Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Sam Whiteman celebrates his maiden Yorkshire century today.
Sam Whiteman completed a “special” maiden century for Yorkshire and then spoke about their hope of claiming a last-ditch victory over Sussex tomorrow.
Doncaster-born Aussie Whiteman completed an excellent 101 before lunch on day three, reaching his century with a six off the spin of James Coles.
He, alongside Fin Bean with 105 and Joe Root with 96, underpinned the White Rose’s first-innings 511 all out as they replied to Sussex’s 502.
Sussex then closed on 31-2 second time around, leading by 22.
The draw remains the most likely outcome on day four, but a Yorkshire win can certainly not be discounted.
“If we drew things up this morning, we’d probably be batting the whole day and a bit into tomorrow,” said the experienced left-hander.
“But, had we done that, we wouldn’t have got a couple of wickets and apply a bit of pressure tonight.
“Look, you never know.
“It’s a pretty good wicket, but when there’s pressure on funny things happen in first-class cricket.
“A couple of quick ones in the morning and you never know where the day will end up.”
Whiteman’s century has been watched by his Doncaster-based father Richard for the last two days.
“To score my first hundred, especially at home, for Yorkshire was special. It’s still a nice wicket, but I felt good out there,” he continued.
On bringing up hundred with a six off Coles, he smiled: “The spinner was on, and if it’s up there you might as well go for it. Luckily, it came out of the middle.”
Whiteman shared 182 for the second wicket with Bean, a Yorkshire record partnership for that wicket the the county in first-class matches against Sussex.
He had praise for Bean and also Root.
“Beany was super-impressive. He had a game plan and stuck to it. He hits the ball hard.
“I’ve been impressed considering how young he is. He’s scored a lot of hundreds. And keeping for 130 overs and going straight out to bat is a big ask. I wouldn’t underestimate that.
“Joe sort of got to 40 without you even realising.
“He’s super-impressive as well, and it probably shows why he’s going to pass Sachin’s Test record in a year or two’s time.”
And on his Western Australia team-mate Jhye Richardson, who struggled for rhythm in the first innings here but bounced back nicely tonight to bowl Daniel Hughes with a beauty, Whiteman added: “Credit to him.
“It’s tough work. There’s not a lot of margin for error out there, particularly with his extra pace.
“He’s still not feeling at his best with the ball, but he’s a world-class bowler.
“He’s a bowler who could come out tomorrow and take three or four-for in a hurry. I have complete faith in him.
“The first innings was a challenge, but he hasn’t faced too many of those challenges in his career. So it was awesome to see how he bounced back.”
