Yorkshire captain Craig White overcame tribulation to score a faultless unbeaten century which got his side out of deep trouble on the first day of their championship match with Nottinghamshire at Headingley yesterday.
White, who opened the innings, was still there at the close on 141, his highest score for three seasons, and Yorkshire were 294 for eight after tottering on 42 for three.
When White went out to bat after Yorkshire had been inserted, his mind was still reeling from the double blow of losing both Matthew Hoggard and Anthony McGrath to injuries sustained in the pre-match warm-up.
In addition, there was speculation among the fans about his future with the club after he had been reported as saying that, although he still had a year to run on his contract, the decision over whether he stayed was "probably out of my control."
Yorkshire's management board were discussing contracts during White's epic innings, but director of cricket David Byas insisted the skipper remained a key player.
White kept a cool head throughout a difficult day and his flawless century was his third of the season, coming off 241 balls.
He continued to defy everything that Notts could hurl at him on a pitch, damp at the start, which offered swing and seam and at the end of the day, he had faced 312 balls and hit 20 fours.
Brother-in-law Darren Lehmann said: "I think that this is one of Chalky's best ever innings. It was a 150-180 sort of pitch and not one on which you would expect to bat all day."
Yorkshire's chances of a reasonable score looked slim as Joe Sayers fell lbw to Charlie Shreck without scoring and Lehmann suffered a rare failure by being bowled by Ryan Sidebottom.
Michael Lumb also failed to make an impact but 18-year-old Adil Rashid showed that he has just as much potential with the bat as with his leg-spinners as he rallied Yorkshire by putting on 130 in 43 overs for the fourth wicket with White.
Playing some excellent wristy strokes, Rashid cantered to his maiden half-century and he had reached 63 off 131 balls with nine fours when he edged off-spinner Graeme Swann to Mark Ealham at first slip.
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