A triumphant day for Yorkshire ended on a sour note when Andrew Gale, their captain, was banned for two matches for using offensive language towards Ashwell Prince, of Lancashire.
An emphatic win, sealed yesterday through Adil Rashid’s five-wicket haul, has lifted Yorkshire 26 points clear of Nottinghamshire at the top of the LV= County Championship, leaving them on the brink of a first title since 2001.
Gale, though, will miss their final two matches — away to Nottinghamshire next week, then at home to Somerset — after the ECB’s cricket discipline commission suspended him for a second Level Two offence this season.
Yorkshire have decided not to appeal and, shortly after celebrating his side’s first Roses victory for 12 years, Gale sat disconsolately on the dressing-room balcony. “We really feel for him,” Jason Gillespie, the Yorkshire head coach, said. “He’s quite understandably devastated after such a great win here.”
After exchanging heated words with Prince and Usman Khawaja during the final session on the third evening, Gale apologised to the Lancashire players yesterday morning, but the umpires, Steve O’Shaughnessy and Steve Garratt, had reported him to the ECB for “using language or gesture that is obscene or of a serious insulting nature to another player”.
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Gale was penalised this season for showing dissent during the Roses match at Headingley in May and a further offence triggered an automatic suspension. Even though a punishment has already been handed down, the matter may not be closed, as Gerard Elias, QC, the chairman of the discipline commission, “will consider whether any further action needs to be taken in relation to Mr Gale”.
Roses matches have repeatedly brought out Gale’s fiery side. His dissent this season followed a bad-tempered match at Liverpool in 2011, when he clashed with James Anderson.
This is the fifth season as Yorkshire captain for Gale, 30, and, having led them to third place in the championship in 2010 and second place last year, his frustration is understandable. Victory in the game at Trent Bridge, starting on Tuesday, would confirm Yorkshire as champions, and a draw may even be enough.
The young side who came close to winning the championship in 2010 have slowly matured and no other county can match Yorkshire’s depth of talent. Joe Root and Gary Ballance are expected to return from international duty for the game against Nottinghamshire and Root could even captain the side, having led Yorkshire against Middlesex, their only defeat of the season.
The final blow came when Stephen Parry was bowled by the off spin of Adam Lyth, whose innings of 251 had laid the platform for victory. On a wearing pitch, the damage had been done by the leg spin of Rashid, whose five for 117 completed an all-round performance that included three first-innings wickets and an unbeaten 159.
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He had Prince caught behind down the leg side, although the former South Africa batsman departed shaking his head at the decision, then Steven Croft was brilliantly caught one-handed by Kane Williamson when he edged to gully. The crucial dismissal came when Khawaja, whose 117 was his first century for Lancashire, advanced down the pitch and was beaten by a quicker ball, sent on his way by Jonny Bairstow’s smart glovework.
For Lancashire, the disappointment of defeat was compounded by Durham’s victory over Nottinghamshire, leaving them entrenched in the relegation zone with two matches remaining. As the three sides immediately above them have all played one game fewer, a second relegation is looming in the three seasons since Lancashire won the title themselves.