Matthew Waite has reflected on a below par bowling display from Yorkshire on day one of their LV= Insurance County Championship clash with Somerset at Taunton.
Waite struck twice alongside ex-Somerset off-spinner Dom Bess as the hosts finished a rain-interrupted day on 262-5 from 76 overs, home captain Tom Abell reaching 114 not out.
Waite and Bess were the only two Yorkshire bowlers to go at under three runs per over.
“I think they’re just ahead,” said the all-rounder. “I don’t think we bowled as well as we’d have liked. There were too many four balls every couple of overs.
“It was hard in the heat, and the pitch was quite slow, but that’s first-class cricket. We have to be better.
“A lot of balls were short and wide. We got hit square of the wicket a lot, and we talk about it, ‘If we get hit for four, let’s get hit down the ground’.
“We have the new ball in the morning, after four overs, so hopefully we can knock them over quite cheap – 320, 330. That would be nice. It’s a good wicket, and then we can get stuck in with the bat.”
Waite is currently in a run of Championship games, something the all-rounder hasn’t been used to over the years.
“It was good conditions, the cloud came over in the first session and it was swinging quite a bit. I felt in good rhythm and it came out nicely for me,” he continued.
“It’s been stop-start my career in recent times with the injuries and stuff.
“It’s been hard to come in and try to put in a performance in one game. But I’ve had a run of games – this is my third in a row, which I don’t think I’ve done before. So I’m happy with how it’s going so far.”
On Bess, he said: “I thought he bowled brilliantly last week, and he just gets stuck in every week. He bowled brilliantly again today, going at two an over with two good wickets.
“He’s great to play with – he’s a real fighter.”
And on the absence of captain Steve Patterson with a hamstring injury, Waite added: “Patto does it week in and week out, controlling the rate going at two an over.
“We have missed him, but we have other lads who can do that as well. We’ve just not been on it today.”
