FEEBLE batting followed by another injury to one of their fast bowlers put Yorkshire under the cosh on the second day of their Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Headingley yesterday.

Bowled out for 164, Yorkshire trailed by 229 on the first innings and would probably have been asked to follow on if their opponents had not also been a paceman light, Charlie Shreck twisting his knee in the morning warm-up and later returning home for further treatment.

Yorkshire's casualty was John Blain who pulled up with a calf muscle strain in the first over of Nottinghamshire's reply and he, too, is unlikely to take any further part in the match.

With Chris Silverwood missing the game with an ankle problem the bowling resources were stretched to the limit and at the close Nottinghamshire had galloped on to 194-4 when their overall lead was a daunting 423, already putting the game well beyond Yorkshire's reach.

Shreck's absence should have been good news for Yorkshire but the opening bowler was never missed because Ryan Sidebottom soon had his former team-mates in big trouble while Australian leg-spinner Brendan MacGill also caused plenty of damage.

How Yorkshire must have regretted the parting of the ways with Sidebottom who extracted every ounce of life from the pitch in 14 hostile overs which brought him three wickets for 19 runs.

He had Craig White caught in the slips later in the same over that he saw him dropped behind the stumps by Chris Read and he produced an excellent rising ball off a length which Michael Lumb could only edge to Jason Gallian.

MacGill teased Yorkshire from the football end and his final figures of 4-54 would have been even more respectable if last man Nick Thornicroft had not gamely collared him for a couple of sixes on his way to becoming Yorkshire's top-scorer with a gallant 30.

Although it was a day Yorkshire will want to forget, it turned into one to remember for 16-year-old Adam Lyth from Whitby who was playing for the Yorkshire Academy against British Universities at the New Rover ground in Leeds when he got the call from David Byas to hurry over to Headingley for 12th man duties.

Silverwood took to the field as substitute fielder when Blain went off but Lyth's chance came when Ian Harvey left the field for a while in the final hour and he was soon on active service in the covers.

Blain did well in the morning to hang around for 45 minutes as nightwatchman but once MacGill had got rid of him Yorkshire slumped to 84-8, seven wickets going down for 53 runs in 18 overs.

They were 93-8 at lunch and the 71 they added in less than an hour after the interval made Notts decide not to enforce the follow on.

Nottinghamshire lost openers Gallian and Darren Bicknell with only 39 scored but Russell Warren and David Hussey then assumed control by piling up 149 in 34 overs for the fourth wicket.

Yorkshire had nothing at all to smile about until White's last two overs of the day when Warren chopped into his stumps for 55 and Kevin Pietersen dragged an intended hook to backward square leg where Dawson pulled off a sprawling catch, leaving Hussey still to make one run for his century after receiving 99 balls and slamming 14 fours and two sixes.

Updated: 11:00 Friday, May 21, 2004