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.

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.

After the Barbadian pace bowler Ottis Gibson had reduced Yorkshire to 151, getting Matthew Wood, Phil Jaques and Ian Harvey out in his 6–56, Leicestershire began the task of assembling a big lead.

Eventually, the chase was stopped nineteen runs short of victory for Durham, but they lost eight wickets in the process and were probably glad to escape with a draw – though they would be ruing the slow scoring at the end.

Scotland Saltires then crumbled to 154, former England all-rounder Craig White taking three Scottish wickets as only the hired-in man from Durham, Gavin Hamilton, managed some resistance with the bat.

On the third day there was some resistance from James Duffy (49, the highest score of the match) and Mohammed Ali (47), but the students could only make it to 161, leaving Yorkshire a target of 116.

Former England U-19 pacer Tim Bresnan then struck back with three wickets in four balls to leave Lancashire all out for 379 at stumps on the first day.

Yorkshire's 335 in reply included solid innings from Phil Jaques, Craig White and Michael Lumb, while Lancashire's James Anderson took four wickets.

Yorkshire fell to 182 for 8 before a resistant 64 not out from Matthew Hoggard (only his second half-century of his career) saved the draw, as he shared partnerships of 45 for the ninth wicket with Richard Dawson and 46 for the tenth with Deon Kruis.

Dinesh Mongia then took on Yorkshire's bowlers, adding 46 off 38 balls, as singles were taken near the end to see the hosts to the target with seventeen deliveries left in the match.

Matthew Hoggard, the England Test bowler, showed an uncanny knack of being uneconomical, conceding 65 runs in his four overs, and despite two wickets he lost the game for the Phoenix.

In reply, Yorkshire Phoenix reaped the benefits of a massive partnership between Australians Ian Harvey (who made 109, the first Twenty20 century of the season) and Phil Jaques who shared a 124-run stand for the second wicket.

Durham captain Dale Benkenstein bowled himself for two overs to take three wickets for 10, and that spell set Yorkshire back sufficiently to limit them to 123 for 7 – despite a total of 10 extras.

Despite Ian Harvey digging into them with two wickets, the early run-rate ensured that Lancashire set a target of 208, Law recording the second Twenty20 century this season – in 56 balls.

Yorkshire took the next four wickets for 50 runs, with leg spinner Mark Lawson grabbing two, and with a high total to chase the game was in the balance.

Richard Pyrah, playing his first first-class game of the season, and Craig White then rescued Yorkshire from 113 for 4 with fifties, but Nadeem Malik and Kabir Ali finished with three wickets each to get them all out for 300, trailing by 45.

Having initially been placed in the field by Surrey's captain Mark Ramprakash, they conceded 111 for the first wicket, James Benning and Jonathan Batty making 72 and 41 respectively.

Sayers made 104, Anthony McGrath 55, and Ian Harvey an unbeaten 54 as Yorkshire reached the target, making their second highest fourth innings total to win in their 142-year history until this match – and both of those were against Leicestershire in 2005.

Derbyshire spinners Ant Botha and Andy Gray got cheap wickets towards the end, as White was left stranded on 67 not out with the lower-order making insignificant contributions.

Having opted to bat first, the visitors lost Joe Sayers for a duck, but Phil Jaques and Michael Lumb made centuries to see Yorkshire to 368 for 4.

Then, Charl Langeveldt took the wickets of Craig White and Lumb, and Deon Kruis edged Andy Caddick behind for a duck to leave Yorkshire 377 for 7 overnight.

He made 35 fours and one six in a nine-hour cameo which yielded a total of 297 – before he was caught by Tim Bresnan 14 short of Somerset's highest innings for the season.

Paul Jaques, Ismail Dawood and Michael Wood all made half-centuries, but in the end Yorkshire Phoenix needed 23 to win off the last over, number 11 Deon Kruis facing Blackwell.

Wood made 86 and White 110 not out, while the Lancashire captain Mark Chilton was stumped for options and had to turn to part-time spinner Marcus North for seven overs of bowling – which yielded the wicket of Ismail Dawood.

Tim Bresnan took three wickets for 45 with his pace, while Australian Mark Cleary, playing in his first game for Yorkshire after a season with Leicestershire in 2004, had to be content with one man – Pakistani bowler Shoaib Akhtar – while conceding 70.

Kabir Ali took four for 79 for Worcestershire, Nadeem Malik got three and Gareth Batty two, but they couldn't prevent the hosts racking up a nine-run lead.

Yorkshire Phoenix batted first, however, and fifties from Michael Lumb and the in-form Anthony McGrath gave them a total of 237 for 6, despite Callum Thorp bowling seven overs for only 22 runs.

Yorkshire were eventually bowled out at stumps on day two, having made their way to a lead of 304, despite Ant Botha wrapping up the tail to take four for 90.

Yorkshire had won the toss and recorded a 66-run opening stand when the spinners first broke through, Panesar having Matthew Wood caught by Robin White.