Lunch report: Yorkshire 31-1 v Hampshire

Lunch on the first day (Hampshire won toss)

Fears for Michael Vaughan’s form were further fuelled when the England captain fell on the stroke of lunch today.

The Yorkshire opener, who had managed just 29 balls against Leeds-Bradford University the previous week, fared little better here this morning.

He had begun cautiously, surviving a chance at short leg when he clipped a ball from Shane Bond to Michael Brown at short leg.

The ball travelled so fast that Brown toppled backwards trying to hang on to it and in falling, he spilled the chance. Vaughan was on three at the time.

Gradually he got his eye in and had driven two sumptuous boundaries, one through cover, the other through extra cover, as well as pulling another four – all three off New Zealand fast bowler Bond, but it was too good to last.

When Vaughan drove at the ball after the shot through extra cover he only succeeded in edging it to third slip where Greg Lamb took the catch to end the innings after 35 balls.

The start had been delayed by an hour and a quarter, although, because the extra half hour was available, only 12 overs were lost.

Earlier in the morning an historic ceremony took place in the Yorkshire executive suite during which a portrait of Sir Len Hutton was unveiled by his son Richard.

The portrait had been hanging in the bar at Lord’s but Yorkshire had persuaded MCC to release it for the season and let it be displayed at Headingley as part of the County’s celebrations of the 70th anniversary of Sir Len’s then world record innings of 364 against Australia at The Oval in 1938.

Richard Hutton hinted that the portrait, which was painted on Sir Len’s return from the 1950-51 Ashes series, might even be given a permanent home at Headingley.

“At the moment it is here just for the season,” said the former England and Yorkshire cricketer. “But it could possibly remain here, although I think MCC are rather hoping it will be returned to them.”

It is understood that Richard was none too happy about the portrait being hung in the bar at Lord’s, a point reinforced when he said: “I am not sure my father would like the fact that it has been hanging in the bar. While he liked a drink, he was not a drinker.”

Yorkshire, for whom Sir Len played 341 matches, scoring almost 25,000 runs at an average of more than 53, have found a far more dignified setting for the painting, which was commissioned by the Yorkshire Evening News, pained by Henry Carr and paid for by subscriptions from readers.