Yorkshire's director of coaching Martyn Moxon has reacted angrily to reports in some national newspapers that the Headingley pitch was not up to standard for the Roses match.

Moxon and Yorkshire cricket chairman Bob Platt felt that pressure could have been put on pitch liaison officer Alan Smith to have docked Yorkshire eight points for preparing a poor pitch, but in the event Smith went away quite satisfied with the way it played over the first two days.

"One national newspaper described the pitch as 'treacherous' which was an amazing accusation and not borne out in any way by the way it played," said Moxon.

What did cause some concern, however, was that the pitch appeared damp before the game but Moxon explained that this was due to wet weather on the day before the match and that it quickly dried out.

"Obviously, we are happy if our pitches suit pace attacks because that is where we are at our strongest but surely people can see that we are not deliberately going to prepare pitches that put us in risk of having points docked when we are in the thick of the battle for the Championship and every point is important."

If Yorkshire had been deducted any points from the Roses match it would have been grossly unfair, not only because it was one of the best pitches seen at Headingley this season but also because Lancashire had no hesitation in preparing a pitch to suit their spinners when Yorkshire were at Old Trafford a month ago.

With a far superior spin attack, they won that game by nine wickets on the third day but there were no complaints from Yorkshire.

One of the problems at Headingley and also at most other grounds is that it is almost impossible to stop the surfaces from developing cracks, but groundsmen have only laid their pitches in accordance with advice and instruction from the ECB.

I admit that Yorkshire have sailed a bit close to the wind on previous occasions at Headingley this season and have been pretty fortunate that pitch liaison officers have never taken any action.

But championship pitches for a number of years have been monitored at random when games have finished and soil samples sent off for examination.

This work is done by the Sports Turf Research Institute at Bingley for northern based counties and by Aberystwyth University for those in the south.

Surely, there is no additional need for a posse of pitch liaison officers, reputed to be earning £300 a day, plus expenses, to be visiting county grounds as well.

The situation has become so ridiculous that if through good bowling Yorkshire have a side on the rack at 70 for six on the first day they are worried about bowling them out cheaply because of the risk of points being deducted.

County cricket cannot be played in such an atmosphere and pitch liaison officers should either be scrapped or the rules on how they operate changed.

If there is a place for them, perhaps they should be present at each match for two days before it begins and watching how the pitch is prepared so that they are then partly responsible themselves for how it plays.