Yorkshire County Cricket Club in 2005 were in the second division of both the County Championship and the totesport League. At 6–1 odds to win the Second Division of the County Championship, they were likely to struggle again – as they had done since they won the First Division championship in 2001.
They started the County Championship poorly, being on the wrong end of a draw with Essex. One day after they went to the Oval for their first game in the totesport League, and won a high-scoring thriller. The second Championship game, however, was a comprehensive innings victory over Somerset, who they also beat easily on the Sunday by 5 wickets. The following Sunday they took on, and beat, Sussex County Cricket Club.
They then beat Ireland in Belfast on 3 and 4 May to progress to the Second Round of the C&G Trophy, before going on to record two comfortable victories in the Championship against Northamptonshire and Leicestershire.
On 17 May they beat Worcestershire to progress to the Quarter-Finals of the C&G Trophy. They then drew with Durham and Essex in the Championship to leave them second in Division Two at the end of May. Yorkshire then beat Bradford/Leeds UCCE before drawing the 4-day Roses clash with Lancashire and going down heavily in a low-scoring match against Leicestershire in the one-day league.
Another loss followed, a humiliating one to Lancashire in the inaugural Twenty20 match, before winning a close second game, against Nottinghamshire Outlaws at Trent Bridge. Three losses in the middle of the group stage sent them virtually out of the tournament, though, as they would never have qualified with four losses. However, their Twenty20 wounds were quickly healed, with three victories – in the County Championship, the National League and the C&G Trophy semi-final. They moved into the top three on 23 July when they beat Leicestershire by six wickets, coming back from a first-innings deficit of 179 runs.
The following day, they lost to Warwickshire by eight wickets in the National League, to lose sight of the three promotion spots in Division 2. A draw with Derbyshire in the County Championship followed, which saw them jump up to second place in the table. In the National League two days later, however, they lost to Kent by five wickets. A virtual second XI beat Bangladesh A by 126 runs in the first week of August, declaring twice, but the first XI was back to beat Scotland by five wickets in the National League. Three days later, the team travelled to Somerset to draw a Championship game and lose a National League game. Their third draw in succession came in the third week of August, when they drew with Lancashire at Old Trafford, which sent them down to third place in the Division Two table. Their fourth match without a victory came at Southampton in the C&G Trophy semi-final, where they lost to Hampshire.
Yorkshire's last Championship match of August was their eighth draw of the season and the fourth in a row against Durham, a result that temporarily put them into second place in the table. However, Lancashire's victory the following day meant they fell back to third. They finished August with two National League losses to Derbyshire and Kent, and continued in the same vein as they lost by 133 runs to Leicestershire at home.
A busy September month, including eight matches, did not yield a single victory. After the Leicestershire loss, they drew with Worcestershire, before the team lost two National League games to Durham and Derbyshire. On 19 September Yorkshire secured promotion, drawing with Derbyshire and taking full bonus points to go an unassailable 22.5 points ahead of Essex. In the National League, however, they reinforced their place as the worst of the 18 counties (Scotland excluded) with a loss to Warwickshire, before losing to Northamptonshire and Sussex Sharks in the Championship and League respectively.
Players Ian Harvey Phil Jaques Richard Blakey Richard Dawson Michael Lumb Matthew Hoggard Anthony McGrath Chris Silverwood Michael Vaughan Matthew Wood Tim Bresnan John Blain Ismail Dawood Simon Guy Chris Taylor Chris Silverwood Andrew Gale Mark Lawson Rich Pyrah Joe Sayers Nick Thornicroft David Wainwright
Tables Championship + 2005 County Championship – Division Two Pos Team Pld W D L Pen Bat Bowl Pts 1 Lancashire 16 7 6 3 0 43 47 212 2 Durham 16 6 8 2 0 45 44 205 3 Yorkshire 16 5 10 1 0.5 49 42 200.5 4 Northamptonshire 16 5 8 3 0 45 46 193 5 Essex 16 5 7 4 0 51 36 185 6 Worcestershire 16 5 4 7 5.5 53 46 179.5 7 Leicestershire 16 3 7 6 0.5 45 45 159.5 8 Somerset 16 4 5 7 0 42 37 155 9 Derbyshire 16 1 7 8 0 31 43 116
totesport League + 2005 totesport League – Division Two Pos Team Pld W L NR T Pts 1 Sussex Sharks 18 13 4 1 0 54 2 Durham Dynamos 18 12 4 2 0 52 3 Warwickshire Bears 18 10 6 2 0 44 4 Leicestershire Foxes 18 10 7 1 0 42 5 Derbyshire Phantoms 18 9 7 1 1 40 6 Somerset Sabres 18 9 8 1 0 38 7 Surrey Lions 18 7 10 1 0 30 8 Kent Spitfires 18 6 10 2 0 28 9 Yorkshire Phoenix 18 5 13 0 0 20 10 Scottish Saltires 18 2 14 1 1 12
Match details Essex v Yorkshire (13–16 April) Essex (12pts) drew with Yorkshire (5.5pts)
At Chelmsford, Yorkshire won the toss and put Essex in to bat. Essex never looked by, as Will Jefferson, Essex' 6'10'' opener put on 149 before being out leg before just before the end of the first day's play. Essex captain, Ronnie Irani, said, "People think his height is a weakness, they try and over-test it—they try and pitch it up too much or bowl short too much." Jefferson could have been run out for 0 after a mix-up with Cook, and was dropped on 6. Alastair Cook, hero for the MCC at Lord's fell early for 11. However, Jefferson was given admirable support by Zimbabwean Grant Flower, who was 55 not out at close, with Essex on 224 for 2, after 26 overs were lost to rain. Seven Yorkshire bowlers were used, but few had any success, and England bowler Matthew Hoggard went wicketless on the first day.
A total of 47 overs were possible in the next two days, as Essex moved on to 394 for 4 – losing two men to Hoggard. Andy Flower, Grant's brother, and Ronnie Irani were on unbeaten half-centuries at the close of the third day's play, a draw a virtual certainty.
After adding only 7 in 11 balls on the fourth and final day, Essex declared on 401 for 4, batting on to score the extra bonus point before putting Yorkshire in. Yorkshire found it difficult on a pitch that must have been affected by the rain. Whilst Yorkshire's captain, Craig White, resisted with 59 not out, the team disintegrated to 205, 196 behind. Essex enforced the follow-on, but in yet another rain-affected day, Yorkshire held on. Jaques scored 67 not out from 88 balls out of his team's 105 for 2. Essex scored maximum bonus points, but were denied by the weather. Yorkshire escaped with the draw, but were fined 0.5 points for a slow over rate during Essex' innings.
Surrey v Yorkshire (17 April) Yorkshire (4pts) beat Surrey (0pts) by 43 runs
At the Oval, Yorkshire Phoenix won the toss and batted. Matthew Wood anchored the innings with 111 off 127 balls, Australian Ian Harvey plundered 69 from 48, and Harvey's compatriot Phil Jaques took 49 from 39. Yorkshire ended on 334 for 5, a record score for them in the Sunday League against Surrey Lions. In reply Surrey tried to knock off their target in sixes, with 9 coming in their innings. Ali Brown scored 5 of them as he plundered 86 off 46. But wickets fell, and Surrey's specialist bowlers were not renowned for their batting abilities. When Brown was out, Surrey were 261 for 6, and still leading on Duckworth-Lewis. However, with no recognised batsmen left, only a Yorkshire victory was likely. When Mohammad Akram was stumped off a no-ball, Surrey were 291 all out, 43 runs in arrears. The pick of the Yorkshire bowling was captain Craig White with 4 for 14 in 4 overs.
Yorkshire v Somerset (20–23 April) Yorkshire (22pts) beat Somerset (3pts) by an innings and 44 runs
Rain meant no play was possible on the first day at Headingley. The second day was dominated by Ian Harvey, who, at close, was on a career-best 161 not out after being dropped by Andy Caddick on 96. Yorkshire were on 401 for 7. Matthew Wood had added 95 in 174 balls earlier in the day.
The third day Somerset acting captain, Marcus Trescothick, was away, as his first child was born in the night. On the field Yorkshire declared on 501 for 9, after Harvey got 209 not out, and Tim Bresnan 74. Their eighth-wicket partnership of 238 is the second-highest for Yorkshire after the 292 put on by Lord Hawke and Bobby Peel in 1896. Somerset, batting with 10 men, lost opener Sanath Jayasuriya for 0 after 3 balls, and were all out for 182. Following on Somerset plummeted to 10 for 3, and then 37 for 4 (which, given Trescothick's absence, meant that they only had five batsmen left). However, they avoided losing further wickets on the third day, finishing on 109 for 4 at close, still 310 runs behind.
Somerset clung on for 66 overs on the fourth and final day, with John Francis carrying his bat for 125 as they recovered to 275. This left Yorkshire with their first win of the campaign, and a comprehensive victory.
Yorkshire v Somerset (24 April) Yorkshire (4pts) beat Somerset (0pts) by 5 wickets
The home side won easily at Headingley. The Sabres batted first and made 209 for 9 in their 45 overs, with four batsmen out with scores between 25 and 40. Former England Under-19 player Tim Bresnan took four for 25 for Yorkshire Phoenix. Yorkshire were always in control, thanks to a third-wicket partnership of 84 in 15 overs between Phil Jaques, who scored 84 off 78 balls, and Michael Lumb. Despite two late wickets, Yorkshire finished in style to win by 5 wickets with 32 balls remaining.
Yorkshire v Sussex (1 May) Yorkshire (4pts) beat Sussex (0pts) by 3 wickets
Richard Dawson and Craig White took 3 wickets apiece to help dismiss the Sharks for 157, as Sussex lost the last 7 wickets for 55 runs. Despite tight bowling from Mushtaq Ahmed on a damp pitch, the Phoenix eased to a win with 3 wickets and 27 balls remaining. Anthony McGrath (37) and Ian Harvey (30) shared a fifth-wicket stand of 63.
Ireland v Yorkshire (3–4 May) Yorkshire beat Ireland by 6 wickets to progress to Round Two of the C&G Trophy
Ireland, trying to emulate their success in this competition against Surrey last year, fared poorly on the first day at Belfast. After being put into bat by Yorkshire, the visitors' fast bowler Matthew Hoggard took two wickets to help reduce them to 33 for 3 when rain put an end to proceedings for the day after 12.3 overs. After the play that was possible, Irish vice-captain Kyle McCallan said, "It was disappointing losing our top three batsmen so early on. But our strength is in our depth of batting. It's not the end of the world at the moment and we're still hoping to post a total of around 200."
On the second day they achieved this, reaching 201 thanks to half-centuries from Eoin Morgan and Peter Gillespie, but it was never going to be enough against Yorkshire. Half-centuries from Ian Harvey, Michael Vaughan and Phil Jaques saw the visitors home with 15 balls to spare as they made 202 for 4.
Yorkshire v Northamptonshire (6–9 May) Yorkshire (20pts) beat Northamptonshire (5pts) by 10 wickets
Northamptonshire were dismissed for 281 on the first day at Headingley, with Deon Kruis taking 5 for 59. It was a recovery of sorts, as Ben Phillips and Johann Louw put on 95 for the eighth wicket, but Anthony McGrath ended the visitors' resistance with three wickets. Yorkshire were 30 for 0 in reply at the end of the first day. Phil Jaques dominated the second day, with his 176, which helped Yorkshire to an all out total of 328, a small lead of 47. His fellow Australian Damien Wright recorded what turned out to be Northamptonshire's best bowling figures, ending with eight for 60. Northants were 9 for 0 at stumps on the second day.