Lancashire 273 for 2 (Jennings 132, Davies 84) vs Yorkshire
Nothing beyond the Roses match. Ask some good Yorkshiremen of more mature years what they were in the afternoon when England won the World Cup in 1966 and they would inform you they were in enemy territory and scored 50 for 3 against Lancashire at Old Trafford were watching. "It rained bloody," they might add, "but then this is Manchester." They might skip telling you that one of the batsmen dismissed was G Boycott (c Worsley b Lever 0), although they will probably include the fact that Yorkshire won the match by 12 runs, Ray Illingworth 33. Took 5 wickets for runs.
Now, however, it is the fiery presence and on a cloudy Leeds afternoon Steve Patterson is trying to create the success his team desperately needs. Brian Close led Yorkshire to a hat-trick of championship hat-tricks 55 years ago, and winning the title would mean nothing less than an "old bald blighter" for Patterson, as Alan Gibson called him. But things are not going well. Having decided to bat just before the toss – his decision was apparently driven by upper conditions rather than the presence of James Anderson in Lancashire's squad – Patterson saw Alex Davis and Keaton Jennings share a stand of 163 for the first wicket. Watching happening. The ground is heavy to begin with and this becomes a concern for many Yorkshire supporters as they worry whether this will be the first season since 2011 in which their side will lose both Roses games. Then Jordan Thompson, who is fast becoming the White Rose standard-bearer, brings Davis once back from the seam, who is lbw for 84. The crowd thinks, "Maybe that changes things." "It is possible."
Or maybe not. Yorkshire took only one more wicket on the first day of the game. The victory was claimed by Thompson, who conceded a chipped return catch off Jennings' ball, but by then the opener had become the 13th Lancashire batsman to score two first-class centuries in the same season against Yorkshire and a list Joined were Archie McLaren, Cyril Washbrook and Mike Atherton. But let us resist the greed of the past. Jennings' 132 included four fours in seven balls from Dom Leach, whose short spell with the second new ball was some punishment. The Lancashire opener hit 15 fours and a six in his 335-minute innings, nearly every boundary in a powerful segment from third man on the off side to straight down. Lancashire had 273 for 2 and the decision to bowl seemed like a silly impulse. Lancashire would have batted, although it was a close call. The decision to look back is one of the pains of captaincy. Patterson probably knows it. So closed, it's not like he'll ever admit that much.
But it was also a good day for Davis, a player who 'gets' professional county cricket and has done so since his first day in the job. Davis made his debut in a 40-over match against Glamorgan at Colvin Bay nearly a decade earlier, two days before his 17th birthday. He gave no bye as the home team scored 328 for 4; Apart from this, he inspired his bowlers to try more and more at every opportunity. Standing next to him at the slips, 25-year-old Tom Smith inquired as to the debutant's age and suddenly felt pristine.
Davies' initials is AL and so has been "Al" since his first few weeks in the Lancashire dressing room, a place he was in almost all at once. He is a combative bantam-weight at Emirates Old Trafford; He bats like a man without any regrets and on such days he has nothing to regret. Davis' cover drives and thumps through midwicket proclaimed his simple philosophy of life as eloquently as he could say, lest he is reluctant to express opinion on the game. Before the last Roses match he said that Yorkshire "are not the team they used to be" and there was no doubt that Lancashire's innings victory in May would be seen as a strong proof of their decision. Now, once again with his side in seats seven and six, Davies has no doubt that another hammering is likely on Yorkshire.
It is the close of game and nearly eight hours later Patterson won his ninth toss in ten championship games this season. In the first hour of Yorkshire's new-ball pairing, Ben Codd and Leach were a little unlucky, details that might appear in a coach's notebook, but not in a scorecard, which would still be studied when another 55 years passed. Have been Let's hope they are studied anyway. For now, this is just the moment. The chants can already be heard from The Headingley Tapes and not even Emmott Robinson will fool himself that they are cricket related. The air is thick with the unrelenting emotional intensity of another game.