a rare victim at Headingley for Warne, who has had few bowling successes on the ground and has yet to register his first run. The Australian spin wizard bowled a leg-break and White was caught at first slip at the second attempt by Lamb. Warne struck again in his next over as Gerard Brophy edged a googly into his pad and was caught at silly point, and it became 205 for eight in the first over after tea when Logan had Richard Dawson caught behind.

Yorkshire were by no means finished, however, because Bresnan, having settled in, played some well-executed shots and he even dished out punishment to Warne, striking consecutive balls for four and six over mid-wicket.

Bresnan overtook his previous Championship best of 74 and the pair then exceeded the ninth-wicket 100 by George Pollitt and Lees Whitehead against Hampshire at Bradford Park Avenue in 1899.

Scorecard

Yorkshire v Hampshire at Headingley. Yorkshire won toss

Yorkshire First Innings
M J Wood lbw b Taylor 9
M P Vaughan c Pothas b Taylor 1
A McGrath c Pothas b Bruce 0
M J Lumb c Warne b Thornely 67
D S Lehmann run out 37
C White c Lamb b Warne 57
G L Brophy c Adams b Warne 6
T T Bresnan not out 79
R K Dawson c Pothas b Logan 7
J N Gillespie not out 33
Extras (b5 lb8 w6 nb8) 27
Total 8 wkts (105 overs) 323
Fall: 1-8 2-9 3-13 4-55 5-175 6-187 7-192
8-205
To bat: G J Kruis.
Bowling: Bruce 15-2-49-1. Taylor 18-3-49-2.
Mascarenhas 17-4-51-0. Logan 15-1-58-1.
Warne 27-8-64-2. Thornely 7-1-14-1. Lamb 3-
0-13-0. Adams 2-0-8-0. Carberry 1-0-4-0.