Yorkshire steadfastly refused to let their bowling get blown apart by Hampshire in gale force winds at Headingley yesterday on the first day of the Frizzell Championship match.

A second wicket stand of 145 in 45 overs between Will Kendall and John Crawley saw Hampshire at full sail on 181 for one but three quick wickets pegged them back and they closed at 273 for seven on a pitch becoming more and more unpredictable.

The wind was so strong that early in the afternoon the umpires disposed of the bails altogether for the remainder of the day and when Kendall was 34 he chopped a ball from Chris Silverwood so close to his off-stump that wicketkeeper Richard Blakey thought that it had made contact before racing off for four.

But umpire Mervyn Kitchen gave Kendall the benefit of the doubt, explaining later that his view was obscured as the batsman moved across his stumps.

With 36 scored in 15 overs Matthew Hoggard was rewarded for an energetic opening spell by getting a ball to hold its line and Derek Kenway edged it to Blakey.

Kendall should also have gone to Hoggard for 16 but Anthony McGrath flung his left hand in front of first slip and dropped a catch he should have left to Matthew Wood.

While Kendall went along at his own pace, Crawley reached his 50 with his 11th boundary and Yorkshire were just beginning to fret when Crawley played back to Richard Dawson and had his off-stump clipped for 79 from 158 balls with 15 fours.

In the next over, Hoggard bowled Kendall middle stump with an arrow straight yorker after the opener had spent 166 balls making 67 with eight boundaries and soon afterwards he gave Zimbabwean Neil Johnson virtually no chance of avoiding contact with one which lifted sharply from just short of a length.

Silverwood then snatched two wickets in five balls.

White was bowled neck and crop by a grubber, while Smith, a victim of extra bounce, gave Blakey his third catch of the day.

Steven Kirby then bowled Dimitri Mascarenhas with a yorker.

Darren Lehmann will play his last match for Yorkshire against Leicestershire at Grace Road towards the end of next week before returning to Australia for the three one-day internationals against Pakistan.

Lehmann's fellow Australian, Simon Katich, will cover for Lehmann during his three-week absence. Richard Blakey will lead the side.