OPENER Alex Lees held the Yorkshire innings together on a difficult morning for Andrew Gale’s batsmen on the second day of their Specsavers County Championship Division One game against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

Lees was 69 not out at lunch but he had lost four England batting partners in the course of that effort, and Yorkshire were 122-4 at the break.

First to go was Adam Lyth, who was lbw to the first ball of the morning, bowled by highly-promising seamer Jake Ball.

Six overs later, Ball struck with successive deliveries as Gary Ballance, having made seven, edged him to Chris Read, and Joe Root nicked his first ball to Riki Wessels at first slip.

That left Yorkshire on 24-3 but Lees and Jonny Bairstow repaired the situation with an 81-run stand in 17 overs for the fourth wicket before Bairstow was lbw to Harry Gurney for 29.

Gale then joined Lees and the pair took Yorkshire through to lunch, by which time Gale was not out six.

Ball’s figures then were 9-2-25-3.