Worcestershire opener Daryl Mitchell gave his reaction to BBC Hereford-Worcester’s Dave Bradley at the conclusion of day two of the Specsavers County Championship match with Yorkshire at Scarborough.
Mitchell scored the 33rd first class hundred of his career for Worcestershire – and 34th in total – and he and fellow century-maker and skipper Moeen Ali and Tom Fell helped the County to 310-1 – a lead of 94.
Mitchell said: “It certainly wasn’t the prettiest hundred I’ve scored, that’s for sure! Satisfying. It was tough wicket and there were periods where they bowled pretty well and it did plenty.
“You had to sort of dig in and grind your way through it and I rode my luck at times and played and missed enough but I think I earned it for the way I applied myself throughout the day.
“It was set up for the way I play, quite a nugget sort of opener. I learnt a bit from watching Kane (Williamson) batted yesterday in terms of trying to play it late and letting the ball come right under yourself.
“I said that it was important as a group that we try and grind it out for as long as we could and make them work hard to try and get us out.
“It didn’t look like a pitch that you could drive on and that certainly was the case. It was hard to hit through the line and the majority of my runs were behind square! It was tough work at times but satisfying.
“Is there still a bit in the pitch? Certainly, if you whack away in the right areas and they did that for periods and made it difficult and there were other periods where we were able to get away a little bit.
“If you could get through the tough times, and then cash in when they were not quite on it, that was the way to go.”
Mitchell added: “I thought Mo was brilliant as well. It was not probably a typical Moeen Ali knock but he ground it out as well and dug in and batted for plenty of time.
“I think he revels in being the captain. I think he loves that responsibility. In the T20 this year, he has played some fantastic innings and bowled brilliantly.
“Today he has stood up as captain and played a real captain’s innings.
“There should be a special mention for Tom Fell. He’s not opened the batting before and he did a fantastic job.”
