Roses rivals renew top flight rivalry

By Kevin Howells BBC Sport at Headingley

Yorkshire versus Lancashire remains a cricket contest still capable of stirring the emotions.

Michael Vaughan (l) tested his injured knee in the lunch interval

It was fitting therefore that the rumble of the Prince of Wales corps of drums accompanied the Yorkshire team onto the field for the 242nd Roses match.

But in the 21st century, things certainly aren't what they used to be, even though the two teams are now back in Division One of the Championship after winning promotion last summer.

Long gone are the times when spectators would queue along the streets outside the ground in order to make sure of the best seats.

Yorkshire were defending a proud record of not having lost to Lancashire at Headingley since 1998 - although they came perilously close last year when Matthew Hoggard batted for 146 minutes to save the match.

It says plenty about the stature of this contest that the Lancashire supporters are still grumbling about that rearguard action.

There was no acknowledgement that Hoggard had done well from Red Rose supporters.

Umpire David Constant turned down an appeal for a catch late on in last season's game and they are still muttering about it to this day.

I've long held the belief that for the players, who have often grown up alongside one another in representative youth cricket, they simply get on too well to be genuine enemies.

They save that for the Surrey, whose relegation last year was greeted with undeniable glee on both sides of the Pennines.

Australia's Jason Gillespie is playing in his first Roses match

There is a sneaking respect for each other between the Yorkshire and Lancashire players, although no-one would ever admit it.

But it is a slightly different story when it comes to one-day cricket and the Twenty20 cup games when supporters who normally follow different sporting passions join the regulars to ensure sell-out crowds.

On these occasions, the players fell almost obliged to act out the traditonal 'battle'.

Meanwhile, the military tone continued during the lunch break when the Yorkshire volunteers band struck up a march.

The tempo was steady, which was just about right for the man seen running slowly across the middle of the field in front of the rugby football stand - injured England captain Michael Vaughan.

He is attempting to get over a setback in his recovery from knee surgery.

But I was told by those who saw him undertake a similar exercise session two weeks ago that it was nowhere near as strenuous as then, which doesn't bode well for England.