Yorkshire v Hampshire (County Championship) : Day Three

BRADFORD-BORN Anthony McGrath is in the form of his life and he plundered his second century of the season yesterday as Yorkshire strengthened their grip over Hampshire at Headingley on the third day of the Championship match.

McGrath, once again looking as solid as a rock, hit 127 off 211 balls with seven fours and a six, and it was largely through his efforts that Yorkshire were able to declare at 301 for eight and set their opponents a victory target of 404.

Hampshire made a careful start to their chase and openers Jimmy Adams and Michael Carberry were still together at the close, having added 46 in 17 overs.

In ten Championship knocks this season, McGrath has battered 632 runs for an average of 79 and has now overtaken the prolific Darren Lehmann's 588 runs in eight innings.

McGrath's mastery was observed at close quarters by England captain, Michael Vaughan, with whom he shared a secondwicket stand of 128, and it may be that Vaughan will put in a word for his Yorkshire colleague ahead of Wednesday's announcement of England's one-day squad for the forthcoming NatWest Series against Sir Lanka.

It is two years since McGrath played the last of his 14 one-day internationals before being discarded but a recall to the England ranks must be a possibility on this form.

Vaughan was not as composed as McGrath but his 56 from 112 balls with four boundaries was another big step to leading England again after his knee injury.

"I felt pretty good on a trickyish wicket and I am happy with the way things are going, " said Vaughan.

Tim Bresnan snapped up the last Hampshire wicket in the first over of the morning to give him figures of four for 36, the best by a Yorkshire bowler this season.

They immediately lost Matthew Wood, caught behind for a duck off James Bruce, but Vaughan and then Craig White assisted McGrath in building up the score. White went for 35 to Dominic Thornely and McGrath fell when he tried to clear the square leg boundary off Shane Warne but was caught on the rope by Richard Logan.

Scorecard

Yorkshire v Hampshire at Headingley.

Overnight: Yorkshire 350 (T T Bresnan 91, M
J Lumb 67, C White 57; S K Warne 4-68).
Hampshire 246-9 (D J Thornely 74 no, J P
Crawley 54, M A Carberry 52).

Hampshire First Innings
D J Thornely c Brophy b Bresnan 76
B V Taylor not out 0
Extras (b1 nb22 pens 0) 23
Total (92 overs) 248
Fall: 1-60 2-109 3-188 4-189 5-219 6-226
7-227 8-227 9-246

Yorkshire Second Innings
M J Wood c Pothas b Bruce 0
M P Vaughan b Mascarenhas 56
A McGrath c Logan b Warne 127
M J Lumb c Thornely b Mascarenhas 5
D S Lehmann c Lamb b Warne 18
C White b Thornely 35
G L Brophy c Pothas b Warne 13
T T Bresnan not out 14
R K Dawson c Taylor b Thornely 5
J N Gillespie not out 2
Extras (b6 lb7 w7 nb6 pens 0)26
Total 8 wkts dec (82 overs) 301
Fall: 1-0 2-128 3-136 4-173 5-253 6-272 7-
277 8-283
Did Not Bat: G J Kruis.
Bonus Pts: Yorkshire 7 Hampshire 4
Bruce 12-1-60-1. Taylor 14-2-42-0. Logan 5-0-
22-0. Warne 25-1-83-3. Mascarenhas 14-1-47-
2. Thornely 12-1-34-2.

Hampshire Second Innings Close
J H Adams not out 17
M A Carberry not out 21
Extras (nb8 pens 0) 8
Total 0 wkts (17 overs)46
To Bat: J P Crawley, D J Thornely, G A
Lamb, N Pothas, A D Mascarenhas, S K
Warne, R J Logan, J T A Bruce, B V Taylor.