Ottis Gibson hailed the performances of centurions Adam Lyth and Harry Brook on day four of Yorkshire’s Vitality County Championship draw against Leicestershire at Headingley.
The pair shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 128 inside 16 overs as Yorkshire advanced their first innings from 72-2 overnight to 264-6 declared as they replied to the Foxes’ 354 all out.
Lyth made 101 off 100 balls and Brook 100 not out of 69, ensuring Yorkshire claimed a batting bonus point.
In all, they took 12 from a fixture which saw only 143.4 overs bowled across the four days.
“There’s a lot of frustration with the weather,” said Gibson.
“We got some time in the middle, I guess. Our bowlers managed to get one good innings into them. I thought we bowled well in patches, but there was some stuff we will have to do better going forwards.
“When we batted, of course Harry Brook makes it look so easy. Having him in our batting line-up makes a huge difference.
“Adam Lyth had a fantastic winter at the ripe old age of 36, so it was good to see him get a hundred and also be the standard bearer for the youngsters.
“Quite often, we’re asking our youngsters who their role-models are. Importantly, we have a role-model in our dressing room. That’s a real positive.”
Brook was playing his first competitive match since December following a difficult and sad time at home, with his grandmother Pauline passing away recently.
He missed England’s New Year Test series in India and the ongoing IPL as a result, though he is happy to be back playing cricket with Yorkshire so that he can be close to his grieving family.
“A lot of the communication was from him,” said Gibson.
“We’ve put no pressure on him to play. ‘You go at your own pace with regards to when you come in here at Headingley’.
“To be fair, he’s been coming in and has been having lots of nets. At a time like this, he’s been wanting to be around people he’s comfortable with.
“One of the conversations that we’ve had is that he just wants to play cricket with his mates again. He’s got a lot of mates in the dressing room, they’ve played a lot of cricket together and grown up through the age-groups. This is his comfort in a difficult time.
“We are the benefactors of that, and we are very grateful to have him.
“I think we’ll enjoy watching him bat for the next four games if he carries on batting the way he is.”
Gibson also confirmed that Yorkshire have come through this match with a clean bill of health and confirmed that Joe Root is available for Friday’s trip to face Gloucestershire at Bristol.
