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Chris Woakes was dropped from the one-day team, had a modest Test debut and did not make the Ashes cut. But as captain of England Lions he reminded the selectors of his ability in Kandy

Alex Winter in Pallekele13-Feb-2014
Scorecard0:00

Chris Woakes puts England Lions in command

There are a number of this England Lions squad that have taken a hefty knock from international cricket. Injury, unfortunate selection and underperformance have befallen them. They have all been forced back into cricketing purgatory having been briefly shown through the pearly gates.Chris Woakes has had a double dose. His run of 13 one-day internationals was ended last June and his Test debut in August deterred the selectors from including him in the Ashes party – a decision that one could now argue was a blessing in disguise.He was on the wrong end of Martin Guptill last summer but maintained his form in county cricket, finishing the season as the leading English allrounder, and shrugged off an unrewarding Test debut – where four of his first five overs went for 30 – to complete the year strongly with Warwickshire, including a first-class best 152 not out. He then put in two solid performances for Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash.Being made captain of England Lions for this Sri Lanka tour would have been a further stir in raising his credentials as an international cricketer. On the second day in Pallekele he produced an opening spell worthy of such a player and finished with 4 for 45 to put his side in full control.It was feared that Sri Lanka A’s young order would be over exposed against a high-quality experienced attack, benefitting from swing with the new ball. The third ball of the innings compounded such thoughts. The fourth doubled the scepticism that this match will last four days. Two wickets in the opening over and by lunch the hosts were 55 for 6 and Sri Lankan appetites for a season in England were disappearing.Footwork, a lack thereof, was chiefly to blame for five of the top six contributing only 21, two of them ducks. Just enough movement flummoxed four into offering catches behind the wicket, the first of which was stunningly held by Liam Plunkett with one hand down to his right hand side. Onions also won an lbw decision against left-handed Niroshan Dickwella.0:00

Onions hopes unexpected Sri Lanka tour is springboard to Test return

The new ball – taken by Woakes and Graham Onions – was when classically English bowling was a threat. When the swinging ball had run its course, Chaturunga de Silva and Dhammika Prasad thrived. But their stand of 64 was for the eighth wicket merely propped up the innings from a miserable 61 for 7. Sri Lanka paid badly for their failure to get into the meat of the innings with any kind of stability. They only lasted 48 overs.Veteran captain Upal Tharanga survived the initial carnage but 30 was a modest return from the most experienced player in the order. He fell in the last over before tea as Moeen Ali found some turn to have him caught at short leg. Moeen also ended de Silva’s attractive innings, finding an edge taken by Varun Chopra at first slip. It was evidence of what an attacking weapon Moeen can be. Scott Borthwick did not bowl in the innings.De Silva held the Lions to a draw in the second warm-up in Colombo and again demonstrated his sound technique – albeit coming in at No. 6 against a ball not as fresh – and flourishing strokemaking. His piercing cover drive off Tymal Mills was the shot of the day. In general it was more intelligent batting than his colleagues up the order and prevented his side from being totally blown away.De Silva was helped by some hefty striking from Prasad. He belted several drives through the covers, lifted Moeen over extra-cover for four and then over long-off for six, and managed his last partner carefully enough to allow the addition of 28 more runs. The stand nearly saved the follow-on that the Lions predictably chose not to enforce.But the tourists stumbled in adding to their first-innings lead of 159 as Sri Lanka A’s very capable spinners, Tharindu Kaushal and de Silva, thrived in more helpful conditions. The Lions’ top three all fell lbw, Chopra sweeping, and James Taylor nibbled to slip. Three wickets went to de Silva who, in the face of testing day for his side, walked off with a smile.

Leicestershire’s Division Two game against top-of-the-table Northamptonshire at Grace Road, ended in a draw after rain reduced the final day’s play to just 36.1 overs

14-Jun-2013
ScorecardLeicestershire’s Division Two game against top-of-the-table Northamptonshire at Grace Road, ended in a draw after rain reduced the final day’s play to just 36.1 overs.In that time Leicestershire advanced from 142 for 3 to 238 for 6, leaving them 329 behind Northamptonshire’s mammoth first-innings score of 567 for 7 declared. But poor weather on the final two days denied Northamptonshire the chance of victory, and they had to settle for nine points from the match with Leicestershire collecting five.Despite two brief stoppages in the morning session, they bowled 30 overs claiming one wicket as Leicestershire added 81 runs. Australian Joe Burns was the man out, pinned lbw by Andrew Hall for 77 off 133 balls with a six and 10 fours.Michael Thornely joined Matt Boyce in a fifth-wicket stand of 77, twice hitting offspinner James Middlebrook for six – the first a slog-sweep and the next a sweetly timed straight drive.Leicestershire went into lunch on 223 for 4 but rain delayed the restart for 80 minutes. When play did get underway again Steven Crook struck with two wickets in two balls. Thornley, four runs short of a half- century, edged behind and the next delivery saw Rob Taylor provide wicketkeeper David Murphy with another catch. Jigar Naik prevented the hat-trick by clipping the next ball through midwicket for two runs.Crook then took the new ball, but bowled only one delivery before another deluge sent the teams off the field for the final time, with the game abandoned as a draw during the tea interval. Boyce finished 40 not out off 127 balls. It was bottom-of-the-table Leicestershire’s seventh draw in eight matches.

James Taylor has declared himself far better prepared for Test cricket now than he was on debut last year, despite conceding that his unbeaten century against the Australians in Hove was less than fluent

Brydon Coverdale in Hove28-Jul-2013James Taylor has declared himself far better prepared for Test cricket now than he was on debut last year, despite conceding that his unbeaten century against the Australians in Hove was less than fluent. Taylor and his temporary county team-mate Monty Panesar both enjoyed their audition against the Australians and both will hope to face them again next week after being named in England’s 14-man squad for the Old Trafford Test.Panesar’s chances of playing hinge largely on the condition of the pitch in Manchester, while Taylor’s hopes rest on the condition of Kevin Pietersen’s troublesome calf. Taylor, parachuted in from Nottinghamshire in order to gain some experience against the Australians, scratched around for his 121 not out and was dropped twice before he reached triple-figures but said if he received the nod in Manchester he would be ready.”It wasn’t the best innings I’ve played, it wasn’t one of my most fluent at all, but it’s about finding a way when you’re not feeling in the best touch and I did that,” Taylor said. “Mentally and technically I feel in a good place. I’m delighted to score runs, I don’t really mind how. It’s not how, it’s how many, and that’s how I go about my game.”Taylor’s two Tests against South Africa last year brought scores of 34, 10 and 4, and he was told by the selectors to go away, work on some technical issues and churn out the runs at domestic level. He has done that, piling up 824 for Nottinghamshire in the County Championship this season, and his hundred against the Australians was his third first-class century this summer.”I’ve worked hard on my game since I was left out,” he said. “It was a great experience playing against South Africa but it was all too brief, and I’ve gone away and worked really hard since getting left out. I’ve piled on the runs like the selectors asked me to and I feel like I’m in a good place now.”I was in a kind of a no-win situation in this game, but the purpose was to spend time in the middle against the red ball after all the T20 cricket in recent weeks and it was nice to do that against a decent attack. It was definitely a pressure situation – if I hadn’t scored any runs everybody would have commented on that, but luckily I did and got what I needed out of the game.”Like Taylor, Panesar got what he wanted out of the match against the Australians, picking up 3 for 70 in the first innings, and it was another confidence-booster after a difficult start to the summer. Panesar has managed only 21 wickets at 40.09 during the Championship this season but he said some remedial work with Peter Such, England’s spin bowling coach, had put his season back on track.”I kind of struggled early season, I was not getting the action I wanted to get, and then I went away and did a bit of work with Peter Such on a one-to-one basis to get my action in the right order,” Panesar said. “Over the Twenty20 period I’ve used the time to get my action in order, and in the Championship games and in the dry weather we’ve had I’ve tried to perform and prepare myself if the call came.”Panesar has an outstanding record at Old Trafford, where he has collected 25 wickets at 16.72 in three Tests, but it is five years since he last played a Test there. If, as expected, the teams are greeted with a dry pitch, a two-man spin attack could well be employed by England, and Panesar said he would fancy his chances against the Australians in such circumstances.”The England team have put them slightly under pressure, but the Australia team is a very competitive team, they are going to come hard at us. You always feel maybe against spin there is an opportunity,” he said. “But they are good players, you can’t completely discard Australia, they’re a competitive cricket team – but I do feel even in this game I was always in with a chance.”

John Hastings, the Australia and Kolkata Knight Riders allrounder, has been ruled out of the rest of the IPL season as he has returned home with an ankle injury

Sidharth Monga18-Apr-2016John Hastings, the Australia and Kolkata Knight Riders allrounder, has been ruled out of the rest of the IPL season as he has returned home with an ankle injury. Hastings hurt himself during the warm-ups before Knight Riders’ match against Mumbai Indians last week. He went on to bowl his quota, and was the most economical bowler from his side as they failed to defend 187.”He bowled through a fair bit of pain,” Simon Katich, Knight Riders’ assistant coach, said. “He had a fair bit of scans after that, and he has flown back to Australia. It’s a shame to see his campaign end prematurely. He had fitted in really well into the team, and he had performed well in a couple of games. Yeah, unfortunately he’ll be doing a lot of rehab instead and working towards getting fit for the West Indies tour for Australia.”Knight Riders are in talks with a replacement, whose name they will disclose only after the IPL technical committee has cleared the paperwork. “We have looked into it,” Katich said. “We have sent off the paperwork. Nothing has been confirmed regarding the player concerned. Hopefully that’ll happen in the next few days. We have sent out the paperwork to BCCI, we’ll just have to see what happens.”Katich said the franchise had always been interested in the replacement player. “It’s someone that we had already looked at in the auction,” he said. “Obviously, we did get John. He [Hastings] was right up there on the priority list when we went for the auctions. We didn’t know if it was going to come through or not so we had a few other names in mind. We’ll find out if it comes through.”

Quinton de Kock’s disciplinary hearing for allegedly pushing an opposition player in a first-class match will not take place before next Wednesday

Firdose Moonda17-Jan-2013Quinton de Kock’s disciplinary hearing for allegedly pushing an opposition player in a first-class match will not take place before next Wednesday, which has cleared him to play in the first two ODIs against New Zealand. Gary Kirsten confirmed de Kock will keep in all the matches he plays in the series.To help de Kock prepare for his fifty-over international debut, team management roped in the services of Mark Boucher, who trained with him at Claremont Cricket Club on Thursday. “When Mark retired I said to him that his experience in international cricket is something I wouldn’t want to turn away,” Kirsten said. “I think he has a lot to offer. We felt the perfect place for him would be to be with a young keeper like Quinton, to spend some time with him and give him and understanding not only of the skills required but the pressures of international competition.”Mentoring de Kock also seems to be part of integrating him into the national structures because he has only emerged on the circuit quite recently. De Kock is a former South Africa Under-19s player but this is first season contracted to a franchise and Kirsten admitted he does not know much about the 20-year-old. “I’ve met this guy once before and the longest conversation I had with him was one minute,” he said.Kirsten’s assistant, Russell Domingo, may have slightly more information on the youngster. Domingo coached the national side during de Kock’s debut: the T20 series against New Zealand in which he also donned the gloves. All evidence suggests de Kock has been earmarked as a permanent replacement for AB de Villiers, who seems set to give up wicketkeeping in limited-overs. “We want to give AB a chance to just be the captain,” Kirsten said.”We feel that to captain, bat at No.4 and keep is a very hard task. It’s something that we spoke about even before he started the role because I was concerned that it was going to be too much to ask of him. He really wants to focus his attention on his captaincy.”De Villiers was named South Africa’s limited-overs captain in July 2011. He missed his inaugural series as leader against Australia in late 2011 because of injury and Hashim Amla stood in for him. De Villiers was first in charge for the 3-2 win over Sri Lanka last January. He also captained in the T20 and ODI series in England and the World T20 in Sri Lanka. He kept wicket in all those matches but did not play the T20 series against New Zealand, citing fatigue and a focus on his Test keeping.It has now emerged that de Villiers also finds wicket-keeping in ODIs too taxing on his chronically bad back and does not feel he has enough of a grip on the demands of captaincy to do both jobs. “He has had all this on his shoulders,” Kirsten said. “He feels keeping in 50 overs is more intense than in a Test match and he just needs to understand how he is going to go about captaining this team.”Some of the strategies de Villiers will have to get his head around are the floating batting line-up and the possibility of changing personnel. Both are tactics Kirsten will continue with, although he has indicated he may rein in the former. “We’ve tried to rotate the batting order, we feel we need to find a middle road there,” he said. “We are certainly going to be flexible. We believe that is the way forward but, at the same time, we cannot be silly about it.”Kirsten suggested that Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, the two quicks who play all three formats for South Africa, will be rested for some of the three ODIs because the three-Test series against Pakistan is only two weeks away. “Test cricket is our number one and we want to make sure we pick a full strength team in whatever Test we play. We don’t rest players and rotate at that level,” he said. “With the other versions, because there is a lot of cricket, something has to give. These guys are fit enough to play every game but I want them mentally 100 percent ready to deliver.”Although Kirsten’s main emphasis is on Test cricket, South Africa will not have as taxing a year as they did in 2012. Their only away tour in which they will play in the longest format is to the UAE to face Pakistan in October.Contrastingly, South Africa play much more ODI cricket this year. Eight matches at home (three against New Zealand, five against Pakistan) will be followed by the Champions Trophy and a limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka. With one eye on ICC silverware, Kirsten indicated the 50-over game will come into the spotlight in 2013, where he hopes South Africa can step up.”We would like to perform at a higher level than we have done so far,” he said. “We’ve been ok but we haven’t been outstanding. We’ve got a great opportunity this year so there will be a lot more emphasis on ODI cricket this year.”

Dale Steyn is as light-hearted off the field as he is intense with ball in hand. For a man whose furrowed brow at the top of his mark can make batsmen involuntarily feel for the ball outside off, he is endearingly goofy in person

Alan Gardner26-Mar-2014Dale Steyn is as light-hearted off the field as he is intense with ball in hand. For a man whose furrowed brow at the top of his mark can make batsmen involuntarily feel for the ball outside off, he is endearingly goofy in person, laughing at himself, deflecting praise and letting his thoughts tumble out. He even uses the word “rad”.Steyn is also the leading bowler among the teams to have entered the World T20 at the Super 10 stage, with six wickets from two games. Asked about his feat on Monday, when he won the match with seven runs needed off the final over against New Zealand – the lowest number defended in T20s and only the third time it had been done- he said: “I didn’t think I could win it but we did, so bonus!”Contrast that with the fire in Steyn’s eyes as he collected the final delivery of the match, broke the wicket at the non-striker’s end and propelled his wiry frame on a giddy victory dance looking like the world’s angriest policeman.It is perhaps no wonder that such a fidgety, high-energy player does not like being confined to a hotel for long periods. Players are generally not allowed out for security reasons – though on Wednesday he tweeted a video of himself and Paddy Upton skateboarding along a closed road and waving at grinning locals. You can imagine Steyn donning a disguise to sneak past the guards and post pictures of his adventure on Instagram, if he had to.But while Steyn is an outdoors type whose fitness levels can encompass takeaway pizza or the odd McFlurry, he revealed that some of the players have a slightly more refined way of passing the time in Bangladesh.”It’s been so difficult. We have a wine club, we meet every now and then and have one or two glasses of vino,” he said, without divulging who was most likely to become a sommelier as a second career. “We’ve got a movie club, we have a big team room at the hotel, so we get in there, whether playing poker or watching movies or things like that. We’re not really allowed to leave the hotel much. There’s a Pizza Hut across the road. I’ve never eaten so much pizza in my life.”He also chuckled at the suggestion he is now the team’s “Special One”, after Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, having prevented South Africa from suffering a second group defeat. That title should naturally go to the coach, Russell Domingo, he said.Still, the importance of that win was not lost on Steyn, speaking ahead of South Africa’s third Group 1 match, against Netherlands. He chose to emphasise the contribution of others, in particular his bowling partner Morne Morkel, who conceded 14 off the penultimate over but managed two dots from his last three balls. In T20, those are the margins between getting your aeroplane tickets home and the chance to taste another Shiraz or two before the trip is over.”The mood in the camp could have been completely different if we’d lost that game,” he said, “I think it would have been tickets for us. In this tournament it is kind of tickets if you don’t win all your games. It’s difficult, the little one percenters. If you go back to the game, Morne went for a lot of runs, which is an odd thing but it happens. People might criticise him but, his last three balls, he bowled three death yorkers and the last one went for four. If he had gone for two and one in those previous balls it would have been down to three or four off the last over and that would have been almost impossible.”The little one percenters really count in this game. Just those little things, he might have walked away from the game feeling hard done by from not getting what he wanted but he finished off exactly how he was supposed to and ultimately we won the game.”Steyn suggested South Africa are in a “win-everything” situation, although it is still possible for a team to go through on four points. Sri Lanka have set the pace with two wins already and Steyn had some sympathy with the Netherlands, after they were gutted for 39 on Monday evening. “If you’re not facing those type of guys all the time it can be quite difficult,” he said, referring to the challenge of playing mystery spin or Lasith Malinga’s sui generis yorkers. As Netherlands will find out, Steyn is also in a bracket all of his own.

Essex were made to do without Monty Panesar who was dropped for disciplinary Reasons but coped sufficiently well as Reece Topley took six wickets to help bowl Glamorgan out for 244.

Press Association01-Jun-2014
ScorecardReece Topley was playing his first Championship match of the season•Getty ImagesEssex were made to do without Monty Panesar who was dropped for disciplinary reasons but coped admirably in his absence as Reece Topley took six wickets to help bowl Glamorgan out for 244.Panesar, left out as a result of an issue with timekeeping, was replaced by leg spinner Tom Craddock, although he will be available for Friday’s T20 game on Friday.Craddock proved an expensive replacement with his seven overs costing 30 but he did pick up the wicket of Will Bragg, who top-scored for Leicestershire with 93 as he continued his excellent form.But it was Topley, making his first Championship outing of the season after a stress fracture of his back during the winter, who did the damage as Glamorgan only managed one more half-century.Topley yorked Tom Lancefield in only the second over of the day after the visitors elected to bat. He struck again just before lunch, having Ben Wright caught at gully, before returning with the new ball after tea to claim four wickets in five overs, including two in successive balls, to polish off the innings.Glamorgan looked like they had recovered from a shaky start which saw them reduced to 112 for 3 just after lunch as Bragg passed 500 championship runs for the season in putting on 68 with Chris Cooke for the fourth wicket.Bragg’s departure in the penultimate over before tea was a harbinger of doom for Glamorgan who returned after the interval to lose their last six wickets for the addition of just 53 runs. Cooke was last man out, edging Topley to slip, in the final over of the day.

Joe Denly struck an unbeaten century to bring an element of competition to the Champion Counnty match in Abu Dhabi

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Mar-2013
ScorecardJoe Denly struck an unbeaten century to bring an element of competition to the Champion County match against Warwickshire in Abu Dhabi. After being made to follow on, Sam Northeast and Peter Trego also added half-centuries as MCC closed 123 runs behind with six second-innings wickets standing.Having resumed in a parlous state on 73 for 7, MCC were dismissed for 130. Denly returned after retiring with illness earlier in the innings and top-scored with 47, putting on 52 with James Middlesbrook, before Oliver Hannon-Dalby took the last two wickets to fall in consecutive deliveries. Denly was quickly back out in the middle, as Jimmy Adams departed for 4, but a 156-run partnership for the second wicket with Northeast helped ease MCC away from total embarrassment.”It’s been a good day,” Denly said. “I was disappointed to get out in the first innings the way I did, but I was very happy to spend some time out there second time around and get some runs. I didn’t really notice any change in the conditions during the day. Under the lights it skidded on a bit quicker, but this actually helped it to come on the bat quite nicely. In terms of the ball moving sideways or swinging, it was pretty consistent all day.”Chris Wright, who claimed 5 for 35 in the first innings, removed Northeast on the brink of tea and Dale Benkenstein fell to the first ball after the resumption but Denly batted gamely on and was involved in an unbroken stand of 79 with Trego during the evening session. The MCC batsmen were not unduly troubled second time around, although they still have some work to do to avoid defeat after conceding a first-innings deficit of 431.”If we can get another couple of big partnerships tomorrow to keep them out in the field for a bit longer, hopefully we can come away with a positive result,” Denly said.Warwickshire were forced to bring on Peter McKay as a substitute wicketkeeper after Tim Ambrose sustained a strain early in MCC’s second innings, while left-arm spinner Paul Best also left the field with a back injury after bowling just eight overs and taking the wicket of Adams.

Lionel Messi’s wife Antonela Roccuzzo took in Inter Miami’s League Cup celebrations on the pitch, while being joined by Sergio Busquets’ partner.

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Argentine has won another trophyWild celebrations for Florida franchiseFriends and family in attendanceWHAT HAPPENED?

Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi helped to inspire a historic trophy triumph for his new club on Saturday as they captured the inaugural Leagues Cup crown.

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The magical Argentine delivered another stunning strike against Nashville – his 10th goal in just seven appearances – before converting his spot-kick in a thrilling penalty shootout. Messi lifted major silverware alongside DeAndre Yedlin, with Antonela close by to get the best possible view of wild celebrations.

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Antonela – who has been a regular at Inter Miami games alongside sons Ciro, Mateo and Thiago, a number of famous faces – was joined on the field by Busquets’ model wife Elena Galera, with the pair having become close friends when their husbands were team-mates at Barcelona.

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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Messi has become the most decorated player of all-time when landing the 44th trophy of his remarkable career, with the legendary 36-year-old now about to turn his attention to MLS matters as he keeps himself in contention for an eighth Ballon d’Or.

If there is anything disgruntled Yorkshiremen do not appreciate, it is empathy from a vaguely Lancastrian source. Nevertheless, after an inactive time in the Caribbean, they might have appreciated an old lyric from the cross-Pennines songstress Gracie Fie

Paul Edwards10-May-2015
ScorecardJonny Bairstow on a rare and largely pointless batting opportunity in the Caribbean•Getty ImagesIf there is anything disgruntled Yorkshiremen do not appreciate, it is empathy from a vaguely Lancastrian source. Nevertheless, as Adam Lyth carried the refreshments, edged the practice catches and fielded at short leg during England’s tour of the West Indies, it was tempting to remember the song once made famous by the Rochdale-born Gracie Fields: “I took my harp to the party but nobody asked me to play”. Nor was Lyth the only Yorkshireman unused in the Caribbean. Jonny Bairstow, Adil Rashid and Liam Plunkett’s involvement was peripheral, leading to calls that one or more members of this cricketing string quartet should be allowed to play a melody or two for Yorkshire.It was expected that this game against Hampshire would see all four players selected by Yorkshire for the first time this season but Plunkett’s failure to appear for Saturday’s final practice resulted in him not even making the team sheet. Lyth and Bairstow, though, seized their opportunities with gusto, albeit that their tunes were sharply contrasting. Lyth, all careful exposition and cautious defence, made 53 off 112 balls in 150 minutes. He was nearly run out by his partner Alex Lees in the second over of the day and was dropped by the Hampshire debutant wicketkeeper Lewis McManus when hooking on 39.When he was third out twenty minutes after lunch, playing defensively to a good ball from Andre Adams, Lyth could return to the Headingley pavilion knowing that he had shown all the application expected of an England opener. This is fortunate given that next week that is almost certainly precisely what he will be. What is rather less wonderful is that despite being on two of England’s winter tours, Lyth has now played precisely six first-class innings since last September. It is hardly preparation for facing the New Zealand seamers on one of Lord’s freshest May pitches.By tea, however, not too many of Yorkshire’s supporters were talking about Lyth. That was because there were in the middle of seeing a quite outstandingly violent and effective innings from Jonny Bairstow, one of the more maverick members of the Headingley orchestra. Having arrived at the wicket when Lyth was dismissed and then watched as Andrew Gale became the admirable Adams’s second wicket, caught at point for 30 off the leading edge by Michael Carberry, Bairstow seemed to disregard any slowness in the Leeds wicket. There was to be no adagio for him.Instead, there were pulls and hooks, three of them going for six; there were delicious cuts, one or two of them brazenly late; there were punches through the covers, most of them crisply timed by a batsman at the peak of his form and confidence. In 32 overs Bairstow added 154 for the fifth wicket with Jack Leaning, who had the good sense not to try and copy his partner. Leaning seems a very astute young batsman.Bairstow was unbeaten on 88 at tea and reached his century off 104 balls with a clip through midwicket off Adams for two. A couple of balls later he was gone, not culpably but edging a fine ball from the 39-year-old New Zealander to McManus, thus giving the Hampshire wicketkeeper a second catch on his first-class debut.That wicket brought obvious relief to James Vince’s men and they capitalised on their success when Gareth Berg removed both Adil Rashid for a duck and Will Rhodes for only four. Rashid skied a catch to Fidel Edwards at mid on and Rhodes, who probably did not expect to be playing in this game on Saturday morning nicked a catch to Sean Ervine.That left Yorkshire on 279 for 7 and the game was more or less evenly poised. However, Tim Bresnan joined Leaning and the evening’s play assumed a more sedate tempo with both batsmen restraining their natural impulses to attack.Bresnan is an experienced cricketer and one would expect nothing less from him. Leaning, though, is just 21 and played only ten County Championship games in 2014. But he is mature beyond his years and has a quiet competence at the crease. His two fours off Tomlinson in the last hour of play were as good as anything we had seen. One was stroked through the covers and the other was driven straight and they were especially fine because they were played off Hampshire’s most accurate bowler, who finished his work with 2 for 61 from his 26 overs.Tomlinson, it was, who had made the first breakthroughs for the visitors in the morning session when he had Alex Lees lbw for a single playing no shot to the 13th ball of the match before returning to have Cheteshwar Pujara caught at slip by Sean Ervine for 18. These were important wickets and they reflected the contribution of Vince’s bowlers on a day which was liberally sprinkled with accomplished batting and canny bowling.Indeed, it was almost a relief that Yorkshire head coach Jason Gillespie had chosen to say nothing about reports linking him to the England job and the travails of the ECB. The Australian’s silence left one free to follow the dictum of that legendary cricket Yorkshire Post cricket correspondent JM Kilburn: “I am here to write about the cricket,” said Kilburn firmly. That great man would have enjoyed watching Bairstow bat on this balmy Sunday afternoon but he may have appreciated Leaning’s innings even more.