Jack Brooks hailed Yorkshire’s second day display with ball and then bat as the White Rose dragged themselves back into their Roses Championship match with Lancashire at Emerald Headingley.
Lancashire enjoyed much the better of the first day of this relegation battle, but Yorkshire hit back with gusto and dominated the second day.
They closed on 127-3 in their second innings, leading by 84.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Gary Ballance shared an unbroken century stand.
Earlier, Lancashire, replying to a first-innings 209, slipped from 145-1 to 252 all out.
Brooks claimed a superb 5-66.
“We didn’t have the best of it yesterday, so we knew today was huge and we’d probably have to win all three sessions to get ourselves back in the game,” said the 34-year-old new ball quick. “I’d like to think we’ve done that.
“As a unit, we went out there and bowled well and sustained pressure, and we got our rewards.
“We didn’t get off to the best start in the second innings, but Gary and Tom have shown what can happen when the ball gets a bit older. You can dig in and tick off the runs.
“Hopefully we can do that for a couple of sessions tomorrow and don’t get too far ahead of ourselves.”
Highlights from Day 2
Brooks is happy with Yorkshire’s position in the contest, but he also admitted: “You wouldn’t be too disappointed to be in Lancashire’s position knowing that if you got a couple of early wickets you’d be in amongst the all-rounders and the tail.
“It’s going to be a huge first session tomorrow to see who dictates the game.
“Even if we have a shocker and get bowled out with a lead of 150, we’re still in the game. Ideally we want more than 200.”
On his own performance, which included three wickets in the morning and two after lunch, he added: “I bowled horribly yesterday. I was really disappointed with myself. I didn’t hit my straps how I’d like.
“But I came in with a different mindset and different plans this morning. I was a lot more relaxed and got wickets early. From there, I built.
“We bowled a lot straighter.
“I think we realised that it’s not a nick off wicket. Lbws and bowled is the main mode of dismissal, so we wanted to attack the stumps a bit more and use your catchers wisely.
“It’s about hitting the deck because it’s going to go up and down more as the game goes on.”
