Silverwood has to make up for absent friends

Warwickshire 233 Yorkshire 29-1

Bob Woolmer, the Warwickshire coach, was puzzled by a Yorkshire team that included two spinners. The explanation was that Yorkshire, for various reasons, were without seven seam bowlers. They would have asked Darren Gough to play, had they known his whereabouts.

Matthew Hoggard and Craig White are with England; Ryan Sidebottom and Steve Kirby are injured; Gavin Hamilton has lost the ability to bowl and Tim Bresnan is with England Under-19. "Why should I pay £101 a year to watch the second team?" grumbled one member, echoing many others. He will have to pay again to go to Lord's, on 31 August, to watch the Cheltenham & Gloucester final if he wants to see his first team.

These reserves are not without some stars. Chris Silverwood has found a rich seam; the ball that dismissed Mike Powell, the second of the innings, was a beauty – fast and of a length and line that compelled play, cutting away late to brush the edge.

His second success was just as dramatic. Dominic Ostler was threatening a revival when Silverwood flattened his off stump, beaten for pace. In between Anthony McGrath had taken two wickets with his little wobblers. The major blow came after a 23-over break for rain when Nick Knight, much the best batsman, was seized at slip, driving.

By mid-afternoon we had the unusual spectacle of seeing two off-spinners in action. Richard Dawson deserved better than his two wickets and Darren Lehmann had, in the end, to recall Silverwood and dispense his own variables before Yorkshire could wrap up the innings for a good 100 less than they might have expected.

Special permission was needed for the used pitch, the first-choice being thought too wet, but neither side could have complained of unfair advantage.

Yorkshire's uncapped openers then had to face Warwickshire's new overseas player, New Zealand's fastest bowler Shane Bond, in the last half-hour. His first ball all but put keeper Keith Piper on his backside, his second nearly holed second slip. It was Mo Sheik who struck first, cutting one back so late that Vic Craven never offered a stroke.

Bond bowled to four slips and a gully and he found it takes to time to adjust to coming down the hill. His direction will improve today and opponents will find him a hazardous prospect on hard surfaces.

Yorkshire confirmed yesterday that Matthew Elliott, the 31-year-old former Australian opener and current captain of Victoria, will replace Darren Lehmann as their overseas player on Sunday. Elliott was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1998 and had a successful season with Glamorgan in 2000, averaging 52 in the Championship and 35 in one-day games.

* The Australia captain Steve Waugh may make a return to the English county game as he prepares for Australia's Test series with Pakistan in October. Waugh, who played for Somerset in 1987 and 1988, has confirmed his manager Robert Joske is in talks with two counties over a possible move for the rest of the County Championship season. The 37-year-old said: "I have talked to a couple of counties over the last few days and there is an opportunity there to go and play county cricket. That may be a possibility as there are no games back here. It is not a good preparation going into three Tests against Pakistan and not playing a game of cricket."