Cricket: DeFreitas delivers blow to Yorkshire

Yorkshire 267 Derbyshire

The ball moved around all day here yesterday and that was enough for Derbyshire, even without Dominic Cork and Devon Malcolm, to make Yorkshire work harder than they perhaps expected to reach a serviceable total that owed much to their lower order.

Cork's absence was due to a dislocated finger and Malcolm stood down, ostensibly to allow Trevor Smith, a 20-year-old medium-fast bowler from the respected Sandiacre Town club, to make his Championship debut. Malcolm has yet to sign a contract for next year, which may or may not be significant after the troubled season Derbyshire have had.

David Byas probably felt that batting would be straightforward on a cloudless morning, but at 10.30am Phil DeFreitas' loosener was a "jaffa" which bounced and left Anthony McGrath stranded. Encouraged, DeFreitas bowled superbly and it took Yorkshire some time to locate the middle of the bat.

With any number of deliveries finding the edge, there was some irony when DeFreitas had Michael Vaughan caught at cover by Smith and McGrath, who had been dropped at slip off Andy Harris, found his luck running out when he failed to obtain a third for a stroke through the covers.

Byas immediately planted his right leg down the pitch, which suggested the bowlers might have trouble against left-handers, whereupon DeFreitas disposed of two in one over: Darren Lehmann bowled by a slower inswinger which just dislodged a bail and Alex Morris, lbw when getting well forward but offering no stroke. That gave DeFreitas 3 for 2 in 15 balls.

When Bradley Parker went after a wide outswinger from Smith, Karl Krikken held the resulting thin edge a long way to his right and at 58 for 5 Byas and Richard Blakey had to summon all their resilience in a partnership of 118.

At this stage, some of the bowling lost its discipline, yet this probably contributed to the downfall of both batsmen; Byas was caught on the long- leg boundary and Blakey mis-timed something resembling a leg-stump half- volley.