Gary Keedy, who was born in Wakefield, has had to be patient since crossing the Pennines four years ago. But yesterday he made all the waiting worthwhile, as in only his third championship appearance of the season, he took 5-35 against his former county to bowl Lancashire to a victory which keeps their title hopes alive.
``I can't describe how good it feels,'' he said. ``Coming from Headingley, to come back here and get five wickets, and the 100th wicket of my career.
``One bloke on the boundary said to me at one point 'you couldn't even get in our first team.' Hopefully I have proved a point.''
Yorkshire were cruising towards a victory target of 243 at 126-3 soon after tea when Keedy and spin twin Gary Yates got to work.
They were helped by a turning pitch, two superb slip catches by Graham Lloyd and some clever captaincy by John Crawley, who took over when Wasim Akram limped off with his toe injury before tea.
Yates ended with 4-69, the third time in four championship innings this season he has taken four wickets.
``Both Keeds and Yatesy bowled beautifully,'' said Warren Hegg, whose battling 85 had earlier been crucial in setting Yorkshire their target.
``Gary Yates has come in and done a terrific job in the last couple of games. He is a model of consistency.
``And hopefully this will be the kick start for Gary Keedy. It is bound to give him a lot of confidence.'' Hegg and his team mates took special satisfaction from silencing the Headingley crowd, who were jeering Lancashire with shouts of 'cheat' when they slowed down the over rate.
``There's nothing like a Yorkshire crowd,'' Hegg laughed. ``They always get on your back. But I thought they were a bit out of order, and nothing like our Lancashire supporters.
``Still, it was nice to get a few runs against them, especially in a winning team.''
Lancashire have a spinning headache as their championship bandwagon rolls on to Durham tomorrow.
Chris Schofield, who claimed eight wickets in the last match against Gloucestershire, is back from England Under 19 duty.
But Lancashire can hardly drop Gary Yates or Gary Keedy, their Roses heroes yesterday.
They are still missing Peter Martin and Ian Austin, and with Wasim Akram again doubtful with his toe injury, they may even consider playing all three spinners, with Richard Green also set to come into the team.
Durham are definitely without Melvyn Betts, their leading bowler who suffered a groin injury in their drawn game against Glamorgan this week.
Lancashire are now 21 points behind leaders Surrey, who face Notts at Trent Bridge. So they will be hoping that Jason Gallian, who is now captain of Notts, can do them a favour while another old boy, Durham's Nick Speak, does not cause them problems at Chester-le-Street.
Remaining fixtures
Lancashire: Durham (away), Derbyshire (home), Notts (away), Hampshire (home).
Surrey: Notts (away), Yorkshire (away), Durham (away), Leicestershire (home).