The hosts seized four chances of varying difficulty, taking their total to “17 or 18” falls in the first four games, according to captain Patterson, as Lancashire went to 288-3 after he sent them at bat. Keaton Jennings scored an unbeaten 150 and Steven Croft 104.
Jennings was brought down three times: twice by goalkeeper Harry Duke low to his left from Patterson, 70 by Adam Lyth on Dom Bess’s slide, and 85 by Patterson himself low on his follow up.
Croft was spilled in five by Harry Brook on Tom Loten’s third slip, with Yorkshire’s capture, usually so sure, deserting them once again. “In the end, it was a disappointing day,” Patterson said.
“We started off brilliantly, and then it was really a case of deja vu. We knew it was going to be a decent surface, but we felt if there was anything on it, it would be the first morning. We got two early wickets and then put up two soft chances very quickly after that. They should have been 22-4 at that point. Then as the ball got softer, it got harder for us. The pitch got slower and slower, and from there it got harder.
“We know we are short on bowling right now. We have a lot of injuries and people who are not available, so the guys who have played have already bowled a lot of overs this year. If you are going to win cricket games, you cannot afford to bowl unnecessarily like we are doing today. I think we’ve counted 17 or 18 missed opportunities so far this year, and those aren’t half-hearted opportunities either, they’re genuine opportunities that you would expect players to take. At some point, it catches up to you, and we free Lancashire.
“We had a chance to grab it with both hands this morning, we could have had them 50-5, but we didn’t take our chance and they’re a good side and they made us pay. It’s going to be hard, hard work from here. The momentum is firmly with them now. We have to try and force our way back into the game somehow.”
Patterson continued: “At the end of the day, first class cricket is tough cricket. We are playing against one of the best teams in the country and you know it is a challenge from the moment you step on the field. You have to be at your best to be on top of teams like this. We had that opportunity, we did not take advantage of it once again and we gave them opportunities”.
Patterson paid a sporting tribute to Jennings: “Fair play for Keaton. He played fantastic innings but he should have been out before me and we had a lbw that we thought should have been given and obviously it wasn’t but it happens.
“He made us pay and that’s what good players do.”
Patterson said his men are giving it their all, concluding: “No one intends to set a trap, we all know that. Everybody gives their best and the guys practice a lot, so it’s not for lack of effort or anything like that, but there comes a time when you have to be better than we are right now.
“We say it every week, we need to take every opportunity, but every game that comes along we seem to lose as many, if not more, than the week before, and on courses like this, with an inexperienced bowling attack, you can’t afford to put those chances down. We can’t afford to have to take 13/14 wickets every inning.”
Yorkshire started well when Jordan Thompson cut Lancashire to 12-2 in a good opening spell from the end of Kirkstall Lane.
Thompson caught Luke Wells from behind and then caught the highly rated Josh Bohannon with an excellent yorker. But after lunching at 53-2 from 30 overs, which was a testament to how well Yorkshire bowled in the morning, Lancashire thrived in the afternoon sun.
Jennings and Croft added 134 in the session from 34 overs, Jennings going to his third consecutive Roses century to equal Geoff Pullar’s 1959/1960 Lancashire record, made of 207 balls from 16 fours.
Croft followed him to the milestone of 212 deliveries, also with 16 fours, plus a six over Joe Root.
The third-wicket bracket had reached 237, amazingly, just 22 runs before setting a new Roses record for any wicket for Lancashire, when Haris Rauf caught Croft in the leg earlier as he tried to convert the second fresh ball through the half of the wicket. .
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Source: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-05-12 18:50:24
