Jack Leaning

By Gary Watton
September 23 2014

It was almost a case of 'after the Lord Mayor's show' for the first two days of Yorkshire's final fixture at home to Somerset, as the Tykes struggled to do themselves justice, and the visitors duly took advantage and dominated against a flat performance from the hosts. However, the champions of England belatedly got their act together on the final two days to turn the proceedings on their head. In the end both teams had to settle for a draw that could easily have been a win.

Of course it just had to be Yorkshire whose match had the final say on the County Championship season as the two protagonists didn't wrap up their nailbiting finish until after 6pm, and long after the other counties had wisely finished and packed up their kitbags for the winter. In fact, such was the unfolding drama of the fourth afternoon that both counties looked intent on extending the county season into October!

In the event, Yorkshire fought back well in their second innings, but they still succeeded in being bowled out a little too soon on the last afternoon, leaving the west country bunch with the tantalising target of 181 to chase off forty-four overs. All seemed fine and dandy for the away team as they cruised to sixty-two runs, for the loss of only one wicket. However, the removal of the dangerous elder statesman, Marcus Trescothick, triggered a flurry of wickets that saw Yorkshire reduce their opponents to 135 for nine. There was still one final twist to this meandering and indeed bewildering course of events, as the Somerset tailenders, Overton and Thomas between them survived a total of fifty deliveries to ensure honours even in this hotly-contested finale. Maximum respect is allocated to both teams, not least the impressive Peter Trego who almost single-handedly won the match for the west countrymen. However, he was clean bowled first ball by the lethal Jack Brooks as the wheels came off Somerset's run chase. Phew! That was an exciting way to draw the curtains down upon the domestic season of 2014. 

YORKSHIRE versus Somerset; at Leeds; 23rd-26th September. YORKSHIRE won the toss.

YORKSHIRE first innings: 253 (Lees 83, Leaning 57*; Trego 4-69)

Somerset first innings: 437 (Compton 156, Abell 75, Trescothick 66; Patterson 4-54, Rashid 4-116)

YORKSHIRE second innings: 365 (Root 97, Ballance 69, Lyth 51; Trego 7-84)

Somerset second innings: 151 for 9 (Brooks 3-46)

Match Drawn. YORKSHIRE 9 points, Somerset 12 points.

Lyth - 61 runs from both innings will almost feel like a failure after the very high standards that he has set, although Adam did weigh in with three catches as well.

Lees - Alex provided 106 more than useful runs in the match and will be gutted to fall 29 runs short of 1,000 first-class runs in a hugely impressive summer.

Ballance - His second-innings display atoned for his uncharacteristic first-innings failure. GB proved he can bat at three for his county, as well as his country!

Root - JR just failed to reach three figures in the second innings, but a match haul of 132 runs, a catch, and the wicket of Trescothick represented a good return.

Bairstow - Jonny narrowly missed out on a second-innings fifty, but he did put in a good shift behind the stumps, with a variety of catches and stumpings.

Leaning - Two catches and a batting average of eighty-five runs represented a good conclusion to Jack's first season in the first eleven.

Rashid - Eleven runs from two knocks was way below par and his bowling was costly in both innings. Still AR ended up with six wickets for his efforts.

Pyrah - Rich didn't do himself justice as Bresnan's stand-in. He hit thirteen runs in two innings, while he bowled nineteen overs for a cost of eighty-five runs.

Patterson - Steven was the pick of the home attack. His nagging accuracy was a real boost. In the end his 37 overs cost only 69 runs, producing five wickets.

Sidebottom - He was untypically ineffective first time around, but the 'old man' responded well on the final afternoon. His 11 overs yielded 2 wickets, costing 24.

Brooks - Untidy bowling in each innings from the headband warrior, but this was again offset by another reasonable strike rate. He took 4 wickets from 31 overs.