By Stephen Thorpe at Scarborough
First day of four: Yorks (40-1) trail Essex (200) by 160 runs
DIVIDED loyalties may be playing on Gavin Hamilton's mind but a career-best of six for 50, his third successive haul of five or more wickets, could prompt him to side with England and urge the England and Wales Cricket Board to apply for special dispensation for his World Cup services.
Yorkshire's overheads increased after two players, Hamilton and Paul Hutchison, joined the capped ranks on a day when only 2,000 came through the turnstiles.
Yorkshire made regular inroads on a slow seamer without bowling particularly well but for Essex this was something of a minor triumph, in view of their recent calamities.
Stuart Law, returning after a shoulder operation three weeks ago, is one of the few Australians not on their way to Brisbane prior to the Commonwealth Games and tour of Pakistan, and the club are grateful he is staying for the duration. Law top-scored with 47 and Darren Robinson also buckled down, hitting six fours before falling eight short of a first half-century for four months.
Heavy overnight rain cost eight overs and delayed the start by half an hour after David Byas, the Yorkshire captain, celebrated his 35th birthday on his old stamping ground by winning the toss. The track is green and barely discernible from the rest of the square and its texture persuaded Yorkshire to grant Matthew Hoggard a fifth championship appearance in place of Richard Stemp.
Essex settled in well enough with Paul Prichard, back on captaincy duty after a long-term shin splint problem, looking perfectly at ease until Hoggard had him well caught by a tumbling Matthew Wood at midwicket.
Hutchison received his county cap after his 10th over, in an on-field ceremony instigated by Bob Platt, the cricket committee chairman, a scene repeated later with Hamilton, whose all-round efforts last week at Cardiff were the second best in Yorkshire's history after George Hirst against Somerset in 1906.
If Hamilton's allegiances are clouded in uncertainty, his advance this summer has been plain to see, with solid batsmanship allied to a consistent line and movement. After James Middlebrook trapped Tim Hodgson lbw four balls before lunch, the Anglo-Scot bowled one off the seam to remove Robinson. Then, as if overcome by the extra burden, he retired to apply his back brace.
Ronnie Irani's strong forearms off a short backlift briefly threatened to raise the tempo before he mis-cued a pull off Hoggard, then Hamilton accounted for the Yorkshire discard, Paul Grayson, and Danny Law with replica full-length deliveries.
When Stuart Law eventually went after 2.5 hours, adjudged to have touched Anthony McGrath's outswinger, and Mark Ilott walked across Hamilton's inswinger, Peter Such presented Hamilton with his sixth wicket, leaving Yorkshire an awkward 19 overs to negotiate. Byas was caught behind off Irani in the last.
Day 2: Lehmann signs off for the summer
By Stephen Thorpe at Scarborough
Second day of four: Essex (200 & 97-3) trail Yorkshire (314) by 17 runs
ESSEX must bat uncommonly well today if Yorkshire are to be denied a sixth championship victory, after Darren Lehmann's 99 off 97 balls held thrall on his last appearance before the new millennium. The Essex attack is already depleted, with Ashley Cowan indisposed and Jamie Grove sharing the new ball for England Under-19s against Pakistan at Taunton, and Yorkshire took full advantage when Neil Williams retired with a back spasm.
Paul Prichard, the captain, had reckoned Yorkshire were on course for 300, a fair prediction in hindsight, but Ronnie Irani at once undermined it, bending one away from Matthew Wood for Stuart Law to grasp a stunning one-hander at second slip.
The pitch is a yard quicker after glorious sunshine throughout, the outfield faster, too, and Lehmann was determined to leave a lasting impression. The South Australian needed 155 for his 1,000 runs before the start, and for two hours, an appreciative crowd basked in scintillating strokeplay, founded on timing and placement with 18 fours and an extraordinary six slashed square over cover.
Essex were ragged, and when Danny Law served up a leg-side full toss just before lunch, Lehmann's fourth championship hundred of the season loomed large. Instead, he was apparently unsighted, playing no shot, and the ball cannoned into the leg stump.
Swing played a part all day, Irani finishing with five for 47 while wicketkeeper Barry Hyam collected six catches. Michael Vaughan (71) and Richard Blakey (51) kept Yorkshire afloat later but Gavin Hamilton blotted his copybook with a rash drive at Danny Law.
Day 3: Hamilton edges Yorkshire home
By Stephen Thorpe at Scarborough
Yorks (314 & 150-9) bt Essex (200 & 261) by 1 wkt
YORKSHIRE shaded the match in a thrilling, nerve-jangling finale, but pity poor Essex, who staged a sterling recovery action and so nearly banished fears of a first wooden spoon since 1950.
The home side seemed dead and buried on 81 for eight, chasing a moderate 148, but a stand of 61 in 21 overs between Gavin Hamilton (41 not out) and Paul Hutchison (30), both newly capped, tilted the balance.
Certain souls hereabouts, high on ozone and optimism, are convinced Yorkshire still have a stake in the championship, a musing which leaders, Surrey, will contest at Headingley next week.
If Yorkshire saw it as a cakewalk on a benign strip they were wrong. Complacency is an insidious impostor, gnawing at concentration and contagious in the extreme as they found in a feeble batting display.
Mark Ilott (five for 54) and Ronnie Irani (three for 55) swung it consistently but the hosts offered constant encouragement after David Byas started the rot. Matthew Wood and Michael Vaughan soon followed, but even when Anthony McGrath shouldered arms to Ilott, leaving Yorkshire a parlous 31 for four after seven overs, Darren Lehmann was still in residence, punching fours to all points and closing fast on his 1,000 runs for the season.
However, after the Australian fenced at a lifter from Irani and Richard Blakey offered no shot to Ilott, the alarm bells rang loud. James Middlebrook and Chris Silverwood then both went lbw and Yorkshire still faced the distant prospect of making 53 runs after tea.
Hamilton is made of stern stuff, of course, his batting burnished by a regular slot at No 7, and the crowd swelled appreciably as he urged Hutchison to greater deeds and a career-best effort. Martyn Moxon, the coach has already highlighted his ``adrenalin play'' and occasional poor shot selection, a tendency he curbed admirably as Yorkshire inched towards the target. Hutchison's pick up shot for six fuelled belief before Danny Law had him lbw, leaving Matthew Hoggard the final, unwanted, flourish amid unbearable tension.
Essex had erased the arrears in some comfort on a cool morning before Irani edged Hoggard to slip for 43. Tim Hodgson, the 23-year-old left-hander, is compact and resolute but quick to seize on the bad ball and had just reached a maiden half-century, with 10 fours, when Hamilton's inswinger pinned him lbw.
Later, Hoggard capped his fifth championship match with a career-best return of five for 57 while Ripon-born Paul Grayson always has a point to prove against his native county, eventually making an excellent 57.
Hamilton, the man of the moment, has received the blessing of Jim Love, the Scotland coach, to side with England, if required, and the ECB must now approach the ICC to authorise any winter tour selection.