STEVEN Kirby again made fact seem far stranger than fiction when he grabbed six for 26 as Yorkshire beat Leicestershire by an innings and 227 runs at Headingley yesterday to widen their lead at the top of the CricInfo Championship Divis-ion One table.
In the Leicestershire first innings on Saturday, Kirby took six for 46 and he came out of the game against his former county with match figures of 12 for 72, the best Yorkshire bowling at Headingley since Ron Aspinall returned 13 for 100 off Somerset's attack in 1949.
It was also Yorkshire's best match analysis against Leicestershire either home or away since Fred Trueman captured 12 for 58 at Bramall Lane exactly 40 years' ago.
Kirby's incredible effort follows his dream debut against Kent just over three weeks ago when he entered the game at the halfway stage as replacement for Matthew Hoggard and signed on with seven for 50.
On the featherbed pitch at Bath in the following match he took one for 79 in a Somerset total of 553 for five declared and he has now grabbed 20 Championship wickets for Yorkshire at ten runs apiece.
After Yorkshire had stretched their first innings to exactly 500, with centuries from Matthew Wood, Michael Lumb and Darren Lehmann, Kirby got to work on Leicestershire who batted without much spine to be bowled out for 174, leaving them following-on yesterday morning still 326 runs away from making Yorkshire bat again.
Kirby made sure they never stood the remotest chance and their spirit was well and truly broken by the time he had claimed the first four wickets through bowling genuinely quick and with great hostility.
He was rested after his new ball spell of 7-1-18-4 (it was 6-1-16-4 in the first innings) and he was replaced by Hoggard who warmed up nicely for the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston this week by collecting three for 17 in six overs.
A good spell was certainly required from Hoggard, however, who has not looked anywhere near the form he needs to be in when squaring up to Australia.
Evening Press coloumnist Chris Silverwood deservedly picked up a wicket before Kirby returned at the Kirkstall Lane end for the first time in the match and inevitably mopped up by flattening James Ormond's off-stump and trapping Neil Burns lbw.
Yorkshire took a maximum 20 points from the match and the stirring victory could not have come at a better time following last week's disappointing performance against Gloucestershire in the Benson and Hedges Cup semi-final.
Kirby, rejected by Leicestershire after playing for their Second XI, said of his latest success: "I am still on a roller coaster at the moment and I don't want to come off it, but at the same time I am trying to keep my feet on the ground.
"The most important thing is to play for the team and let my own performance take care of itself.
"It is simply an absolute honour and a dream to be playing for Yorkshire and I have to admit I was pumped up against Leicestershire and it was fantastic to do so well against them.
"I think the Headingley pitch helped me to some extent and I just tried to stick the ball in the right areas.
"I am an aggressive fast bowler and play the game hard on the field but will always buy a drink in the bar afterwards."
Sometimes, Kirby appears to overstep the mark in his sledging of opposing batsmen and I understand he apologised to Leicestershire for some of his remarks in the first innings and assured them it would not happen again.
The fact remains, however, that Kirby is rapidly becoming a big personality and he is certainly one of the most colourful characters to play for Yorkshire in years.
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