Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Anthony McGrath chats to Jack White during Yorkshire’s Championship win over Sussex at Scarborough in late July.
Anthony McGrath believes one more win from the remaining three games of the summer will preserve Yorkshire’s Division One status in the Rothesay County Championship. But the head coach has much loftier ambitions.
The four-day competition resumes tomorrow when Yorkshire travel to the Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton – 10.30am – to face Somerset.
Experienced Indian batter Mayank Agarwal is set for his overseas debut.
This is round number 12 of 14 and the first since the end of July and start of August when Yorkshire beat Sussex by an innings and 128 runs at Scarborough.
Yorkshire sit seventh in the top-flight table with three wins, four draws, four defeats and 126 points. They are 12 clear of ninth-placed Durham, who hold the second relegation place ahead of bottom-side Worcestershire, who are cut adrift.
Somerset are third in the table with four wins, five draws, two defeats and 149 points.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Championship captain Jonny Bairstow returns to Yorkshire colours following the Hundred.
There are 72 points still to play for, and the position which their forthcoming opponents hold is the one which McGrath and his players are targeting.
“It’s so tight in there,” said McGrath, of the Division One table.
“It’s going to be a pretty exciting watch for everyone who’s not involved in the relegation (battle). But, on the flipside, if you win some games you could end up as high as third.
“With the teams we’re playing – there’s Durham and Sussex, who are pretty level with us, I think one win would mean you’d be in a good position.”
Yorkshire are certainly in confident mood.
They obviously reached the semi-finals of the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, winning seven out of eight group matches before defeat to Hampshire at Scarborough.
Picture by John Clifton/SWPix.com. All-rounder Dom Bess returns to Taunton aiming to close in on the third place his former county currently hold.
Prior to that, they won two and drew two in the last four-game block of Championship action. They beat Essex and Sussex and drew with the league’s leading duo Surrey and Nottinghamshire.
“We’ve played some really good stuff, and we just have to remember how we played in the last four Championship games to get the two wins,” said McGrath.
“There’s still a lot to look forward to.”
A lot to look forward to certainly involves watching Yorkshire’s new overseas signing Mayank Agarwal in action. The top-order batter has signed a deal to replace Imam-Ul-Haq for the remaining three matches of the season and will embark upon his first county stint.
Agarwal, aged 34, will make his 450th all-format senior appearance in the West Country and is nearing 20,000 runs.
He is Karnataka’s current captain and has played 21 times in Test Matches for India.
Picture by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images. India batter Mayank Agarwal is set for his Yorkshire debut tomorrow.
Yorkshire’s general manager of cricket Gavin Hamilton has described the county’s seventh overseas signing of the summer across the various competitions as a “brilliant addition”.
This is the only Championship meeting between the two counties this season.
Whilst third, Somerset are in last-chance saloon territory if they are going to win their maiden title. They simply have to win their last three games and hope it’s enough to overhaul leaders Surrey, who are 26 points ahead of them. Nottinghamshire are sandwiched in between the pair.
Captained by all-rounder Lewis Gregory, they are coached by Jason Kerr.
Former Yorkshire batter Tom Kohler-Cadmore could meet the county he left at the end of 2022 to join Somerset.
White Rose off-spinning all-rounder Dom Bess will also face his former county.
Picture by Harry Trump/Getty Images. Tom Kohler-Cadmore celebrates a Championship century for Somerset earlier this season.
Emerging wicketkeeper-batter James Rew is their leading run-scorer in Championship cricket this season with 876 from 11 games, including three hundreds.
England fringe left-arm spinner Jack Leach is their leading wicket-taker with 39, including two hauls of five wickets or more. That is the same haul as Yorkshire all-rounder George Hill, albeit Hill has only played 10 matches.
No spinner in the the country has taken more Championship wickets than Leach this season.
After four rounds of matches with the Kookaburra ball through June and July, the Dukes is back in action for the remainder of 2025.
Somerset beat the Bears at Taunton last night to qualify for the Vitality Blast Finals Day at Edgbaston this coming Saturday.
This is the first Championship meeting between these two counties since July 2022, a rain-affected draw at Taunton on that occasion.
SOMERSET v YORKSHIRE, FIRST-CLASS CRICKET – 1891-2022 – STAT PACK
Results (home and away) County Championship: Played 181:; Yorkshire won 93, Somerset won 27, Drawn 61.
Yorkshire have never played against Somerset outside the County Championship.
At Taunton: Played 69: Yorkshire won 30, Somerset won 12, Drawn 27.
Most recent results: 2022 – Match drawn at Taunton. Yorkshire won by an innings and 33 runs at Scarborough in 2021. Somerset won by 298 runs at Taunton in 2019.
Most successive wins: Yorkshire 12 (1912-1926), Somerset 3 (2017-18).
Two wins in a season: Yorkshire 28 times, Somerset 2.
Highest innings totals: For Yorkshire, 589-5 at Bath in 2001.
For Somerset, 630 at Headingley in 1901.
Lowest innings totals: For Yorkshire, 73 at Headingley in 1895.
For Somerset, 35 at Bath in 1898.
Highest individual innings: For Yorkshire, 213 by H Sutcliffe at Dewsbury in 1924.
For Somerset, 297 by MJ Wood (of Exeter) at Taunton in 2005.
Highest wicket partnership: For Yorkshire, 288 for the first wicket between G Boycott (130*) and RG Lumb (159) at Harrogate in 1979.
For Somerset, 346 for the first wicket between LCH Palairet (146) and HT Hewett (201) at Taunton in 1892.
Best bowling figures (innings): For Yorkshire, 10-35 by A Drake at Weston-super-Mare in 1914.
For Somerset, 9-41 by LC Braund at Sheffield (Bramall Lane) in 1902.
Best bowling figures (match): For Yorkshire, 15-50 (9-22 and 6-28) by R Peel at Headingley in 1895.
For Somerset, 15-71 (6-30 and 9-41) by LC Braund at Sheffield (Bramall Lane) in 1902.
Hat-tricks: For Yorkshire, 2 – by S Haigh in 1902 and H Fisher in 1932 – both at Sheffield (Bramall Lane).
For Somerset, 3 – by EJ Tyler in 1895, E Robson in 1902 and J Lawrence in 1948 – all at Taunton.
Most dismissals in a match by a wicketkeeper: For Yorkshire, 7 by D Hunter (4 caught, 3 stumped) at Taunton in 1893, JG Binks (all caught) at Harrogate in 1963 and RJ Blakey (all caught) at Headingley in 1998.
For Somerset, 9 by HW Stephenson (8 caught, 1 stumped) at Taunton in 1963 and RJ Turner (9 ct) at Scarborough in 1996.
Most catches in a match by a fielder: For Yorkshire, 6 by JV Wilson at Headingley in 1957.
No Somerset fielder has taken more than 5 catches in a match.
One hundred runs and 10 wickets in a match: For Yorkshire, GH Hirst 111 and 117* and 6-60 and 5-45 at Bath in 1906 – the only instance of two centuries and 10 wickets in all first-class cricket, world-wide.
No instance for Somerset.
A century and five wickets in an innings in a match: For Yorkshire, W Rhodes 100 and 4-49 and 5-28 at Weston-super-Mare in 1924. DB Close (2) 128 and 34 and 0-72 and 6-87 at Bath in 1959, and 103 and 5-36 and 0-4 at Hull in 1981.
No instance for Somerset.
At Taunton…
Highest innings totals: Yorkshire 549-9dec in 1905, Somerset 592 in 1892.
Lowest innings totals: Yorkshire 96 in 2018, Somerset 48 in 1954.
Highest individual innings: For Yorkshire, 207 by MJ Wood (of Huddersfield) in 2003.
For Somerset, 297 by MJ Wood (of Exeter) in 2005.
Best bowling figures (innings): For Yorkshire, 8-80 by SP Kirby in 2003. For Somerset, 8-46 by AE Bailey in 1907.
Best bowling figures (match): For Yorkshire, 13-154 (5-74 and 8-80) by SP Kirby in 2003.
For Somerset, 14-247 (7-133 and 7-114) by EJ Tyler in 1895.
Compiled by Paul Dyson, Peter Horne & Martyn Webster – members of the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.
