THERE were several moments of deja vu at Headingley yesterday as Ireland briefly threatened to add Yorkshire to their short list of county conquests before falling away to a 196-run defeat in the first round of the NatWest Trophy.
After beating Middlesex in April, Mike Hendrick's team now approach matches against professional opposition with more confidence and they did their best to look nonchalant when Yorkshire collapsed to 55 for six midway through the morning session.
Paul McCrum envoked memories of his fine spell against Hampshire last year with a splendid 12 overs down the hill, which brought the wickets of Martyn Moxon, Bradley Parker and Richard Blakey all caught in the arc between wicketkeeper and gully.
Unfortunately for Ireland, in the enforced absence of Mark Patterson, Peter Gillespie and Neil Doak, there was a lack of resources to back up the good work and Craig White again got Yorkshire off the hook.
White, who entered the fray in 1995 at 31 for three and scored a century, yesterday found himself walking in with the same runs on the board, but another wicket gone.
Two more fell, one of them unluckily when Australian Darren Lehmann chopped a delivery onto his stumps, before White found an able partner in Peter Hartley. Together they helped Yorkshire out of the jam with a seventh-wicket stand worth exactly 100.
White failed to negotiate one of Justin Benson's gentle dobbers and departed for 63 but Hartley dropped on 56, went on to strike three sixes in an innings of 83 that effectively put the game beyond the visitors.
Any thought that Ireland would challenge a Yorkshire total of 249 all out dissappeared in fiery opening burst from England bowlers Darren Gough and Chris Silverwood.
At 12 for five there was even fear that Ireland might not reach their previous lowest score of 39 (against Sussex in 1985). That was still a worry when Gough's inswinging yorker sent Angus Dunlop off to the chiropodist 12 runs later.
Derek Heasley offered some resistence with four bounderies and made sure a new competition record would not be set when he too got one on the toe from Gough who was to take 7 for 27 - the best bowling figures for Yorkshire.
When Gough got a hat-trick to end the Ireland innings on 53, the prevailing feeling was the all too familiar one of early optimism giving way to the inevitability of defeat - a feeling that will return again and again until the Irish Cricket Union find a way of making their best players at least part-time professionals.
Irish captain Just in Benson said: "There wasn't a lot we could do against Goughy. He is a world Class bowler and was just too quick for us. It's disappointing, particularly having had them at 55 for 6. But not many county sides would have had much of a chance out there."
