Date-stamped : 24 Aug96 - 10:33 DAY 1 White's innings hints at Yorkshire revival By Charles Randall at Headingley First day of four: Yorkshire 305-5 v Lancashire CRAIG WHITE'S gradual return to batting form has not coincided with any steady Yorkshire revival, quite the opposite, but his undefeated 66 did at least break Lancashire's threatened grip yesterday. Three successive defeats before this game had left Yorkshire gasping in the final title sprint. A dip in the form of Michael Bevan, the Australian left-hander, rather than his departure before last week's match, had already exposed flimsy back-up from the established men. White, Martyn Moxon and Michael Vaughan, three of the culprits, batted well enough yesterday to suggest Yorkshire could crank up their momentum again. White took half an hour over his first run, but he reached his fifty in under two hours, mainly with cuts and he feasted on some poor bowling in the evening. It might all be too late for Yorkshire in the overall picture and much depends on whether or not Lancashire view their trip to Leeds as another fill-in exercise before the NatWest Trophy final. They appear to have treated the whole championship summer like cup final interludes, judging by their pathetic record of one victory - and against Durham at that. Gary Keedy, Lancashire's left-arm spinner, smothered the breezy start Moxon and Vaughan had put together against the new ball and inflicted on his former county an uncomfortable, deflating afternoon during his 28 successive overs. He dismissed both openers - Vaughan on the cut and Moxon on the drive, which brought a fine scooped catch out of Graham Lloyd at extra cover. Keedy usually needed only two leg-side fielders, which allowed major forestation on the off side. The tactic worked well and Richard Green's bustling seamers at the other end picked up two well deserved wickets. Green took six wickets against Yorkshire in April's four-day washed-out friendly at Old Trafford, and he looked eager for more bounty. He won his duel with David Byas, who tried one too many of his productive leg-side forces and dollied a leading edge. DAY 2 White tightens Yorkshire grip with rapid 181 By Charles Randall at Headingley Second day of four: Lancs (162-4) trail Yorks (529-8 dec) by 367 runs FORKED lightning over Far Headingley at around tea-time followed the run thunder from Yorkshire that left Lancashire facing a huge Roses Match total. The threat from some angry-looking clouds never quite materialised into rain yesterday and it will be interesting to see if, over the next two days, Yorkshire can turn the menace they displayed into the championship points they need. After hundreds by Richard Blakey and Craig White, they softened up Lancashire in the evening with four wickets, balanced only by a counter-attacking Neil Fairbrother, who snapped his Slazenger bat handle and swatted a 62-ball fifty with another marque. So not surprisingly, the pleasure was all Yorkshire's yesterday. Blakey had glided along to his first hundred for four seasons and White moved to 181, easily his highest first-class score. Their entertaining 252 partnership, the second highest sixth-wicket stand in Yorkshire's records, bulldozed some ragged Lancashire bowling. Overnighters White and Blakey resumed after a 50-minute rain delay and motored ahead while Lancashire were still rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. Later, between lunch and their parting at around 3pm, they piled on 122 in 19 overs. White's chanceless five-hour innings was a model of controlled acceleration. His strong arms and wrists launched some crisp drives, including two sixes from Mike Watkinson's off-spin. One of the sixes bounced on the roof in front of the press box window and he mocked Gary Keedy's leg-side attempts to contain him by flicking the left-armer for two sixes over the short West Terrace boundary. Blakey began as he clearly meant to go on, slapping the first ball of the morning, Peter Martin's loosener, for four, and his hundred took only 150 balls. He benefited from two strange escapes; Jason Gallian claimed a low return catch and failed to impress even his own team-mates during the following debate then Martin appeared to lose sight of a comfortable mid-on catch and sprawled too late. Lancashire's discomfort continued at the crease. Steve Titchard was bowled first ball after tea; Gallian and Nick Speak perished, having first taken painful blows to the upper body in the gloom, and Graham Lloyd was held at slip. DAY 3 YORKSHIRE made Lancashire follow on in the Roses match for the second successive year and, as in 1995, they set them- selves up for a deserved victory. Final retribution for those two knockout cup semi-final de- feats could be complete this afternoon if Yorkshire can muster the Sunday League victory they need at Headingley. David Byas`s team are probably slightly off the pace in both the championship and 40-overs Sunday competition. They might well win neither after twice being denied their Lord`s ticket at Old Traf- ford, but they can look back on this season with pride. Craig White`s remarkable 181 on Friday would only have added to the conundrum facing England`s selectors considering their winter tour options. His name will have to be mentioned. Ray Illingworth, England`s chairman, identified him early as a fine all-rounder, as did Yorkshire, who drafted the Australian straight into the first team, an honour bestowed on no-one since Fred Trueman. White does have athleticism and strong forearms to complement his obvious ability. Yet his consistent failures for England at Test and one-day level have left Illingworth with enough egg on his face to make a week`s supply of omelettes. It is a puzzle. Brian Bolus, an England ob- server, purred with pleasure in the press box, watching White`s five-hour show- piece against Lancashire. Bolus conceded that White, at 26, would be only a borderline candidate for this winter`s England A tour of Australia, because of the different agenda, mainly that of development. One of White`s problems is his susceptibility to injury, his breakdown during the World Cup perhaps regarded as the final straw. White joined Yorkshire in 1990 as an off-spinner and batsman, be- fore switching to seam bowling at a sharper pace than average. He was whipping in those seamers for England after only a couple of years of learning the trade. His paltry return only il- lustrated that talent was fragile without experience. White`s bowling reminds me of Ted Dexter`s abil- ity 30 years ago to hustle batsmen off a languid run-up. If White`s bats- man- ship even approached the Dexter mastery, he would be an automatic England choice today. White has little chance of England selection as a batter-who- bowls while his position at Yorkshire is No 6 but if he can bat more often, as against Lancashire, a recall is inevitable. Success in the county competitions is bound to enhance players` reputations, and Yorkshire dismissed Lancashire yesterday for 323 in the second over after lunch - 206 runs behind. Darren Gough claimed four more wickets, and the important ones were shared around as Lancashire rattled their score along at quicker than a run a minute. Neil Fairbrother, 53 overnight, pulled the first ball of the morning for four and collected 17 runs off that Richard Stemp over. He was kept quieter after that and was bowled by Stemp, left- armer to left-hander, trying to cut a delivery too full for the purpose. Fairbrother`s 86 off 115 balls was a typically warming, aggres- sive display, and the baton was picked up by Mike Watkinson. The captain`s 64 contained 10 fours and two sixes, which saved a good deal of running up and down. DAY 4 HEADINGLEY`S outfield developed into a lake at around 4.40pm yes- terday as rain ended Yorkshire`s hopes of joining the champion- ship front-runners. If the Test and County Cricket Board had allowed Yorkshire a water-ski shoot-out to settle this Roses Match, they would have jumped at the chance - anything for precious points after their day had been pinched down to 13 overs. Having had a likely and deserved win snatched from them, Yorkshire were left contemplating a role as title outsiders be- fore their crunch game against Essex at Leeds, starting on Thurs- day. With games running out fast, anything except victory against their fellow contenders will end Yorkshire`s chances. Nevertheless, a first runners-up spot since 1975 would still be highly satisfactory. Yorkshire showed enough vitality and class against Lancashire to have the measure of Essex, though the loss of Darren Gough, whose spark plugs appear to have been successfully replaced, will be a handicap. Gough ended Nick Speak`s four hours-plus resis- tance with a yorker and he castled Glen Chapple off an inside edge next ball, a burst of activity that left Richard Green entering on a hat-trick for the second time in the match. The rain clouds teased the Yorkshire camp all day, finally al- lowing far fewer overs than had seemed prob- able. Lancashire were prepared for the worst, their championship summer in tatters, and some time after their NatWest Trophy fi- nal on Sept 7, they will have to give serious thought to their future four-day strategy. Source:: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)