We continue our Tatts’ Magic Moments series, Jonny Tattersall reflecting on the key moments in Yorkshire’s promotion-winning campaign in the Vitality County Championship.
Here, Tatts looks back on Yorkshire’s victory over Sussex at Scarborough, one which put them on the heels of the top two places with four games remaining.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Jonny Tattersall handed over the wicketkeeping gloves to the returning Jonny Bairstow for Yorkshire’s clash with Sussex at Scarborough.
Beating champions elect Sussex at the end of August rubber-stamped Yorkshire’s return to the promotion picture, so it was no surprise stand-in captain Jonny Tattersall picked out the Scarborough success as a magic moment.
Yorkshire claimed their third successive win either side of the break for the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, this one by four wickets chasing 103 during the fourth morning.
After going through the first seven games without a victory, losing against Sussex at Hove along the way, Tattersall and co had now won three on the bounce having seen off Gloucestershire at Scarborough and Derbyshire at Chesterfield.
They would go into the final four games of the season only three points behind Middlesex – their next opponents at Headingley – and only nine behind leaders Sussex.
In beating Sussex in a match which saw no century scored by either side and no Yorkshire batter reach 60, Tattersall paid particular tribute to Yorkshire’s bowlers.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Will Luxton hit his maiden first-class fifty against Sussex on day two at Scarborough.
He hailed a relentless display which started by bowling the Martlets out for 189 on day one having elected to bowl first.
Yorkshire replied with 326 all out, including 59 from Will Luxton and 57 for the returning Jonny Bairstow in his first county appearance of the season. Sussex were then bowled out for 239, setting Yorkshire that 103-target.
Whilst the hosts never really looked like slipping up, they would have liked to have sealed the win – 21 points – without the late nerves as they fell from 69-2 to 95-5.
“I thought we were excellent in that game from start to finish,” said wicketkeeper-batter Tattersall, who stood in as captain for the absent Shan Masood. “We bowled well.
“It wasn’t always the easiest for us. There were periods when we didn’t feel like we were going to get any wickets, but then we’d spark into life.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Jonny Bairstow signs an autograph for a young fan.
“We’ve talked about a lot of the stuff in the first half of the season with the ball – we’d bowl well for a period and then just let the pressure go and the run-rate would climb. But throughout that game, Sussex never really got away from us.
“Even when we weren’t taking wickets, we weren’t conceding a lot of runs. And when we did get a wicket, we’d pile in and manage to make it count.
“It was a good all-round team contribution.”
Tattersall was spot on. This really was an all-round team performance.
Ben Coad claimed seven wickets in the match, including a second-innings 5-69, Jordan Thompson was excellent with four wickets in the match and a crucial first-innings 44 in his typical swashbuckling manner, James Wharton and Adam Lyth contributed scores of 40 in either innings. The latter’s coming at the start of the chase.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Matthew Revis celebrates one of his three first-innings wickets.
And Matthew Revis impressed with a first-innings 3-38 added to 34 with the bat in what actually proved to be the 23-year-old’s final appearance of the summer because of a back injury.
“Rev came into his own with the ball,” said Tattersall.
“I’d actually noted that down for the Northamptonshire away game as a bit of a turning point for him with the ball. He might not necessarily have got the wickets he’d have wanted, but that was when his bowling looked like it was coming together.
“That was the key to the bowling during the second half of the season – everyone was contributing.
“When you’d take somebody off and bring somebody else on, it was more relentless pressure being applied. The opposition – Sussex in this case – didn’t have any chance to get any easy runs.”
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Jordan Thompson contributed with bat and ball to a crucial victory.
