Atmospherics and Ealham Give Yorkshire Vapours

The mysterious atmospherics that so often cloak Trent Bridge returned to haunt Yorkshire last night, leaving them 295 short of a third consecutive defeat today with six wickets remaining.

After two days dominated by swing, for much of yesterday the bowlers had difficulty getting the ball off line. Then 14 overs from the close, with Yorkshire seemingly comfortable at 75 for one despite chasing 403, Mark Ealham found enough late movement to pick up three key wickets in 14 balls without conceding a run. First Chris Taylor was trapped on the crease, then Jacques Rudolph went for a fifth-ball duck and Andrew Gale nibbled at a delivery which moved across him, the edge going to Graeme Swann at second slip.

As Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire's director of cricket, had said before his side went out to bat: "Swing is the key, as it always is here. It didn't swing [for Yorkshire] yesterday and it didn't swing today, until it started again to go a little bit this afternoon."

Moxon was speaking after Rana Naved, who has missed most of the season with hamstring problems, managed three deliveries before being forced off with damage to the shoulder he injured last summer.

With Naved missing, Yorkshire's pace attack down to three and conditions more batsman-friendly, Nottinghamshire accelerated throughout the day and were, when Chris Read and Swann were together, on course for a declaration before tea. The inevitable consequence of such ambition, however, was a regular fall of wickets.

Samit Patel was done by extra bounce from Tim Bresnan, his 60 coming off 134 balls, whereas Swann shot along to a half-century in 68 deliveries. Read wound himself up to heave Adil Rashid only for the ball to skew to backward point and Swann danced down the wicket on 57, missed and kept on walking. Ealham then got the lead past 400 before he holed out at long-on.