Game on in Bristol after captains collude

Yorkshire forfeit and 30 for 1 need 370 more runs to beat Gloucestershire 351 for 9 dec (Williamson 111, Bresnan 5-81, Patterson 4-77) and 48 for 0 dec


Normally when you read a headline like the above in relation to cricket, people start getting twitchy and wondering whether the likes of Salman Butt are involved. However in this case it was merely some enterprising captaincy from Alex Gidman and Yorkshire's Andy Gale. Declaration bowling, an innings forfeiture and a 'contrived' run chase- it all happened at Nevil Road yesterday as Glos and Yorks tried desperately to set up a result on Day 4.

The match was previously meandering towards a draw with Gloucestershire 299-9, having suffered a trademark collapse of 5-9 from 290-4. Instead of pushing for the final wicket however, Gale brought himself on along with Adam Lyth and they fed a selection of tasty pies in the direction of Ian Saxelby and debutant Graeme McCarter. The numbers 10 and 11 added 52 in just over 3 overs, before declaring and taking tea. Yorkshire then forfeited their first innings, before Glos crawled to 48-0 from 28 overs before declaring for a second time, to set Yorkshire a victory target of 400 from a minimum of 110 overs. The Jessop Tavern View are fans of positive cricket in all circumstances and we say 'tough luck' to those Glos supporters at the game reported to have grumbled about the contrived circumstances. What would they rather see, another tedious Day 4 peter out into an inevitable draw, or the opportunity for all three results?

The enterprising 'conspiracy' between Gidman and Gale left Glos 14 overs to have a crack at the Yorkshire batting lineup and Will Gidman duly obliged by having Joe Sayers caught behind by Coughtrie. If captain Gidders hadn't grassed Lyth at slip and Phil Jaques' inside edge had carried onto his stumps then Yorkshire could have been in a world of trouble overnight. As things stand, they managed to reach 30 without further loss of wickets. Day 4 could provide an interesting day's cricket, as a powerful Yorkshire batting lineup, led by Jaques, face off against Glos' inexperienced seam attack who were denied the chance to bowl against Kent in similar circumstances a few weeks back. The Jessop Tavern View thinks Alex Winter's Cricinfo report is perhaps too harsh on young Ed Young's slow left armers. We're not saying he's the new Monty Panesar or anything, buts let's see what impact he can have tomorrow before we write him off completely, eh Snowy?

Video highlights of Day 3 below: