Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. It certainly wasn’t the weekend everybody was hoping for in Scarborough.
Anthony McGrath spoke of “a bit of a non-descript game” after Yorkshire and Leicestershire were frustrated by the Scarborough weather and had to settle for a draw.
Only 112.1 overs across the four days were bowled at North Marine Road, including none today.
It didn’t actually rain at the ground today, though umpires Ian Blackwell and Graham Lloyd ruled that a wet outfield was not fit enough to start and abandoned the day just before 12.30pm.
Yorkshire had to settle for their fourth draw of the season, Leicestershire their third.
What play we did see, Yorkshire were bowled out for a first-innings 263; James Wharton 70 and George Hill 62. Leicestershire then responded with 84-0; Rishi Patel 41 and Sheridon Gumbs 39.
Yorkshire took nine points to Leicestershire’s 11 from this 10th-round Rothesay County Championship match.
McGrath said: “The summer we’ve had, we were always going to get a game or two where the rain intervened.
“It just came down to the outfield and the run-ups today.
“It was pretty inevitable from day one, really. At the end there, we said we’d bowl spin from one end and try to get some kind of play in. But the umpires have to take everything into account, I guess, safety and all those kinds of things.
“To not even play one full day out of four is very frustrating. I think we’ve tried to get as much play as we can.
“It’s frustrating for everyone. I know a lot of people booked their holidays up here and wanted to come and watch some cricket. As you know, anyone who’s from Yorkshire – the history of the club – love coming up here. It’s just such a shame, but we can’t do much about it.”
McGrath continued: “It wasn’t ideal yesterday when we bowled, but we wanted to get out there.
“I thought George Hill played brilliantly with Ben Cliff and Dom Bess at the end to get us up to 260. I guess on the bowling side we were disappointed in the time we had that we didn’t get any wickets. We wanted at least one more bonus point. Credit to Leicester, they stuck in there.
“On reflection, nine points is probably the most we could have hoped for given we only played one full day’s cricket.”
If there was one positive for McGrath, it was that his players weren’t particularly taxed ahead of a four-game end to the season, starting against Surrey at The Kia Oval on Wednesday.
Games certainly come thick and fast now through to the end of September.
George Hill left the field yesterday having jarred his knee.
“The signs look pretty good,” said McGrath. “We’ll assess him tomorrow.
“He wouldn’t have taken part today, but he didn’t need any strapping. I’m hoping it’s nothing. Given that he’s not done too much this week, we’ve got a couple of days, I’m hoping he’ll get past it.”
Yorkshire now head to South London, a trip for which Indian wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav is available after Test duty in Sri Lanka.
McGrath added: “Going to the Oval, to Trent Bridge and then to play Essex and Somerset, they’re four brilliant fixtures. There’s lots to be excited about.”
