Hartley sets the pace

Yorkshire 338 and 204-4 dec Durham 206 and 4-1

THERE was a delightful spell of genuine high-class seam bowling at St George's Road yesterday. This was perhaps hardly unexpected during a match in which Darren Gough had points to prove to those already seeking to query his international credentials. He proved many of them, too, and not least among them that he still possesses high pace.

It was not, however, the England man who provided the object lesson in how to extract what was on offer from a pitch providing mild assistance. Peter Hartley was relentlessly accurate, achieved disconcerting bounce and did not quite get his due reward. He and Gough each bowled 26 overs and took four wickets in the innings. Hartley conceded eight runs more (his first 11 overs of the morning yielded just 15 runs), and it is not to disparage Gough to suggest this was not a fair reflection of proceedings. Earlier this season, when pitches were still of the type seam bowlers wanted to carry around with them, Hartley took nine wickets in an innings against Derbyshire. He can surely not have bowled better then than he did on this less sporting strip.

Neither he nor his more vaunted colleague could quite prevent Durham saving the follow-on. Their target was 189, and they made the most stuttering progress towards it. A few of them got in but with little air of permanence.

After the early departure of Darren Blenkiron, rooted to the spot, Manoj Prabhakar dug in briefly but played a grotesque attacking shot away from his body to be caught at the wicket. This made it much harder for Durham, and they were deeply indebted to Michael Roseberry, who resumed his innings despite a chipped knuckle. It was an innings of minor heroics. He took the fight to Gough, brought back when the injured captain came in, with a vicious pull and a dismissive drive over long-on. Just before the follow- on was saved, Roseberry was held at slip by David Byas, his fourth catch of the innings.

Yorkshire extended their final lead of 132 without undue alarm. Although Simon Brown produced some threatening deliveries, the bowling was generally rather less distinguished than that which had been paraded in the morning. A sound start was followed by Michael Bevan's mix of blistering strokeplay and sharp running. His 50 came in just 67 balls. Yorkshire declared 336 ahead.