Tea at Headingley following a wicketless sessions in which Yorkshire moved to 235 for three and Adam Lyth brought up his 17th first-class hundred. He and Jonny Bairstow have turned this innings around, coming together at 41 for three and have added 194 in 42.2 overs. Ryan McLaren eased the pressure valve after lunch, with Bairstow punishing anything wide and seeing his four overs taken for 41 runs. Only a spell before tea from Fidel Edwards caused any serious problems, with Lyth beaten a couple of times. But a squeezed four down to third man off McLaren, his 17th four, led the left-hander to three figures from 177 balls. He goes into the interval 110 not out, while Bairstow is unbeaten on 84. Champions up and running, Hampshire a little flat, truth be told.
An afternoon of steady batting progress for Middlesex, punctuated halfway through by two wickets in two balls for Chris Wright. Warwickshire tidied up their act with the ball a little after lunch but not enough to discomfit Robson, who is 115 not out and batting now with Dawid Malan.
Where I am sitting, I am opposite dead centre of the pavilion and it is my observation that Mick Hunt’s outfield and also his square is mown slightly skewed. So presumably the pitch is as well. I don’t think I shall be the one to pass the information on to him, however.
Yorkshire on the charge in the afternoon, with Jonny Bairstow enjoying himself against Ryan McLaren in particular. The South African went for only six runs in his six overs this morning but has leaked 41 in his four since the break. Anything wide and Bairstow has chopped it through the covers, anything on the legs and it’s disappeared through midwicket. He sits 45 not out with Adam Lyth just joining the action by cutting McLaren through point to bring up his half-century from 115 balls. Lyth 54 now not out, Yorkshire 126 for three.
Updated
Lunch at Headingley is welcomed by both Yorkshire, who sit at 80 for three, and myself, who nearly smashed up a malfunctioning laptop. After ice was scraped from the outfield and the start delayed by 30 minutes because of its sogginess, Hampshire elected to field first as the away side. And they will be rather pleased with their efforts, albeit slightly ruing a dropped return catch off Adam Lyth by Fidel Edwards. Lyth was on 14 at the time and the chance was towards the simpler end of the spectrum. He now goes into the interval 39 not out from 93 balls, with last year’s man of the season, Jonny Bairstow, unbeaten on 16.
The wickets have been shared, with James Tomlinson, Chris Wood and Ryan McLaren picking up one apiece. Tomlinson struck first, extracting a smidgeon of extra bounce from the surface to see Alex Lees tickled to third slip on nine. Wood then replaced his fellow left-armer from the Football Stand End and managed to tease an edge behind from No3 Gary Ballance, who was attempting to leave. At 36 for two, skipper Andrew Gale strode out to the middle but 12 balls later he took was trudging back, with right-armer McLaren strangling him down legside for a duck.
Lyth, who had earlier started the delayed session in imperious fashion by driving the first ball from Edwards through extra cover for four, has left the ball better than his colleagues and enjoyed some success through his natural scoring area, cover. Bairstow, meanwhile, has pulled a six off the returning Tomlinson and baseball-swatted Edwards through mid-on for four.
An excellent morning for Middlesex, effectively put in by Warwickshire. The first session has resulted in a largely untroubled and unbroken opening partnership of 120 between Sam Robson and Nick Gubbins, who have 67 and 47 respectively.
The Warwickshire bowling has been largely indifferent, struggling with the vagaries of the Lord’s slope by the look of it. They are missing a brace of internationals, too, in Chris Woakes, who has a knee niggle sustained in the first match against Hampshire, while Boyd Rankin has the semblance of a side-strain.
Lord’s looking an absolute picture. Well that at least was always the way way Test match special put it anyway. True today, though, if you discount the large, green crane hovering over what was once the Warner Stand and is now a building site. The outfield and square are emerald apart from the pitch, towards the lower side, and a practice strip right at the top. There is a crowd that in a smaller ground might constitute more than a smattering and the sun is shining, which makes a change from the heavy frost on my lawn first thing. And I think they have been chipping the ice off the square at Headingley, too.
Unsurprisingly, Warwickshire have taken the option to field first, for the second time this season, which, as Ian Bell , agreeing with me, said during the game at Ageas Bowl last week, is a distinct advantage for the away teams at this time of year. There has been no breakthrough so far, though, as Nick Gubbins and Sam Robson see off the new ball.
Morning all and a hearty welcome to the Guardian’s County Cricket Live on this second Sunday of fixtures. And what a juicy set of games we have in store on the day that Ian Botham’s preference to leave Europe was considered front page news.
I will be stationed at Headingley this week, where the champions begin their campaign against Hampshire. Yorkshire’s head coach, Jason Gillespie, was kind enough to have a chat with me before the game, where he said his players are embracing - as opposed to blocking out - the chance to become the first side since the 1960s to win a hat-trick of titles.
This year promises to be tougher than ever, on paper, and yet with the White Rose having lost just four of the 64 championship matches the Australian has overseen in his first four seasons in charge and last season chalking up a record number of wins and points last year, it’s easy to see why they are favourites for the, err, three-peat.
M’colleague Mike Selvey will be getting all Middlesexy at Lord’s, where Warwickshire rock up following a frustrating draw at Hampshire. For the home side, Nick Compton, England’s incumbent No3, plays his first competitive match since the 2-1 win in South Africa, while Steven Finn also gets his season underway following the injury that saw him so frustrated to miss the World Twenty20. Ian Bell and Co await.
At Old Trafford, England’s new ball pairing of James Anderson and Stuart Broad face off as newly-promoted Lancashire host Nottinghamshire, who are fresh from taking maximum points against Surrey last week and looked mighty impressive despite the sad backdrop of losing the popular James Taylor to a heart condition. We all continue to wish him well.
In Division Two Glamorgan and Leicestershire begin their seasons after sitting out the first round, the former, under new head coach Robert Croft, looking to build on an upward curve last year and the latter hoping a raft of winter signings can see them unstick themselves from the bottom place they have occupied for the last three campaigns.
Gloucestershire, who lost their opener at Chelmsford by 10 wickets, host Derbyshire, who have added Nottinghamshire’s Luke Fletcher on loan this week. He joins his former team-mate Andy Carter, who made the switch down the A42 over the winter.
And finally at Hove we have Sussex versus Essex, with the hosts still without their newly-appointed captain Luke Wright. He missed their draw at Northamptonshire last week with a back problem but is now sidelined by a wrist injury that requires surgery. All eyes on the type of helmet worn by England captain Alastair Cook, naturally.
Have a great day.
