There have been encouraging noises this season about England’s centrally contracted players showing a greater willingness to play county cricket, but Michael Vaughan must be wondering whether playing for Yorkshire is bad for his health. As the rain-affected Roses match drifted towards an inevitable draw, the England Test captain left the field midway through the afternoon session, feeling stiffness in his back, and did not return.
In his occasional appearances for Yorkshire, this was the third championship match in succession during which Vaughan’s fragile body has succumbed to injury.
Martyn Moxon, the Yorkshire director of cricket, expects him to be fit to play in the championship match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, starting tomorrow, but it would be understandable if Vaughan is approaching that game with trepidation.
Last summer, his troublesome right knee gave way during the championship match against Sussex at Arundel in June, forcing him to undergo a fourth operation. He did not play another first-class match until May, when he broke a finger playing for Yorkshire against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl, ruling him out of the first Test against West Indies.
Yesterday’s injury should not be as serious, but, given Vaughan’s recent medical record, any new problem can set alarm bells ringing, especially with the first Test against India seven days away. Moxon, however, was not unduly concerned.
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“He felt a spasm and has a bit of a stiff back,” Moxon said. “We wouldn’t take a chance with someone like Michael. He came off as a precaution, but I expect him to be fit for Edgbaston. He had a lie down and a bit of manipulation from our physiotherapist and I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.”
Yorkshire will travel to Edgbaston as championship leaders, having edged the battle for bonus points that this match became. A mini-drama centred on the last ball, with Lancashire needing three runs for a second batting point, but Stuart Law was stumped off Adil Rashid, giving Yorkshire a second bowling point instead. For Lancashire there was the consolation that they had moved above Durham into second place in the table.
With the dismissal of Law, Rashid completed his third five-wicket haul in 15 first-class matches. On a turning pitch, the 19-year-old leg spinner’s performance was especially welcome because he had not taken a first-class wicket since May 12. After claiming 21 wickets in the first four matches of the season, he failed to take a wicket in the next three, so when he had Sanath Jayasuriya caught on the mid-wicket boundary in his fifth over, it came as a relief.
That was the first of an impressive roll call of victims for Rashid in a 25-over spell from the Brian Statham End. Mal Loye was caught driving to long-off and Brad Hodge was trapped leg-before as he attempted to cut a top-spinner. Like Law, Steven Croft was beaten in the flight and stumped and Rashid will go into the England Lions match against the Indians at Chelmsford tomorrow with a confident spring in his step.