Gough shrugs off Roses rain

Darren Gough took three wickets but was denied a certain win © Getty Images

Darren Gough shrugged off the minor disappointment of being robbed by rain of a landslide Roses win over Lancashire Ligthning and focused instead on Yorkshire Carnegie’s progress to the Friends Provident Trophy quarter-finals.

Yorkshire needed only to bat for another 5.1 overs to complete an easy victory when heavy rain instead wiped out the rest of today’s match at Headingley, as the hosts raced to 34 for none in reply to 89 all out.

Because the 10-over cut-off point had not been reached, the contest was declared a no-result, meaning Durham Dynamos rather than Yorkshire top the North Division and secure a home tie in next week’s quarter-finals.

Gough, who took 3-17 to help bowl Lancashire out in only 31.2 overs, was nonetheless satisfied with the outcome.

“Of course, we deserved to win,” he said. “We knew if it became a 10-over game all we had to do if we got back on the field was walk on, take the bails off - and we’d won the game.

“But to do that, we actually had to get out there. But there’s no chance of going out there, if it’s still raining and it’s not fit.”

Gough was hardly despondent, though, over the prospect of an away tie next week - rather than the home fixture which would have been Yorkshire’s had they topped the table.

“If you’d said we were going to qualify after losing the first game against Durham, I’d have taken it - so I’m not really too fussed whether it’s home or away,” he added.

Lancashire needed to win today to have any chance of qualifying - but struggled from the moment stand-in captain Luke Sutton chose to bat first under heavy cloud cover.

Andrew Gale was denied the chance to see Yorkshire home to a decisive Roses victory

The Yorkshire seamers did the rest, but Gough explained it was not an entirely incomprehensible decision from his opposite number.

“I was a little bit surprised - I was going to bowl,” he admitted. “But we came into this game with a team in my head from the other day with two seamers, Patto [Steve Patterson] in and two spinners as well.

“I can see where they were a little bit confused - because the wicket was a belter.

“But obviously with overhead conditions, the mat had been on - and it was a little bit damp.”

The result was a rush of early wickets, and no significant recovery.

“It just did enough. If you didn’t get it in the right place, it was still a great wicket,” Gough added. “If you did, though, you had that bit of swing and seam.”

Gough was delighted with the performance of 24-year-old Patterson, playing his first match of the season after knee surgery.

“There was a lot of pressure on Patto, who’s been out with injury, to come in and do a job,” he said.

“You couldn’t have asked for a better wicket to do it on, for the type of bowler he is. That was the perfect wicket, and he didn’t let me down.”