Andrew Hodd believes Yorkshire can use tomorrow as a springboard for the rest of their season if they can escape with a draw against Somerset at Emerald Headingley.
Yorkshire, at 8-2 chasing 419, have significant work to do to even secure a draw in the Specsavers County Championship fixture with the Division One’s second-placed side.
If the White Rose, struggling at the wrong end of the table, can avoid defeat, it will be a major boost heading into the final four games of the season.
“We’re coming second at the moment,” said the wicketkeeper who scored 85 in the first innings.
“It’s a big day tomorrow.
“I know it’s a cliche, but we just have to take each ball as it comes.
“If we can get through that new ball – it’s a new ball pitch as myself and Tom Kohler-Cadmore showed yesterday – hopefully it flattens out and we can get a couple of big partnerships and they’ll have to try something different.
“Tomorrow’s a similar situation to a T20 when you win defending a low score. If we can get out of it, it will give us a lot of momentum.
“There’s still a lot of cricket to play for, and everyone seems to be plucking results out of the air at the moment, like Lancashire at Southport, who have beaten Worcester. Essex and Hampshire also looks interesting.
“It’s all to play for.”
Day 3 highlights
Hodd was frustrated that Yorkshire, who started day three on 292-7 and were bowled out for 320 in their first innings, were unable to get closer to Somerset’s 399.
He added just one to his overnight 84.
He said: “We said this morning ‘If we get close to their score, they have to win, so they’ll have to chase the game a bit’.
“We even tried to dry it up with the ball (in the second innings), but it just didn’t happen for us.
“There are bits of our game coming together. We had a couple of partnerships in the first innings and got above 300, which we haven’t done too many times.
“Hopefully it can all gel for the last month.”
On his first-innings display with the bat, he said: “I didn’t expect a hundred if I’m honest. I was getting so many messages of ‘good luck, get another 16’, I just started thinking about it too much rather than just batting.”
Hodd was called up to this game as a late replacement for Jonny Tattersall, who suffered a back spasm on Tuesday.
The retiring 34-year-old was down at Somerset with the second team.
He added: “I was just about to settle in for a big Somerset lunch because we were none down – Jeet Raval and Ben Birkhead had put the anchor down.
“Then Rich Pyrah pulled me aside and told me about Tatts and them wanting me back up here as cover.
“So I grabbed my stuff and got quite a few taxis and trains. About eight hours later, I was back home and wondering whether I’d play!”