“It was a great day’s cricket for us,” said captain Jonny Tattersall, succinctly summing up Yorkshire’s third-day performance against Glamorgan as they closed in on victory in Cardiff.
Yorkshire set Glamorgan an imposing 396-target this afternoon and reduced them to 141-7 at close.
They need three more wickets to claim a fifth win in their last six matches and one which will consolidate their position in second place ahead of next week’s final round, which they would go into 15 points clear of third-placed Middlesex in the hunt for promotion.
Tattersall was one of a number of contributors with a valuable 40 either side of lunch as Yorkshire were hit with a Glamorgan counter-attack. They fell from 116-1 in their second innings overnight to 273 all out.
Dom Bess also added a fine 47 before Ben Coad got to work with the ball and claimed 4-30 from 15 overs in what proved to be bowler-friendly conditions all day.
“It probably didn’t go quite as planned with the bat in the third innings of the match, but we thought we’d got enough going out there with the ball, and hopefully we’ll come back in the morning and wrap it up,” said Tattersall before talking about conditions.
“We didn’t put the heavy roller on this morning, and with a 10.30am start it just offered bit this morning.
“Credit to James Harris (five wickets), he didn’t really miss.
“The ball was seaming about both ways, and it was challenging. We had to try and battle through as best we could.
“Full credit to Bessy for staying out there with me. We put on a really good partnership, and that was just about enough to make them score the highest score of the match to go on and win.
“Hopefully when we come back in the morning – they’ve got no heavy roller – it can happen quite quickly for us.”
Tattersall was also full of praise for Coad, his bowling spearhead, who claimed his 50th Championship wicket of the season. If he claims two of the final three wickets in the morning, he will also reach 300 in his first-class career.
But Tattersall stressed the importance of others around Coad, too.
“Ben’s an absolute class act in what he does,” said the skipper.
“Myself and Adam (Lyth) were chatting out there. No matter what pitch we seem to play on, he finds some movement out of it.
“Even the flattest pitch we’ve played on at Headingley, against Middlesex, he still finds a way to pick up three wickets.
“A special mention to him today. He bowled a magnificent nine-over spell. To come back and do that fourth innings of the match on day three, to put in when the team needed it, it was magnificent.
“I’m singling out Ben, but all the bowlers have put in and done a job for the team.
“That’s what we’ve been about for the last six matches we’ve played – we’re playing some really good team cricket.”
Tattersall also gave his thoughts on the club’s appointment of former Yorkshire, England and Scotland all-rounder Gavin Hamilton as the new general manager, an arrival announced this morning.
“To be honest, I don’t really know him as a person,” he added. “But he was a fantastic international cricketer and obviously has a wealth of experience.
“From what I’ve seen and the little bits I’ve read, he’s an astute businessmen as well.
“I’m sure it will be a great appointment.”
