County Championship: Younis Tweaks Give Tykes a Lift

There was much to admire and the odd surprise at the Rose Bowl. When last did Yorkshire bowl three wrist-spinners from three different continents before lunch, and before the first week of May is out?

Indeed an exiled Tyke returning after a decade in the cricketing wilderness would be scratching his head this spring. For a start, Yorkshire, even though they could not quite clinch victory against Hampshire, are only three points off the top of the table, always a mild surprise in the post-Brian Close era. The captain, who stood imperiously at mid-on, is none other than erstwhile scallywag 'Ee I'm so daft' Darren from Barnsley, now the revered and nimble television personality, D Gough Esq.

One of their overseas players hails from the north-west frontier of Pakistan; that is Younis Khan, who not only scored 308 runs in the match, but yesterday achieved a career best with the ball; and the principle threat to the opposition was reckoned to come from the 19-year-old, Bradford-born leg-spinner Adil Rashid. Plenty of surprises there and all of them welcome.

This was an admirable match. The Rose Bowl, much vilified, provided a good balance between bat and ball. The standard of cricket was high as Test cricketers on both sides grappled with one another in front of a contemplative crowd, basking in unseasonal sun. The one quibble was that so many of them were ex-Test cricketers. County cricket provides a lucrative haven for those no longer required by their countries.

Here was John Crawley, still clipping the ball sweetly off his legs, while notching yet another half-century. In the pavilion sat Shane Warne, no doubt trying to convince his men 'we can get these', the small matter of 443. Even when he came out at 286 for seven he still seemed to think there was a chance.

For Yorkshire there was Gough and Jason Gillespie and, I suppose, Anthony McGrath, and, less forgivably, Jacques Rudolph, who at the age of 26 and after 35 Tests for South Africa is masquerading as a Kolpak player - and a wrist-spinner. The Kolpak part means that he has signed some dubious document saying he has no intention of playing for his country again while contracted to Yorkshire.

The wrist-spinners were the route to victory. Once Gillespie had disposed of the nightwatchman, there was little help for the seamers, which is why Gough turned to the tweakers. Younis, rather than the 'pro' Rashid, provided most of the wickets. Crawley and Michael Lumb were snapped up at silly point, while James Adams and Chris Benham, both former Loughborough students, neither of whom read wrist spin, were caught at slip. Then Rashid dispatched Sean Ervine to provide us with a beautiful little cricketing cameo: Rashid to Warne, pupil to master. Warne flickered briefly before falling to the new ball and it was left to Pothas, farming the strike adeptly, to guide Hampshire calmly to safety in a ninth-wicket partnership with Stuart Clark which spanned the final 14 overs.

Meanwhile Michael Vaughan was marooned in the pavilion, nursing the broken finger on his right hand, and exasperated that his path back into the England team, gently smoothed by the old chairman of selectors and the new coach, was now blocked. Even though he has not yet been ruled out of the start of the series against the West Indies, the earliest Vaughan can realistically resume his Test career is in the third match at Old Trafford on 7 June.

In his absence Andrew Strauss will surely captain the side, despite his poor winter. The pedalo incident, so convenient for those who wanted to relieve Andrew Flintoff of the captaincy, has deflated that debate. Moreover, England did win three consecutive Tests when Strauss last captained the team in the summer of 2006 - even though one victory at The Oval was by default.

There will be more discussion about the preferred balance of the Test team and who should keep wicket. Should Flintoff bat at six or seven, four bowlers or five? The additional batsman in the squad, who could bat at six, should be Owais Shah. We must presume that Paul Nixon and Matt Prior will contest the keeping spot since this pair are named in England's 25- man development squad, with Nixon the favourite to make a Test debut. But any one of at least half a dozen could do the job. There is a batch born in the southern hemisphere, yet England qualified, who are scoring runs aplenty: Pothas (provided he passes his 'English' test next week), Tim Ambrose, Gerard Brophy, some worthy English-born contenders, James Foster, Jonathan Batty and Steven Davies, who still needs time to mature, plus the recent discards, Geraint Jones and Chris Read.

Too many names betray the lack of a candidate of true quality. Pothas, defiant to the end yesterday, is probably the best batsman of the lot.