Yorkshire 285 for 3 (Bean 118, Malan 91*) vs Leicestershire

Bean’s innings also extended one of the circuit’s more interesting CVs. He is in his second phase as a county cricketer, having refused a Yorkshire Academy offer in 2020 to begin life as a mechanic. A has-Bean already? Well, clearly not. When he was tempted back last year, he made 441 against Nottinghamshire in a 2nd XI Championship match at Lady Bay, surpassing Marcus Trescothick’s 2nd XI record of 322, set for Somerset 25 years earlier.

A past England Under-19, he is a product of York CC . He was only opening the batting because Shan Masood, Yorkshire’s new captain, was still otherwise occupied with Pakistan, although they would have found a place for him lower down the order if Masood had been available.

He drove resoundingly through the off side and had 82 from 92 balls when heavy rain in mid-afternoon caused a stoppage of more than three hours. Leicestershire, who won the toss, dismissed Adam Lyth to a gentle inswinger from the left-armer on debut, Josh Hull, and added James Wharton to a leg-side strangle, had by then lost their bearings and retreated with relief.

Bean did not recapture such authority on the resumption, but an uppercut to third man against Michael Finan brought him a 132-ball hundred and, after he was dropped on 101 off Colin Ackermann at mid-on – a diving effort by Chris Wright – he fell shortly before the close to an excellent slip catch by Ackermann, off Finan, taken when the ball appeared to have passed him.

“I’ve had a few bits to work on this winter to get myself to a first-class standard,” he said. “Last season exploited a few things in my game. It’s bizarre the differences you feel. I felt good up to 82 and then had quite a long rain-break, came back out and felt completely different. My time out of the game has made me appreciate it a lot more. It puts it into perspective.”

There have been few more timely days for a simple, heartwarming Yorkshire tale. In the past year, it has been difficult to determine whether their main role in life is as a professional cricket club or as a tarnished sporting symbol upon which the nation can debate its mores and morals until exhaustion sets in.

That interest in county cricket remains, if from afar, has again been evident, albeit in such unhappy circumstances, but Yorkshire’s problem as they attempt to stave off bankruptcy is how to monetise that interest now that expressions of faith no longer come so readily with a county membership and an annual direct debit.

But cricket we had. And nowhere has the start of the Championship season been welcomed with such a sense of relief as Headingley. Dyed-in-the-wool supporters, munching their sausage butties and doing the Yorkshire Post crossword outside Ugly Mugs before start of play, must have contemplated how relegation might yet be followed by an ECB points deduction for their historic misdemeanours.

Bean is naturally of attacking intent, which is a good thing to be. Rob Key, England’s director of cricket, has suggested that he does not really care whether county players attempt to emulate the supremely positive batting approach that has become an article of faith for England’s Test side. “It’s just the way we like to do things,” he told Wisden Cricket Monthly. “People can take it or leave it to be honest. I don’t care if county players take it on or not. That’s for them to decide.”

But it would be a markedly stubborn individual who decided the way forward was a careworn five-hour hundred. Even Yorkshire’s most famous percentage cricketer, Geoffrey Boycott, might have risked a drive on the up shortly before tea, inviting the worry from his loyalist supporters whether he was feeling all right.

England’s adventurous approach will clear the mind of the most gifted, legitimise their approach and protect them against condemnatory glares on their return to the dressing room. Judgment and adaptability will still count, but it will be learned from error. Inhibitions will be for the fearful.

Bean was also responsible for a fleeting appearance by Leicestershire’s legspinner, Rehan Ahmed, who became the youngest man to play Test cricket for England when he made his debut at 18 years and 126 days old in Karachi in December 2022, and single-handedly answered the philosophical question favoured by cricket progressives: “What is the point of Leicestershire?”

Temperatures of 10C are a challenge for any legspinner and Ahmed’s first over cost 22. He began with a shoulder-high full toss, dropped his sights to attack Bean’s calves with his next delivery and conceded four boundaries in a seven-ball over. Leicestershire withdrew him from the attack in an instant, and considering that Matt Salisbury trailed off the field shortly after lunch with a calf ailment, and that Yorkshire were gambolling along against the seamers, it was a little surprising that Ahmed was not seen again until three overs shortly before seven o’clock when Leicestershire, whose over rate had been desultory, just wanted to get back into the warm.