Younus's unbeaten 217 was the most notable feature of Yorkshire's recent match against Kent at Scarborough which was also an historic game for quite another reason.

Yorkshire statistician Roy Wilkinson, who lives at Addingham, was able to reveal that it was the 400th first-class match to be played at North Marine Road, which has seen many outstanding performances since Yorkshire first appeared there in 1874.

The Tykes are credited with the highest score on the ground of 600 for four declared against Worcestershire in 1995 when local hero David Byas weighed in with a career-best 213, and another Scarbor-ough player, Craig White, contributed 107 not out.

Yorkshire's most decisive victory was when they beat Leicestershire by an innings and 247 runs in 1901 but they have also enjoyed four ten-wicket victories in the Championship, the latest being when they walloped Somerset in 2004.

Twice Yorkshire have overcome Essex by just one wicket, in 1979 and 1998, and in 1934 they were beaten by one wicket by Warwickshire.

There have been eight instances of a batsman scoring a century in each innings of a match, but, rather surprisingly, it has never been achieved in a Championship game.

Former New Zealand and Pudsey St Lawrence batsman Mark Greatbatch, now in charge of Warwickshire, was the last to manage it in 1990 with 168no and 128no for the Rest of the World v Indians, and immediately before that came Yorkshire's Martyn Moxon with 123no and 112no against the Indians in 1986.

Festival cricket at Scarborough is world renown and packed crowds down the years have seen ten centuries scored before lunch from such illustrious names as Don Bradman, Len Hutton and Jack Hobbs.

Eight batsmen have carried their bats but the only two to do it for Yorkshire are Matthew Wood against Somerset in 2004 and Joe Sayers against Middlesex last year.

Herbert Sutcliffe holds the record for the highest number of centuries at North Marine Road with 14 while Hutton has one fewer and Geoff Boycott stands on 12.

There is something special about cricket at Scarborough and one wonders what sterling deeds will be performed over the next 400 first class matches starting with Yorkshire's game against Warwickshire later this month.