While most local people were walking around Headingley with long faces and in a stunned silence following that shock defeat by Durham, one Yorkshireman was enjoying his happiest day on the ground for some considerable time.

Former Yorkshire captain and golden boy, Martyn Moxon, was the guiding hand behind Durham's first Championship win over his native county - and how thoroughly he deserved his moment of success.

This is Moxon's third year as Durham's director of coaching since leaving Headingley under a cloud at the end of the 2000 season and smashing Yorkshire's supremacy over his new club must rank as one of his most satisfying personal achievements.

But it is typical of Moxon's generous nature that there was no gloating over Yorkshire's demise or any suggestion that he was glad to be paying them back for being shabbily treated after a distinguished playing career and three years in charge of coaching.

Moxon's delight stemmed purely from seeing his team overcome adversity and stick rigidly to a game plan which brought them victory by 167 runs, a margin in the end which reflected the difference in resolve between the two teams.

Durham lost their Australian batsman Martin Love with a broken thumb a couple of days before the start of the game and when young all-rounder Ian Pattison crashed to the ground and dislocated his shoulder while bowling, Moxon must have feared the worst.

But, appropriately, another Yorkshireman came to the rescue in the form of 18-year-old Middlesbrough-born Liam Plunkett who celebrated his Championship debut with 5-53 in the first innings and 2-21 in the second.

Plunkett is one of a batch of outstanding youngsters who have worked their way through the Durham Academy which, it has to be said, now appears to be bringing on just as many outstanding prospects as the Yorkshire Academy, if not more.

No-one could argue with Moxon when he said that another major factor in Durham's win was the superbly disciplined batting of captain Jon Lewis who simply refused to give his wicket away on a pitch which allowed no liberties.

Lewis got his head down and batted for 11 hours and ten minutes in all, chiselling out 124 and 66 and rarely playing a false shot until he was dismissed in the second innings trying to lift the ball above cover.

"Jon was absolutely outstanding and he gave a lesson to everyone in the art of batting on this type of pitch," said Moxon.

It is an art which Yorkshire are lacking at the moment and one of the main reasons why they have fallen apart this season. Nobody is getting his head down and showing the determination and patience to play a really big innings.

Yorkshire have not had an opener of consistent quality and ability ever since Moxon hung up his boots and it is difficult to imagine that a batsman will ever give better service to the county in future.

Moxon's international career was dogged by a combination of bad luck and injuries but if he were starting out again today he would rarely be with Yorkshire because England would want to have him.

From his county debut in 1981 to his retirement in 1997, Moxon plundered 18,973 first-class runs for Yorkshire, making him the 14th heaviest scorer in the club's history. He played in 277 matches, batted 476 times and finished up with an average of 43.71.

It's hard to think that anyone will match such a distinguished record again because they will simply not be allowed to play sufficient games for it to come about.

Updated: 11:12 Saturday, June 07, 2003