Depleted Yorkshire found out by Walsh

Courtney Walsh made his only first-class appearance of the tour, outside of Test matches, returning after straining an instep. He bowled on a typical Leeds July day, low grey cloud, a hint of drizzle, a cold wind and a seaming pitch. He came in off half his run, bowled mostly at less than half-pace and finished, after two spells, with 16-10-19-5.

Courtney Walsh made his only first-class appearance of the tour, outside of Test matches, returning after straining an instep. He bowled on a typical Leeds July day, low grey cloud, a hint of drizzle, a cold wind and a seaming pitch. He came in off half his run, bowled mostly at less than half-pace and finished, after two spells, with 16-10-19-5.

He ended the Yorkshire innings with three wickets in five balls and is on a hat-trick when they bat again.With the fourth Test match here a month away, David Graveney might be tempted to pick nine batsmen and pray for a draw.

To be fair this is a seriously depleted Yorkshire, depleted by England, by preparation for a crucial Roses match starting on Friday and by a Second XI match against Middlesex at Uxbridge. It can be only a matter of time before the counties seek to sign more overseas players.

Two more players made their debuts, John Inglis of Ripon, the former England under-19 opener, and Scott Richardson, who arrived here via Oldham, his birthplace, and Leicestershire Second XI. Neither stayed long enough to make an impression and it was not until David Byas joined his fellow left-hander Victor Craven that the innings took shape.

Craven's 53 was, in the circumstances, a gem, an innings ended by an astonishing catch at short leg off the meat of the bat. Byas, too, looked happier than of late until Walsh, returning, finished with 5-2-12-4. Once Jamaica's Lion had found the appropriate length, in about his third over, his mix of seam and sudden bounce made him virtually unplayable.

Yorkshire then called their own West Indian, stocky Lesroy Weekes, 29, from Montserrat, who played once in 1994 and who qualifies by residence next January. Now playing in the Huddersfield League, he took the first three wickets for 16 runs in eight overs with his fast-medium, skidding deliveries. West Indies might have lost their skipper, Jimmy Adams, in the last over before bad light stopped play, short mid-on failing to hold a chance off the left-arm spinner Ian Fisher.

Weekes was needed for Paul Hutchison left the field with a shoulder strain in his seventh over, joining Gavin Hamilton and Ryan Sidebottom in the treatment room.