Never mind nudging the selectors. This was an almighty shove from Jonny Bairstow as he and Tim Bresnan helped to put Yorkshire in control at the halfway stage and in record-breaking fashion. Bairstow posted the second double century of his career and this best of 219 took his tally of runs to 636 in eight Championship innings and his average to an eye-catching 106. That was only just a portion of a dreamy day for the statisticians, however.
Bairstow and Bresnan completed their five-hour partnership of 366 inside 81 overs during the latter stages of the afternoon and Andrew Gale opted to declare. Having recovered their team from 191 for six shortly after tea on day one, they recorded the third-highest seventh-wicket stand in first-class history and the best ever in county cricket, beating the 344 shared by the Sussex pair Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji and Billy Newham against Essex at Leyton in 1902.
Their partnership was also the highest on this ground and the best against Durham, while it was Yorkshire’s fifth-highest first-class stand of all time for any wicket. The top four were all for the first wicket. Meanwhile Yorkshire became the first team in the Championship to pass 500 in an innings this summer.
Incidentally the declaration came with Bairstow and Bresnan only six runs away from going second on the list of seventh-wicket partnerships, with the Australia A pair Mitchell Marsh and Sam Whiteman sharing 371 last year. Whiteman, a Western Australia wicketkeeper who hopes one day to wear the Baggy Green, was born in Doncaster.
Bairstow, whose other double century came at Trent Bridge in May 2011 when he recorded his first three-figure score in first-class cricket, hit top gear after lunch when he took on all-comers. With John Hastings coming around the wicket, the 25-year-old disdainfully swatted him over square-leg for his only six to go with 31 boundaries in 268 balls. It was an innings which would have no doubt been welcome news for Trevor Bayliss as he stood over a golf putt under the Spanish sun.
Bresnan’s unbeaten 169 off 256 balls, including 27 fours, was also the best of his career. He has scored five first-class hundreds, including two of them this season. Days like these make one wonder whether he could add to his 23 Test appearances, the last of which came at Melbourne in December 2013. He also helped Adil Rashid make the breakthrough in the ninth over of Durham’s reply with a slip catch off an outside edge from Keaton Jennings before striking with his fourth ball when he yorked Gordon Muchall for a second-ball duck as the league leaders slipped to 81 for five in the 24th of 42 overs bowled.
Steve Patterson had earlier struck twice, with his wickets of Mark Stoneman and Paul Collingwood – chopped on and lbw respectively – coming in successive overs either side of tea before Ryan Sidebottom trapped Michael Richardson lbw for 31. That would have been some relief to Yorkshire, who handed Richardson a couple of lives in the slips.
Scott Borthwick and Ryan Pringle gave Durham something to smile about as they shared an unbroken 59 inside 19 overs for the sixth wicket but they will need to go some if their side are to avoid defeat. They need 268 more to avoid the follow-on.
