Adam Lyth delighted his home crowd with a superb century as Yorkshire seized the initiative against league leaders Surrey on day one at Scarborough, Jonny Tattersall also reaching a fabulous maiden LV= Insurance County Championship hundred.
?Lyth is a former England Test left-hander who, despite being born down the road in Whitby, learnt his game as a whipper snapper in front of the Popular Bank here at North Marine Road, the stand he saluted during the afternoon as he reached a brilliant 165-ball century.
He last played league cricket for the club in 2013, a year before he scored his only other Championship century here – against Middlesex in the first of back-to-back title campaigns.
Lyth, 152 not out off 265 balls, navigated challenging conditions to help Yorkshire close on 364-5 from 96 overs, sharing a superb unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 239 with Tattersall, whose first four-day appearance of the season yielded 104 not out off 218.
There was the usual pace and bounce in the pitch along with some nip off the pitch and swing in the air.
But captain Steve Patterson put his faith in Lyth and an otherwise inexperienced top order to get the job done when he elected to bat upon winning the toss.
That faith was vindicated, despite the odd wobble at 58-3 before lunch and 125-5 afterwards.
Lyth was helped along expertly by wicketkeeper Tattersall, the pair uniting from the first ball after lunch onwards.
Surrey will be mightily frustrated at letting an opportunity pass them by here.
With Yorkshire three and five down cheap, and the hosts missing some significant batting quality, they would have hoped to take control of this fixture.
And while they could of course still win for the fifth time in nine matches this season, the Division One leaders will find it much, much harder from here.
They struggled to find the right length on this pitch and bowled a total of 18 no balls, including one which should have removed debutant Will Luxton on 17 when he edged Conor McKerr to second slip before lunch.
Nineteen-year-old Luxton is making his first-class debut in this match and contributed a bright 31 from number five, despite a couple of slices of fortune.
There was the no ball catch and also an edge which burst through the hands of Will Jacks at second slip on nought.
Dan Worrall had George Hill caught at third slip for a duck six balls into the match before Tom Lawes trapped James Wharton lbw and Aaron Hardie had Will Fraine caught at third slip, leaving Yorkshire 58-3 in the 18th.
Lyth pulled a couple of morning sixes, one over square-leg and the other over long-leg off a top edge, reaching lunch on 43 out of 106-3 in 29 overs.
Unfortunately for Luxton, he wasn’t able to make the most of his earlier lives as the part-time off-spin of Will Jacks had him caught behind down leg with the first ball of the afternoon.
Matthew Waite followed not too long after, edging Worrall to second slip for 15 – 125-5 in the 35th over.
At that stage, Yorkshire needed a partnership – and they got one.
Tattersall, briefly on loan with Surrey last season, provided Lyth with expert support.
As Tattersall dug in to start with before expanding with confidence, Lyth was typically strong through the covers to go with the sixes he had pulled earlier.
Lyth reached his 29th first-class century off 165 balls with a third six, lofted over long-off against the spin of Jacks.
By the time tea came, with Tattersall reaching his fifty off 95 balls in the over before the break, Yorkshire were 260-5 from 64 overs and just about on top.
Jamie Overton was chief among the Surrey bowlers who bowled too short, although Australian Worrall was the pick of their seam heavy attack with 2-61 from 22 overs.
The evening session was particularly quiet.
Surrey improved with the ball, though met resistance from Lyth and Tattersall as they consolidated Yorkshire’s position of strength and took them beyond the 300-mark for a third batting bonus point.
Tattersall reached his landmark century off 214 balls by clipping his 14th boundary through square-leg off an Overton full toss inside the day’s final quarter-of-an-hour.
It took Yorkshire to 350-6 to boot. Lyth then reached 150 off the final ball of the day.
That Jordan Thompson, handed his first-team cap just before the start of play, wasn’t required to bat tells you just how good a day this turned into for Yorkshire.
