Harry Brook heaped praise on Jordan Thompson after the all-rounder’s brilliant 98 ensured Yorkshire recovered handsomely from 44-4 on day one against Nottinghamshire.
After last week’s opening round Bob Willis Trophy win over Durham, the feel good factor in the White Rose camp was maintained in entertaining fashion following an early blip at Trent Bridge.
Adam Lyth, Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan and Tom Kohler-Cadmore all fell cheaply before Brook’s eye-catching 62 was superseded by Thompson’s career best score in his fourth first-class appearance.
The 23-year-old all-rounder shone with the ball at Durham with five wickets and hit four sixes and eleven fours in 103 balls today, helping Yorkshire post 264 all out before Notts closed on 13-1.
Thompson peppered the leg-side boundary in a brutal display of hitting as lower order partners came and went.
“We turned it around there after losing a few quick wickets early on,” said Brook, who also impressed last week against Durham with 41 and 66 not out.
“It’s always nice to get some runs and contribute, but Tommo was quality there to get us to a respectable total and one we can bowl to.
“We came off at lunch and said we’d be happy with 250 if we can get there. And we did in the end.
“Hats off to Tommo and a few of the other lads who were able to build some partnerships that got us there.
“Tommo played really well.
“At the end when he started smacking those sixes, it was nice to watch when they were thudding into that (Bridgford Rd) stand!”
This pitch was used for last week’s Notts v Derbyshire game, and the hosts bowled 50.2 overs of spin today.
Brook said: “It’s quite a slow pitch, and there’s quite a bit of rough outside the off-stump for a right-hander.
“Hopefully we can use that to our advantage with Jack Shutt a bit further down the line.
“It’s slow, but at the end Duanne (Olivier) was getting it through quite a bit. It will be interesting to see what happens in the morning.”
Up and comers Brook and Thompson shone again after Matthew Fisher excelled against Durham before injury ruled him out for this game.
The opening five days of the summer have certainly given us a glimpse that the future is bright at Emerald Headingley.
Brook added: “It’s always nice to have the young lads in the team and performing, and I thought Dom Leech stuck with Tommo really well at the end to get their last-wicket partnership (32) going even though he didn’t get any runs.”
