Durham rams the enormity of Shan Masood’s task at the helm of Yorkshire

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Durham 42 for 2 (Borthwick 21*, Potts 2*) course Yorkshire 254 (Masood 44, Potts 4-49) by 212 runs

If Shan Masood had any illusions about the magnitude of his task when he belatedly took on as Yorkshire captain, his Pakistani duties over at least for the time being, he will now know after just one day. Masood top-scored with 44, promising to be a decisive influence for a troubled county, but a series of setbacks ensued as Durham dismissed them for 254. Masood is lucky to suspect someone promising miracles here.

The main tormentor was Matthew Potts, who has slipped a bit out of the England reckoning, but who took four good wickets, hit both Masood and his Pakistani teammate, Saud Shakeel, on the helmet with bouncers, swung the ball wildly at times, and bowled with pace and goal. When injuries bite into the ashes, he’s a good man to have in reserve.

If there were any Saudi princes watching – and Yorkshire has made the extraordinary suggestion that they have floated a potential investment to stave off bankruptcy for Saudi culture minister Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud – beaten to death – they may already be blocking future calls . Bitcoin may feel like a safer bet. But 254 is a better score than it seems.

For the most part, Yorkshire batted with considerable effort in challenging conditions in a match that felt First Division quality. Six scores between 21 and 44 can sum up the field more than the players. If the same indifferent bounce and exuberant swing is available on Friday, they have a chance to respond in kind, and just got dessert by picking up two wickets in their 13 overs before the end.

But it’s Durham who lead Division Two and Yorkshire who are still waiting for their first win, and who squandered commendable efforts on the first day at Emirates Riverside with a series of disastrous dismissals, topped off by the extraordinary sight of three mid-range batsmen sent off . to a pull shot within 10 balls as Durham’s decision to try some short stuff after tea proved ridiculously effective.

More on that later, because talking about the princes of Yorkshire and Saudi Arabia is not a subject that can be so easily let go. Widely castigated for the past two years for alleged racism within the club, only Yorkshire could think it was a good idea to usher in a new dawn by considering investment from a country that, for good measure, has banned the death penalty for gay sex and widespread discrimination against women. It is to be hoped that the ECB has already spoken. There too, Yorkshire has to pour oil on murky waters forever, so if they can pick up some on the cheap it could be helpful.

All this chatter because Yorkshire’s newly constituted board is wary of reappointing Colin Graves as chairman – even though they owe him £14.9m and he’s willing to negotiate more favorable repayment terms – because he’s on one somehow symbolizes the bad old days, without ever specifying exactly why, and that he might lead them into a less progressive future.

A certain pragmatism is perhaps advisable here. There is certainly room for teasing and chatter about Graves – shortly after his appointment as president of the ECB, he once rolled up his sleeves to prepare for an interview with this reporter, stepped into the room and announced: “Since then I have rolled up my sleeves.” the day I arrived” – but he’s saved them from bankruptcy once and there’s the usual element of a soap opera that Yorkshire isn’t keen on him bailing out a second time.

Jonny Bairstow has yet to produce the kind of innings to leave England toil over his return to fitness in time for the Ashes. He followed up scores of 20 not out and 0 at Headingley (the last with eyes on a final day chase of 492 that was a quixote even in Bazball territory) with a hard-fought 27 from 57 balls that saw him at his most disciplined. . At no point did he look in and was lucky enough to get a second slip at age 13 during a torrid over from Brydon Carse, but he will benefit from the time in the crease. Indifferent bouncing caused his downfall when he toe-ended a loaded outswinger by Bas de Leede on the center stump.

It was quite a debut wicket for the Leede, an all-rounder who had only played one previous first-class match and who has been brought to Durham by former Dutch head coach Ryan Campbell. His father, Tim, also a former international, was on hand to see it. He is the eighth Dutch-born player to compete in county cricket, which is quite a record for a country with only around 70 clubs and that England can tell an equally worrying story of football’s summer incursion, the loss of facilities and the need to integrate Asian ex-pats if the game is to flourish.

However, the most unfortunate innings came from Shakeel, who to be fair isn’t the first overseas Yorkshire player to have an unremarkable record of late, but who still managed to condense their shortcomings into a single, disastrous innings .

Shakeel almost fell for nothing as he shoved Ben Raine in over his own stumps. At 3 he required lengthy treatment for a sprained ankle that had him denied a second run from Masood, tried another ball and stumbled off. He returned at number 8, with Adam Lyth running, and the second ball back was hit on the helmet trying to pull a bouncer out of Potts, surviving joint calls for a flyout and again having to be stopped.

His desire to tackle the short ball unabated, he yanked his next ball – chest-high only – to the Leede for the square and began a maudlin return to the pavilion that made Inzy’s slowest exit look lively. George Hill and Dom Bess had identically succumbed in a post-tea giveaway.

All Masood’s work in the morning was therefore unravelled. He cut his game back to basics, surviving confident lbw shrieks from Raine and Potts, occasionally working balls square off the wicket and taking Potts’ hit on his helmet in his stride until Potts followed some big outswingers by letting him heels. on. Dawid Malan also dug in hard, but hit a wide ball in the direction just as he was about to break the handcuffs.

David Hopps writes about county cricket for ESPNcricinfo @davidkhopps



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