- MEMORY MATCH
- YORKSHIRE v DURHAM
- LIMITED–OVERS (40-65) MATCHES
- (LIST A CRICKET)
- 1973-2018
Yorkshire’s first limited-overs match against Durham was a Gillette Cup fixture in 1973 at Harrogate. Paul Dyson looks back at that game, which was played when the visitors were still a Minor County, but the result of which sent shockwaves throughout the country.
June 30, 1973 at Harrogate: Yorkshire 135 in 58.4 overs (BR Lander 5-15); Durham 138-5 in 51.3 overs. Durham won by five wickets.
The first season of the Gillette Cup, the first limited-overs competition in all professional cricket, took place in 1963 and was a knock-out tournament which Yorkshire won in 1965 and 1969. Minor Counties joined in in its second season but none prevailed over any of the first-class teams in their first nine seasons. Although the event started out with 65 overs per side, this was soon reduced to 60.
Yorkshire had reached the final of the new Benson & Hedges Cup in the year previous to this game being staged but had gone three seasons without winning a single match in the Gillette Cup. With Yorkshire’s captain, Geoff Boycott, winning the toss and deciding to bat it was assumed that the hosts would make a good score and then bowl the opposition out – a format which occurred regularly in games between a first-class and a minor county.
Stuart Wilkinson opened the bowling and his steady line was so effective that only 18 runs came from the first nine overs. It was then that he bowled Boycott to make the first breakthrough. Wilkinson’s partner was Alan Old, better known as a rugby international of some repute – he was England’s fly-half for several years – and whose brother, Chirs, was also playing in this match – for Yorkshire – and would make his international debut in 18 months time – at cricket. Also at this point Durham’s captain, Brian Lander, a medium pace bowler, brought himself on and diasmissed three top-order batsmen to make the major contribution in reducing Yorkshire to 49 for five. Colin Johnson was holding firm and he shared a 31-run stand with Old which turned out to be the highest of the innings. Wisden paid credit to the Durham side for seldom bowling a bad ball and ‘the fielding was superb’. Despite the efforts of the tail the hosts subsided to 135 all out, the runs being made at a rate of 2.3 per over. Lander finished with five for 15 from 11.4 overs. He and Alan Old (seven overs for ten runs) were the most economical of the six bowlers used and Johnson (44) was the only batsman to score more than 20.
Chris Old opened the bowling with Tony Nicholson and the pair often beat the bat but Durham’s batsmen were in a determined mood and concentrated hard on their task. Russell Inglis and Steve Atkinson shared a stand of 58 for the first wicket; both were dismissed by left-arm spinner Phil Carrick in quick succession but this did not lead to a hoped-for collapse. Wheras Yorkshire had been 100 for seven, Durham had lost three wickets fewer when they reached the landmark. Inglis, his team’s captain in 1972 and an experienced 37-year-old, had made 47 stylish runs before the mantle of holding the innings together was taken over by Stephen Greensword. He ensured that he did not lose his wicket and steered his side over the line with 35 not out. All of Yorkshire’s five bowlers kept it tight – except for Richard Hutton whose eight overs cost 35 runs – but could not penetrate the batsmen’s solid defences and had to admit that, on the day, they lost to the better side.
It was the first time that a Minor County had beaten a first-class county and for it to be Yorkshire who suffered so was made much of by the media. The county boasted four England players in its ranks. In the Second Round Durham could not repeat its heroic act and were well-beaten by Essex. Yorkshire had now gone four seasons without a single win in a Gillette Cup match.
Man of the Match:
Brian Lander was a real stalwart of Durham CCC; he played in a total of 90 Minor Counties Championship matches over a period of 24 seasons and the northern county were the title-winners in four of these years. Born in Bishop Auckland in 1942, he first played for Durham in 1963, was appointed its captain ten years later and held the post for seven seasons. Under his leadership the county won the MC Championship in 1976.
An effective medium-pace bowler, he played in a total of 26 List A matches. A total of eleven of these were for Durham but the remaining 15 were all for minor county representative sides, such was his stature at that level. He took a total of 25 wickets at an average of 34.36 but it must be remembered that he was bowling against batsmen who were a class above the ones he normally played against. His perfornace on that famous day in 1973 remained his best and is still the record for all List A matches for either county in games between them. A real day in the sun for Brian Lander.
YORKSHIRE v DURHAM
- LIMITED–OVERS (40-65) MATCHES (LIST A)
- 1973-2018
- SOME RECORDS
Results (home and away)
- Played 33, Yorkshire won 19, Durham won 13, No Result 1. Also one game abandoned.
Highest innings totals
- Yorkshire – 339-4 (47.4/50 overs) – Headingley – 2017
- Away – 328-4 (50 overs) – Chester-le-Street – 2018
- Durham – 335-5 (50 overs) – Headingley – 2017
- At home – 281-7 (50 overs) – Chester-le-Street – 2015
Lowest innings totals
- Yorkshire – 122 (39.5/40 overs) – Chester-le-Street – 2007
- At home – 133 (39.1/40 overs) – Headingley – 1995
- Durham – 121 (30.4/40 overs) – Scarborough – 1997
- At home – 136 (32/40 overs) – Chester-le-Street – 1996
Highest individual innings
- Yorkshire – 174 – JM Bairstow – Headingley – 2017
- Away – 164 – T Kohler-Cadmore – Chester-le-Street – 2006
- Durham – 124* – JP Maher – Chester-le-Street – 2006
- Away – 114 – W Larkins – Headingley – 1993
Highest wicket partnerships
- Yorks – 189 (2nd) – JM Bairstow (174) & JE Root (55) * Headingley 2017 – Durham 139 (2nd) W Larkins (114) & PWG Parker (54) – Headingley 1993
Best bowling
- Yorkshire – 4-9 – CM Old – Middlesbrough – 1978
- Away 4-26 – CEW Silverwood – Chester-le-Street – 1996
- Durham – 5-15 – BR Lander – Harrogate – 1971
- At home – 4-31 – PD Collingwood – Chester-le-Street – 2000
Most dismissals in an innings by a wicket-keeper
- 5 (3 ct 2 st) – RJ Blakey – Yorkshire – Chester-le-Street – 2002
- 4 (3 ct 1 st) – P Mustard – Durham – Chester-le-Street – 2005
- 4 (3 ct 1 st) – GL Brophy – Yorkshire – Headingley – 2008
- 4 (3 ct 1 st) – P Mustard – Durham – Headingley – 2014
- 4 (3 ct 1 st) – AJ Hodd – Yorkshire – Chester-le-Street – 2015
Most dismissals in an innings by a fielder
- 3 AP Grayson – Yorkshire – Durham – 1994
- 3 C White – Yorkshire – Headingley – 1998
A half-century and four wickets in a match
- C White – Yorkshire – 64 & 4-18 – Scarborough – 1997
- GM Fellows – Yorkshire – 50 & 4-19 – Headingley – 2002
