Edgbaston (first day of four): Yorkshire trail Warwickshire by 301 runs with all first-innings wickets remaining
It was hardly the first time that Jason Gillespie has been overshadowed by a McGrath, though this time it was Anthony and not Glenn who took the bowling honours.
When Yorkshire won the toss and, surprisingly, elected to bowl, Gillespie must have had a sense of deja-vu.
He was the unfortunate fellow obliged to take the new ball the last time he was here, at the start of the second Ashes Test when Ricky Ponting inexplicably put England in to bat.
That Yorkshire got away with the decision yesterday owed little to their fast bowl-ers, however, and had plenty to do with two ex-England veterans whose bowling days were thought to be in the past.
Anthony McGrath and Craig White took six wickets between them as batsmen struggled to settle in conditions assisting swing bowling and Warwickshire lost their last seven wickets for 101.
McGrath, with only 16 Championship wickets last year, barely touches medium in pace. But he kept a good line, swung the ball all day and deserved his best bowling figures since July 2004. Whether that justified White's decision to field first is debatable but, had Yorkshire accepted all the chances offered to them, the Bears would surely have fallen well short of even 300.
Jonathan Trott (on 0 and six), Alex Loudon (38 and 71) and Jim Troughton (on 30) were all given lives and Yorkshire may come to rue their errors.
Gerard Brophy is an interesting cricketer. He's typical of the trend for 'keepers who bat, yet his glove work suggests the long-stop position has a place in first-class cricket.
Regular watchers will remember his Chaplin-esque performance for Northamptonshire here a couple of years ago. Suffice it to say, he has not improved.
Yesterday, he dropped three chances, all relatively straightforward and must have made some of the team wonder why the club dispensed with Ismail Dawood.
Warwickshire will also regret failing to adapt to the conditions. They had started well. Nick Knight looked in fine touch, caressing five boundaries, as Gillespie struggled with his line and Tim Bresnan with his length.
The introduction of McGrath brought immediate reward, however. His second ball induced a loose push away from Knight's body while Ian Westwood prodded half forward to John Blain in the following over.
A stand of 89 in 23 overs between Trott and Loudon put Warwickhsire back on track. After his shaky start Trott (79 balls, seven fours) played well. Cutting and pulling with power, he has also improved his leg-side play and it was some surprise when he was trapped playing down the wrong line by late swing.
Loudon (121 balls, 12 fours) was never at his most fluent. A large portion of his runs came through third man and he is struggling against the short ball. He was dismissed in Hove attempting to hook and was struck three times yesterday as he attempted to avoid deliveries from Bresnan. One was a very nasty blow, flush on the helmet and, as word goes round the county circuit, he is bound to be the target for more intimidation.
In between, he produced some typically graceful shots; the flick off the legs and a couple of flowing drives in particular and it is a good sign that he can grind out runs when so palpably below his best.
Jim Troughton (128 balls, one six and eight fours) produced the best batting of the day. The familiar carves through point are still there but he looks to have added sound defence to his flair.
He brought up his 50 with a lovely swept six, played deftly off his legs, and pulled strongly.
Nobody could stay with him, however. Loudon was yorked playing across White's quicker ball before Tim Ambrose, preferred to Tony Frost, was trapped, back when he should have been forward.
Heath Streak was fooled by late swing, Neil Carter clipped to deep backward-square and Tim Groenewald was bowled, head in the air, attempting an ambitious drive; an unusual dismissal for a fellow on his Championship debut. Finally Troughton, trying to keep the strike, was run out going for a second.
"We would have liked 350," Mark Greatbatch, Warwickshire's coach, said. "I'd have liked us to bat for a bit longer but we would have batted anyway. We'll certainly be looking to field better than them.
"Dougie Brown felt he was fit to play but we didn't want to risk him. Our medical advice told us he would be 100 per cent in a couple of days and, with all the cricket we have coming up, we didn't want to risk him.
"Both 'keepers were fit but we've selected the side we think is best for this match."
