Michael Yardy has a maximum of just 13 days’ professional cricket left in his career and there is real affection for him amongst county cricket fans. A week ago he was being dispatched to all parts of the county ground by David Willey, going for 34 in one over, and as he trudged off the field that day there was a sense that his career was going to fizzle out in a disappointing way. But on a day truncated by the weather, that was all put behind him as the Hove crowd rose as one to greet his 22nd first-class century.
As captain of Sussex he led them through a pretty successful period, and everyone is aware of the battle with depression he has had to come through, so when he nudged through the covers to bring up his century the supporters gave him an extended ovation, the Yorkshire fielders applauded and Yardy took an extra minute to drink in the applause before kissing the helmet and returning to his guard. He has never been the most elegant of batsmen and this was not the most fluent century he will ever have scored, but it was an effective one.
Reduced to two sessions and with the final day looking like it might be washout, Sussex managed to secure maximum batting points – points that may be crucial to them come the end of the season.
A 97-run partnership between Oliver Robinson and Yardy helped the home side see out most of the afternoon session without losing a wicket. There is not a lot of a life in the pitch and it was tough going for Yorkshire’s battery of seam bowlers who, in truth, may be a bit disappointed with how they bowled.
When Robinson, who is surely one of the best nightwatchmen on the county circuit, was caught in the gully in the 86th over, Sussex needed a further 128 from 24 overs to get maximum batting points. New batsman Luke Wright was determined they were going to get them. After tea he hit four fours from Liam Plunkett’s over but after scooping for six over fine leg, his aggression got the better of him as he tried to launch the next ball towards the South Downs and had his middle stump demolished.
With the final batting bonus point still not secured, Ben Brown came to the crease with the same aggressive intent, perfectly timing a range of sweeps, reverse sweeps and back foot punches. He raced to 50 and the final bonus point was secured with four overs to spare.
He became Sussex’s third centurion of the match, bringing up his seventh first-class century at the end of the day, and it was a rapid one from just 84 balls. Brown is a very clean striker of the ball and has found some real form in the county championship in recent weeks.
With six overs left in the day, Ryan Sidebottom coming down the slope got one to move back in on Yardy and struck him on the pad. As he departed for a wonderful 124, every one of the Yorkshire players ran over to him to shake his hand. A genuinely touching moment that you could see meant a great deal to the retiring all-rounder.
These are friendly batting conditions but it was a very good day for Sussex, who added over 320 runs and finished the day just one run behind Yorkshire’s first innings score. These were much needed confidence-boosting runs for the Sussex batsmen, who have a battle on their hands in the next few weeks to avoid the drop into Division Two.
With wet weather forecast for the final day, a draw in this match seems fairly certain. For Yorkshire, this will not harm their title hopes and the 13 points that Sussex would take away from this keeps the fight to stay in Division One alive. They have to play Yorkshire again but have two other very winnable fixtures against struggling Worcestershire and Somerset, who are also having their fair share of challenges this season.
But this was a day for those who like a bit of romance in their sport and Yardy’s century brought just that.
