Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. Yorkshire captain Jonny Bairstow impressed with 86 not out on day four at Durham.
Anthony McGrath and Jonny Bairstow believe Yorkshire can tighten up with the bat as they looked back on their draw with Durham and the start to the season in general.
Yorkshire’s coach and captain spoke at the Banks Homes Riverside this evening, reflecting on a 13-point draw which followed an opening round loss against Hampshire at the Utilita Bowl and then a win over Worcestershire at Headingley.
The White Rose have claimed 40 points in all and sit solidly in mid-table.
In this game, Durham held the whip hand, and they came into day four with a realistic chance of victory.
Yorkshire were 132-4, leading by 12 runs, with captain Bairstow at the crease unbeaten on two. When the rain came just before 3pm, they were 277-6, leading by 157, with Bairstow unbeaten on 86, an innings in which he rarely looked troubled.
McGrath and Bairstow are clearly satisfied with Yorkshire’s start to the season, which has come before the squad have a weekend free of action and do not play again until Warwickshire visit Headingley on May 2.
But they believe there is an obvious area for improvement.
McGrath said: “A little bit of a trait of ours has been that we’ve got batsmen in looking comfortable and have just given wickets away. Even this innings as well. That’s one thing we need to improve as a team.
“It showed with Alex (Lees, 172) and Emilio (Gay, 152) batting for Durham. They were ruthless.
“We’ll take the points. I think Durham have had the better of a game. I think that’s fair to say.
“That first day was probably the best day to bowl. We thought 300 was a decent score. But I think – in hindsight – we should have got more.
“We probably had our worst day with the ball on the second day, but much improved on day three when we got nine for 120-130. That was a really good sign to come back.
“Unless anything extraordinary happened, we were confident we could bat the length of time needed today.
“We’re pretty disappointed how we played, if I’m being honest, but we’ll take the 13 points. I think 40 points is a pretty fair reflection from where we’ve been from the first three matches.”
On today’s innings, personally, Bairstow said: “I’m happy with the way that I’ve been striking the ball.”
And on the performance, he continued: “We left a few out there, and a few softer dismissals. As a group, we’ll look to improve on that. I think that’s a fairly easy fix, if I’m honest. There’s a lot of talent within the group.
“They put us under pressure.
“For two of their guys to get 150, it’s exactly what Division One cricket is about.
“It’s probably the biggest difference between that and Division Two – when a teams’s on top, they don’t let you off. And that’s a lesson we can learn as a group.
“We grafted hard again to take nine wickets yesterday for about 120 after we’d had a tough day.
“Today’s toil showed the character we’ve got within the group. But, at the same time, we don’t want to be coming from behind. We want to be leading the charge and putting other teams under pressure.”
He added: “Really pleased to get out of that the way that we did.
“Obviously, losing the toss, we would have had a look to bowl as well.
“Yes, it was a tricky day today, but the way in which we started the day with Hilly and then the way that Rev played as well, just to be out there for the whole day is something that you can draw upon. We went alright there.”
