Yorkshire were thrashed by eight wickets in their Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy semi-final match against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl but Craig White and his team had already suffered a catalogue of disasters before they set foot on the field.

It turned into a day to banish from their memories for Yorkshire whose team coach from Old Trafford did not land at their Southampton hotel until almost 12.30 on Saturday morning.

Then just when Yorkshire were due to hop on board at 8.30 to travel the few miles to the ground it emerged that the driver could not take them because he had not had the legal number of hours of rest.

Director of cricket David Byas made a frantic attempt to get a fleet of taxis but this proved impossible and some players clambered into a truck belonging to the hotel with others travelling by other emergency means.

Myself, a colleague and Yorkshire scorer John Potter, were given a lift by a greenkeeper at the hotel's golf course, but the team's nightmare was still far from over because the roads were so clogged with traffic that they could not reach the ground in time.

White jogged the last mile to get there for the toss and Yorkshire were given some extra time to get their breath back when the 10.15 start was put back 15 minutes.

It was hardly the best preparation for a big match and Yorkshire, put in to bat, soon found themselves stifled by excellent bowling.

After Matthew Wood had been well caught at second slip by Shane Watson off fellow Australian Andy Bichel, left-handers Phil Jaques and Michael Lumb batted confidently with Lumb playing some of the most confident shots of the innings.

The second wicket pair took Yorkshire to 76-1 in 18 overs but when Jaques drove Dimitri Mascarenhas to mid-off the innings lost its impetus. It soon became 103-3 with the dismissal of Lumb for 43.

But the cruellest blow for Yorkshire came with the freak run-out of Anthony McGrath who was inches short of his crease as Watson scored a direct hit from the boundary edge.

From then on, White was forced to fight a rearguard action to get Yorkshire to a respectable score. He did a superb job, making an unbeaten 40 from 61 balls with two fours but he could not find an ally.

South African paceman Deon Kruis bowled his heart out for Yorkshire and spread-eagled John Crawley's stumps to make Hampshire 32-1 but Nic Pothas had already begun solidly and once Zimbabwean Sean Ervine got over his early jitters the runs came thick and fast in a second wicket partnership of 147 in 29 overs.

As Yorkshire began to fade, Ervine (pictured above) produced a full range of powerful strokes and the left-hander dashed to a sparkling century from 96 balls with 11 fours and a six.

He had not added to his three figures when he unexpectedly chipped back a catch to Richard Dawson, leaving Pothas and Watson to knock off the remaining runs.

Updated: 11:54 Monday, August 22, 2005