Former Yorkshire CCC loanee Sam Northeast helps Glamorgan emerge with a draw

Yorkshire tried everything in their power to force the win but, on a frustrating day at Headingley, they were held to a draw by gutsy Glamorgan.

Having had high hopes of claiming their first victory of the season, Yorkshire were left wondering where that victory is coming from – answers on a postcard, please, to head coach Ottis Gibson.

During a morning session blessed with pleasant sunshine, on the warmest day of the year so far, Gibson could be seen patrolling the boundary edge, no doubt wishing that he was 30 years younger and could bowl a few overs to help out his troops.

At one point, the West Indian rested himself against the groundsman’s orange tractor, just to the right of the Trueman Enclosure, arms folded, gaze fixed firmly on the play, as his bowlers sought and strove for the seven wickets they needed to either win by an innings or get Glamorgan out quickly enough to chase down a target (the visitors had started the day on 171-3, still 127 short of making Yorkshire bat again).

But the hosts went wicketless in that morning session as Sam Northeast and Colin Ingram played comfortably and confidently, and they managed just four wickets thereafter before the draw was confirmed at 5pm, with Glamorgan 372-7, then 74 ahead, after thunder and lightning had forced the players from the field 15 minutes after tea (it never rains but it thunders for Yorkshire these days it seems).

Thus Yorkshire had to settle for a fourth draw to go with one defeat in a disappointing start in their bid to win the Second Division title, and although they did not play badly overall in this match by any means, with many fine contributions with bat and ball, they will reflect, once again, on a lack of penetration when it really mattered, having sent down 138 overs in the visitors’ second innings.

Glamorgan had the proverbial mountain to climb when play got under way, but Northeast, who resumed on 46, and Ingram, 43, had battled through the final 28.3 overs of day three to give their side hope, their fourth-wicket stand worth 78.

After some ebullient warm-ups prior to play, with the usual whooping and hollering in the presence of a football, Yorkshire took to the field in high spirits – albeit without pace bowler Matty Fisher, who had injured his left ankle the previous evening.

Hopes that the pitch would rag for the spinners came to nothing, however, with any assistance of the slow variety. Yorkshire went double spin at the start with Dom Bess and Dan Moriarty, but the breakthrough proved elusive as Northeast and Ingram went to their fifties and played with control.

Yorkshire took the second new ball as soon as it became available as Ben Coad and Matty Revis entered the fray, but it was quickly back to spin in an effort to exploit that ball’s hardness, which Ingram had done when striking Revis for three consecutive fours, the second of which raised the 150 partnership.

Ingram went to a 202-ball century just before lunch, which Glamorgan took at 277-3, still 21 short of clearing the deficit.

They did so within 15 minutes of the restart as both batsmen played positively and looked to score – mindful, no doubt, that Yorkshire had more than enough firepower to chase rapidly if the opportunity arose.

Ingram’s intent got the better of him, however, when, in trying to launch Joe Root over mid-off, he picked out a back-pedalling Shan Masood.

It was a giveaway wicket as Ingram fell for 113, having added 210 with Northeast, a fourth-wicket record for Glamorgan in games between the sides.

After Northeast advanced to his hundred from 225 balls (someone should name a stand at Headingley after the former Yorkshire loanee), Root struck again to bowl Chris Cooke through the gate.

Still Yorkshire kept plugging away to remain just about in the hunt, Adam Lyth striking twice either side of tea with his part-time off-spin.

First, Lyth pinned Thomas Bevan leg-before with the final delivery of the afternoon session, and then he trapped James Harris leg-before when the action resumed; to say that Harris seemed underwhelmed with the umpire’s verdict was an understatement.

It left Glamorgan 370-7, effectively 72-7, with 45 minutes left before the final hour was called.

However, the rumble of thunder that followed the players back on to the field after tea developed into something more threatening and then flashes of lightning, causing play to be suspended at 4.15pm, with Northeast unbeaten on 142 from 336 balls with 15 fours.

Whether Yorkshire would still have had time to get the last three wickets and chase a target had the weather stayed true will never be known.