Anthony McGrath and Chris Read were unable to come to an agreement for a target at Trent Bridge so instead of enjoying a thrilling end to a very competitive LV County Championship encounter, the spectators in Nottingham were forced to watch a dull conclusion that finished with a handshake and a draw at twenty past four.

With an overnight lead of 173 on a pitch that was improving by the over, Martyn Moxon decided his side couldn’t afford to be aggressive with defeat still an outside possibility and so with no accord in place with their opposition, Yorkshire calmly knocked off the overs without too much trouble.

The nine points earned from the stalemate took the Tykes to fourth from bottom tonight but both Sussex and Hampshire below have a game in hand and the three counties are separated by just nine points.

It was a frustrating day for Moxon who would have loved to turn Yorkshire’s position of dominance into a thrilling victory but bowing to Read’s proposal would have been a gamble that might have resulted in a defeat that would have left the Tykes odds on for relegation.

The majority of the final day was instantly forgettable with only the morning session offering anything resembling competitive cricket.

Andrew Gale was out for nine in the early stages after playing onto off stump off Darren Pattinson and Anthony McGrath fell to Paul Franks in exactly the same fashion after looking very comfortable for his knock of 40.    

Further discussion might have taken place at lunch over making a contest but the signs were ominous for an uninspiring conclusion when Bilal Shafayat replaced his captain Read behind the stumps and a glut of part time bowlers took over from both ends.

Nottinghamshire used a total of nine players in their second innings attack, Alex Hales was the most successful grabbing two wickets including the excellent Jonathan Bairstow when edging to first slip for 81.

Ajmal Shahzad was Hales other victim for 45 whilts Richard Pyrah made an unbeaten half century in the face of some uninspiring bowling with wicketkeeper Reid even stepping for one over himself.

Yorkshire have two games remaining in the Championship this season and it is sure to be a nail biting finish to the campaign with Sussex at Hove next up and Hampshire at Headingley to complete the season and decide which one of the three counties play their cricket in Division Two next year.

DAY 3: Yorkshire 256 and 269-2; Nottinghamshire 352 

Yorkshire are chasing their second LV County Championship win of the season after Jacques Rudolph and Joe Sayers put them in charge after three days of their match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

The third day of this match started as badly as it possibly could have done for the Tykes, as they conceded 43 runs in the first four overs due to some lusty hitting from Paul Franks (64) and Mark Ealham (36). Captain Anthony McGrath stuck with Ajmal Shahzad and Deon Kruis, who shared three wickets to bowl the hosts out for a first innings total of 352. Shahzad finished with figures of 3-101 from 22.2 overs, but Notts had gained a handy first innings lead of 96.

That lead did not seem to worry Rudolph and Sayers when they got going. They were watchful until tea, before pressing their foot down on the accelerator in the final session of the day to confirm a marvellous opening stand of 244 in 74.3 overs.

Rudolph hit his fourth Championship century of the summer, reaching three figures off 186 balls with 15 fours in the 60th over of the innings, but Sayers fell 14 short of a well deserved hundred.    

Yorkshire closed the day on 269-2 from 87 overs, and lead by 173 going into tomorrow’s fourth day.

The opening partnership between Rudolph and Sayers was Yorkshire’s best opening partnership in Championship cricket since the 309 shared between Craig White and Matthew Wood against Lancashire at Old Trafford in August, 2001. It was also the best opening partnership in Championship cricket at Trent Bridge since 372 between Murray Goodwin and Richard Montgomerie for Sussex in June, 2001.

There was only one chance given of note when Sayers top edged an attempted pull off Darren Pattinson on 33. It landed safely, perfectly dissecting mid-on and mid-off.

When this match started there was a distinctive green tinge to the wicket, which encouraged home captain Chris Read to bowl first when he won the toss on Thursday morning. But history suggests that wickets flatten out as games progress. Hopefully, from Yorkshire’s point of view, it will not be too flat when they bowl for victory tomorrow.

The opening stand was broken in the 75th over of the innings when Rudolph tried to uppercut Franks, only to see a running Ealham dive full length to catch the ball at third-man..

The Franks-Ealham partnership had also undone Yorkshire with the bat early this morning. But there was no need for Ealham to get involved when Sayers departed six overs later, with Franks uprooting his middle stump. Sayers went for 86 off 222 balls, with nine fours included, and the visitors were 254-2 in the 81st. Rudolph and Sayers added 75 in 18 overs after the break at a rate of just above four. But, after the wicket of Rudolph, they scored just 25 in 12 before close.

Captain Anthony McGrath, who hit two successive boundaries off Charlie Shreck in the first over with the second new ball, will resume on 18 tomorrow. Andrew Gale in unbeaten on five.   

DAY TWO REPORT 

For a long time on Day 2 it looked like Yorkshire’s LV County Championship clash with Nottinghamshire would be dead level going into the second innings but a poor final session saw the hosts drag themselves clear of the Tykes at Trent Bridge.

As Yorkshire had in their first innings, Nottinghamshire started brightly but lost quick wickets to stall their momentum.

Richard Pyrah began the visitors’ resurgence with two wickets in as many overs when he caught and bowled Alex Hales for 35 and followed up force Mark Wagh into edging behind to Gerard Brophy without scoring.

Jonathan Bairstow produced his own display of individual brilliance soon after with an outstanding slip catch from Samit Patel’s edge to further improve Yorkshire’s position but Scott Newman’s 79 kept Notts just ahead of the game.

Newman was eventually dismissed hooking a Matthew Hoggard bouncer to an excellent low catch on the deep square leg fence by Andrew Gale but from 153-5 Nottinghamshire recovered after tea. The hosts added another 150 before the close for the loss of just two more wickets with Bilal Shafayat’s 66 the standout effort before he was bowled by Hoggard.

At stumps Nottinghamshire were 301-7 and hold a lead of 45 runs with three first innings wickets still in hand.

Earlier David Wainwright’s 37 helped Martyn Moxon’s side to two batting points in a ninth wicket stand of 56 with Hoggard.

Warwickshire look almost certain to pull themselves away from relegation trouble with a big victory over Worcestershire and the Tykes Division One future will go down to their final two games regardless, against fellow troubled sides Sussex and Hampshire.

Their position will improve markedly if Martyn Moxon’s side can come out firing on the morning of day three.

DAY ONE REPORT 

Yorkshire’s season is at a crossroads after the Tykes lost eight wickets for 220 runs on day one at Trent Bridge on a green wicket.

The pitch could offer everything or nothing to the Tykes attack tomorrow as Martyn Moxon’s side look to wrack up as many points as possible in the fight against relegation.

The colour of the wicket suggested a bad day for the batting side and although the track offered perhaps slightly less than first expected it was still hard going for the visitors. Having reached lunch at 70-0, Yorkshire slipped to 132-5 in the afternoon as intermittent cloud allowed the host’s attack some much needed movement. Jacques Rudolph’s wicket for 42 was quickly followed by that of Anthony McGrath for a duck.

Andrew Gale has made a habit of coming to the rescue but things looked ominous when he was out for just five before rain took over to force three breaks in play. Joe Sayers stayed sharp despite the interruptions to make 50 off 162 balls in nearly four hours at the crease in which he was twice dropped before Paul Franks bowled him for 52. Jonathan Bairstow is many people’s choice for Young Player of the Year and he made sure Yorkshire’s first innings effort was respectable with an innings of 49.

No other batsman made as many as 20 but Matthew Hoggard and David Wainwright dragged the Tykes crucially past 200 with an as yet unbeaten ninth wicket stand of 21. Their efforts might yet prove important tomorrow with the Tykes 30 runs shy of a second batting bonus, at stumps they are 220 for eight.