Cricket: Byas lets a great chance slip by; SPORT.

Byline: SIMON WILSON

DAVID BYAS fluffed the perfect opportunity yesterday to show just how much Yorkshire were missing him.

Byas returned to Headingley for the Roses relegation clash, hoping not just to haul Lancashire out of the relegation zone but to dump his old club deeper into it.

And what better way to achieve that target than by dismissing the man who controversially replaced him as the White Rose skipper.

But when Aussie ace Darren Lehmann edged a lethal delivery from rookie fast bowler Jimmy Anderson straight to first slip, Byas fumbled it in embarrassing fashion.

It robbed Anderson of a notable first wicket in Roses cricket - and cost Lancashire dearly.

If Byas, whose big farmer's hands are usually so reliable, had held on, Yorkshire would have stumbled to 73-3 and without their Aussie talisman might just have struggled to post a decent total.

But Lehmann, who crushed Lancashire with a double century last season, doesn't often offer a second chance and he celebrated his escape by cruising to an unbeaten 68.

Anthony McGrath also claimed a half-century as Lancashire's attack wilted and their unbroken stand of 139 took Yorkshire to a healthy 163-2 before the weather broke.

Byas had a no-win day. He did take one catch, Matthew Wood edging Peter Martin, but the batsman refused to walk despite Lancashire's claim that Byas had taken it cleanly, if low, and the umpire gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Martin made sure shortly afterwards by bowling Wood as he shouldered arms and reduced them to 24-2 with his 33rd wicket of the season, trapping Craig White leg before.

However, Lancashire's bowling got more and more wayward and Lehmann took full advantage stroking fine shots through the covers and off his legs.