| Specsavers County Championship Division One, Emerald Headingley (day one) |
| Yorkshire 289-6: Lyth 95, Kohler-Cadmore 83; S Cook 2-67 |
| Essex: Yet to bat |
| Yorkshire 2 pts, Essex 2 pts |
| Scorecard |
Adam Lyth scored 95 and Tom Kohler-Cadmore made 83 before Yorkshire were pegged back by Essex to close day one of their Championship match on 289-6.
The White Rose lost four wickets for 28 runs, a collapse sparked by Lyth narrowly missing out on his century.
When Jack Leaning, Kohler-Cadmore and David Willey had all joined him in the pavilion Yorkshire were 252-6.
Jonny Tattersall (20 not out) and Dom Bess (30 not out) survived the second new ball to reach stumps at Headingley.
Despite the visitors’ fight back, the performance of Yorkshire’s batsmen is a marked improvement from most of their first-innings displays this season – they have only passed 300 once.
Yorkshire’s decision to drop struggling opener Harry Brook was rewarded with a strong start as replacement Will Fraine made 39 on his debut before being bowled by an in-swinging delivery from Sam Cook (2-67).
Then shortly prior to lunch a disastrous mix-up saw the in-form Gary Ballance run out for 14 aborting a second run.
A century partnership put the hosts back into a strong position before Lyth edged Jamie Porter to the wicketkeeper. When Kohler-Cadmore was caught behind driving at a wide ball from Cook, Essex were perhaps on top for the first time in the day.
England all-rounder Willey was soon out as well, however an unbroken stand of 37 between Tattersall and Bess meant Yorkshire finished the day strongly.
Yorkshire batsman Adam Lyth told BBC Radio Leeds:
“I’ll take the positives out of how I batted. I thought it was one of my best knocks for probably a couple of years now for Yorkshire.
“It’s a pretty good surface but there’s definitely something in it for the bowlers and a bit of spin there for Simon Harmer but yeah I was bitterly disappointed not to go and get a hundred.
“We’re in a decent position here so hopefully tomorrow Bessy and Tatts can put a good partnership on and try and get above 350. I think that’ll be a good score”.
Essex debutant Will Buttleman:
“I found out from Anthony McGrath when I was having Sunday lunch with my family. I saw who the caller was and straightaway knew what it was going to be about given the situation with our keepers.
“So, two hours later, I drove straight up here. I got lift in this morning with Alastair Cook, so walking into ground with him was unbelievable. It made me very proud.
“We knew if we stuck around and hit our lengths – Harmer at one end, he’s hard to get away – we’d build pressure and the wickets would come. And they did. It would have been nice to get a couple more but hopefully they’ll come.”
