Ottis Gibson labelled his side’s landslide victory over Derbyshire at Scarborough today as their best four-day performance of his two-year tenure as Yorkshire’s head coach.
Yorkshire won by 277 runs in mid-afternoon on day four, bowling Derbyshire out for 293 as they chased 571.
Dom Bess led the way with four wickets, backed up by three for Matthew Revis and two for fellow all-rounder Jordan Thompson.
Just before lunch was the key phase in the day, with Bess and Thompson striking twice apiece as Derbyshire slipped from 198-2 to 201-6 in the space of 24 balls.
It was Yorkshire’s second win of the LV= Insurance County Championship, and their second against Derbyshire. In all, it was Gibson’s third four-day win since taking over at the start of 2022.
While a host of players contributed to this 18-point success, Revis was the standout performer with five wickets in the match – he also claimed in the first innings – added to his second-innings 106 with the bat.
Gibson described Revis’s role in this game with the ball as the “enforcer”.
The former West Indies fast bowler said: “It’s been a good team performance from us this week, and one that I would say is probably the best since I’ve been here to be honest.
“The game promises you nothing. Sometimes even when you work hard, you don’t get what you deserve. But I think over the three-and-a-half days here, at the end of it all, we’ve deserved the points.
“It’s a good win, and I’ve been telling you for a while that we’ve been playing some decent four-day cricket. If not for the weather, we would have won a few more games.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Yorkshire’s players and coaches sit and relax on the outfield at Scarborough’s North Marine Road ground as the sea mist rolls in after victory over Derbyshire.
“It’s good to get four good days of weather, and for the lads to perform the way they did was fantastic. I’m really proud of them this week.”
Yorkshire dominated the game from pretty much the start, having been inserted by Derbyshire captain Leus du Plooy.
“Personally, I don’t think we batted as well as we could have done on the first day,” continued Gibson.
“To be bowled out for 297 was a bit below what we thought we should have got.
“But I thought we bowled really well in their first innings as well.
“Tommo came back from the Hundred and bowled as well as I’ve seen him bowl for a while. It was unfortunate to lose Fish. It’s a mild side strain that he’s got, and hopefully it doesn’t hang around too long.
“Even then, the likes of Rev really stood up when Fish went down. Hilly continues to be a very good all-rounder for us. We’re blessed in that area. Bessy also bowled nicely and controlled the game.”
Yorkshire declared their second innings on 520-9 early yesterday evening, adding to the 50-run lead they had already got.
And Gibson added: “Day three, we were scoring so freely and at such a rate, and Scarborough’s pitch is so good. We were always thinking that if we can get as far ahead as possible and give ourselves 120 to bowl them out, that should be enough.
“The fact we had a 500-lead meant we could leave fielders in for a bit longer. Scoreboard pressure meant that they had no chance of winning the game. It gave us the opportunity to attack a lot more.
“We did that and got our rewards.”
Fisher will not be considered to play against Glamorgan at Cardiff in Yorkshire’s next game, which starts on Sunday. That means fellow seamers Ben Cliff and Mickey Edwards are likely to come into contention.
Matt Milnes has been playing second-team cricket at Southport this week as he recovers from a back stress fracture suffered in April. The hope is that he will play two more second-team games before returning to face Worcestershire at Headingley during the final week of the season at the end of the month.
