Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Yorkshire’s Australian fast-bowling coach Mick Lewis was pleased with his bowlers’ day one performance today.
Mick Lewis praised the perseverance of Yorkshire’s bowlers as they kept Rothesay County Championship leaders Nottinghamshire in check on day one at Trent Bridge.
The county’s bowling coach watched Dan Moriarty and George Hill strike twice apiece as Notts, who reached 90-0 at lunch having elected to bat, closed on 298-6. New-ball seam duo Jack White and Will O’Rourke were the other wicket-takers as the White Rose plugged away impressively from ball one.
“It was a tough day, but a rewarding day in the end,” said bowling coach Lewis.
“We lost the toss and bowled on quite a benign wicket, and the Kookaburra ball went quite soft early, the lads said. But really happy with the way they stuck at it.
“We got together at lunchtime and said, ‘Ok, we’ve got to dig in here, control the rate and create a couple of chances’. Otherwise, if we didn’t do that, the game could have gone pretty quickly and could have been 350 tonight.
“They gave us a couple of wickets, but I think that’s due to the pressure we put on them.”
Lewis confirmed that Yorkshire would have batted first had they won the toss, and he continued: “The ball was nipping, it was just quite slow nip.
“Our spinners were very good. There wasn’t a lot on offer for them. But, as I said, they controlled their length and controlled the rate, which is important.
“If we can keep them under 350, we’re doing pretty well.”
Yorkshire came into this game with two spinners in Moriarty and Dom Bess and omitted talismanic seamer Ben Coad.
Lewis explained: “It was just purely tactical.
“He was disappointed. But, Coady being Coady, he got on with it pretty quick, did the team thing, helped out and he understands.
“We did the same thing at Essex on a two-spinner wicket. We left Jordan Thompson out and Jordan Buckingham.
“We’ve still got six Championship games to go, so we need these guys fresh.”
