“A chase in any form of the game is tricky,” said Jordan Thompson as he looked ahead to tomorrow’s third day at Lord’s.
The Yorkshire dressing room know they haven’t played their best cricket in this game and are behind things at present against Middlesex. But they also have full confidence that they can turn things around.
“It’s a tricky pitch,” continued all-rounder Thompson, a key performer on day two with ball and then bat. He claimed 5-80 and then hit 26 down the order.
“It’s slow, but it’s nipping with the slope. It seems that with the new ball, you can score off it. When it gets a bit older, it swings a little bit. That’s when it’s a bit more tricky.
“If we can try and get 50 or 60 more runs tomorrow, we can put pressure on them to chase. Early wickets, and we can hopefully drive the game home.”
Thompson knows Lord’s well having played for the London Spirit in the Hundred.
“They’ve sacked me!” he smiled. “I’m at Trent Rockets this summer. But, no, I enjoyed my two years here.”
He has done well in the past at Lord’s, but taking five in a Championship game is clearly a special moment.
“It’s great to get those wickets in the first place,” he said. “We went for a few too many in the morning, but to get five wickets is nice and we’re in a position where we can go out in the morning, put on a good show and try and win the game.”
Yorkshire started the day well and ended it well. They had to recover from 83-5 in the second innings, a deficit of four runs, to close on 216-7 with a lead of 129.
“We always battle as hard as we can,” added Thompson. “I was going out on a pair, which wasn’t a nice place to be. But I got a few away.
“We’ve got boys in there capable of scoring quickly.
“We know what Hilly’s like. He’s scored well over the last few years and is a mature head on young shoulders. He played a bit of a supporting role with Coady there at the end, but hopefully he can go out tomorrow and put us in a good position.”
