twice, but the first XI was back to beat Scotland by five wickets in the National League. Three days later, the team travelled to Somerset to draw a Championship game and lose a National League game. Their third draw in succession came in the third week of August, when they drew with Lancashire at Old Trafford, which sent them down to third place in the Division Two table. Their fourth match without a victory came at Southampton in the C&G Trophy semi-final, where they lost to Hampshire. Yorkshire's last Championship match of August was their eighth draw of the season and the fourth in a row against Durham, a result that temporarily put them into second place in the table. However, Lancashire's victory the following day meant they fell back to third. They finished August with two National League losses to Derbyshire and Kent, and continued in the same vein as they lost by 133 runs to Leicestershire at home. A busy September month, including eight matches, did not yield a single victory. After the Leicestershire loss, they drew with Worcestershire, before the team lost two National League games to Durham and Derbyshire. On 19 September Yorkshire secured promotion, drawing with Derbyshire and taking full bonus points to go an unassailable 22.5 points ahead of Essex. In the National League, however, they reinforced their place as the worst of the 18 counties (Scotland excluded) with a loss to Warwickshire, before losing to Northamptonshire and Sussex Sharks in the Championship and League respectively. Players Ian Harvey Phil Jaques Richard Blakey Richard Dawson Michael Lumb Matthew Hoggard Anthony McGrath Chris Silverwood Michael Vaughan Matthew Wood Tim Bresnan John Blain Ismail Dawood Simon Guy Chris Taylor Chris Silverwood Andrew Gale Mark Lawson Richard Pyrah Joe Sayers Nick Thornicroft David Wainwright Tables Championship totesport League Match details Essex v Yorkshire (13–16 April) Essex (12pts) drew with Yorkshire (5.5pts) At Chelmsford, Yorkshire won the toss and put Essex in to bat. Essex never looked by, as Will Jefferson, Essex' 6'10'' opener put on 149 before being out leg before just before the end of the first day's play. Essex captain, Ronnie Irani, said, "People think his height is a weakness, they try and over-test it—they try and pitch it up too much or bowl short too much." Jefferson could have been run out for 0 after a mix-up with Cook, and was dropped on 6.