Shai Hope evokes 2017 memories as Yorkshire push for defendable lead

Yorkshire's coach, Ottis Gibson, expressed the wish on the eve of the season for a new groundstaff to bring more life to Headingley's surfaces as they seek to return to Division One at the first attempt, but there have been no signs of an instant cure against Leicestershire as a docile surface has left batters in the ascendancy and bowlers having to labour for their rewards.

For all that, this match enters the final day with a positive result still possible. Yorkshire lead by 322 with six wickets remaining and must time an awkward declaration on the final morning, earplugs in to ignore the cries from the outer of "declare". They will surely need around 370 to feel entirely safe and their inability to bowl sides out last season - Gloucestershire at Bristol was their only victory - will be foremost in their minds. A forecast of a cloudy day might help to steel their minds.

Yorkshire have bowled solidly, without much penetration, but for all that, quick bowlers on both sides must be looking askance on the speed-gun figures displayed on the county's live stream. They appear to be a good 4 mph lower than those seen on TV, and whilst it is tempting to wonder mischievously whether TV companies like to ramp them up a little (surely not), the truth appears to be the opposite. Run-of-the-mill club cricketers who might routinely practice against bowling machines set at 68/70mph might like to imagine that the likes of Ben Coad bowl at the same speed, but he would happily offer a net session to prove that he does not.

That the match is not dead owes much to the positive intent of both sides, but particularly Yorkshire, who scored at more than five runs an over in the first innings, and almost that second time around despite the potential inhibitions caused by the loss of three wickets to the new ball after establishing a first-innings lead of 102. Those prematurely shouting "declare" tonight would be just as likely to shout "rubbish, Yorkshire" tomorrow if things take a turn for the worst.

Naturally, there has been much personal satisfaction to be had for batters on both sides. Peter Handscomb, who was overlooked this week, when Australia announced their annual contracts - Cameron Bancroft was another omission - will have found meaning in making 112 from 201 balls in his first time out.

International selectors do not often turn first to Leicestershire's scores - and Gloucestershire's Marcus Harris, who did win a contract, also struck a century and does seem to be ahead of him as an Ashes possibility this summer. But Handscomb fared better than some of his colleagues on Australia's recent tour of India and an innings of impressive certainty suggested he is not about to lose hope yet. He has six games with Leicestershire to push his claims and called the Headingley pitch "a lovely surprise" which is probably the nicest thing anybody had said about Yorkshire for a while.

For Yorkshire, as well as Finlay Bean's maiden Championship hundred and the continued dominance of Dawid Malan on this ground (although he failed in the second innings), there was also a maiden Championship fifty for James Wharton and arguably the most serene innings of all, Shai Hope's blissful unbeaten 83 only a couple of days after arriving in England on a short-term deal.

Hope's equanimity brought back memories of his two hundreds in a match on this ground in 2017, the first time it had ever been achieved at Headingley, and which put him in an illustrious band to have achieved the feat. At Headingley, they will observe a Test average of 25 in 38 Tests - with those two hundreds looking increasingly lonesome - and wonder quite how it has remained half the size of his impressive returns in ODIs.

Responsibility for tweaking the nature of Headingley's pitches rests primarily with Richard Robinson, who has the former head grounds manager, Andy Fogarty, as a consultant. Fogarty stood down because he no longer wanted to work full-time - and it is not known if anyone dared to suggest that the easiest way to achieve that was a succession of three-day finishes. With diversity much on people's minds at Yorkshire, it is also worth reflecting that Jasmine Nicholls, a former international race-walker, has become only the second woman to work on the groundstaff on an English international ground. Meg Ley, who hails from New Zealand farming stock, became the first at Bristol last season.

Yorkshire's serious commitment to changing the culture of the county has also been seen in a female hide of media/comms and the election of the first female president, Jane Powell, a former captain and head coach of England women. These are all positive balancing moments in Yorkshire's history and, with Championship crowds undoubtedly thinned out this season, with some former members taking a view on the racist ructions that have beset the county, Yorkshire will be desperate for a new wave of supporters to show commitment to a new era once the T20 Blast comes around.

With Leicestershire still more than 300 adrift at the start of the third day, half the side dismissed and Matt Salisbury only fit enough to bat with a runner, Yorkshire must have hoped for a quick kill. But Handscomb and Rehan Ahmed resisted in a sixth-wicket stand of 141 in 34 overs. What alarms there were came from run-out opportunities with Dom Bess and Wharton both missing shies at the stumps, Wharton's opportunity coming as Handscomb dashed a single to mid-off to secure his hundred. Yorkshire's slip catching remains as fallible as ever with both George Hill and Bean fumbling inviting opportunities.

It was the first over after lunch when Rehan succumbed for 85, Jordan Thompson managing to get one off the straight for Hill to hold on at first slip. Handscomb was lbw to one from Coad that shaded back, but the last two wickets weighed in with 83 as Chris Wright hit about him for an unbeaten 66 from 82 balls. Bess has worked with Australia's Nathan Lyon over the winter, but Wright hit him for three sixes over long-off and he finished with 0 for 69 in 11 overs. Never trust an Aussie in an Ashes year.