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Players and officials held a minute's applause for Dickie Bird before play began
ByAdam Lanigan
BBC Sport England
Rothesay County Championship Division One, Headingley (day one)
Durham 322-7: Bedingham 93, Raine 87*, Rhodes 50; Hill 2-57
Yorkshire: Yet to bat
Yorkshire 2 pts, Durham 2 pts
Durham were forced to battle hard with the bat on day one of their crucial County Championship Division One relegation encounter with Yorkshire.
With both sides sweating on their place in the top flight next season after it was confirmed that it will remain a 10-team division in 2026, Durham reached 322-7 after deciding to bat first at Headingley.
David Bedingham hit a season's best 93 and Will Rhodes scored 50 before Ben Raine added crucial lower order runs to finish on 86 not out as they fought back from being 7-2.
George Hill and Jack White took two wickets apiece for Yorkshire on a day in which they paid tribute to the late umpire Dickie Bird.
England Test captain Ben Stokes also bowled on the outfield during the lunch interval at his home county as he steps up his fitness ahead of the Ashes this winter.
It was fitting that a day after Yorkshire announced the death of one of their favourite sons, the club and supporters at Headingley were able to pay tribute to Dickie Bird with a real sense of warmth in the minute's applause held in his honour before play.
He was still a regular at the famous ground where a clock and the Players' Balcony are named after the Barnsley-born ex-player and umpire, in recognition for him paying to have a place where players could sit and watch the game.
Indeed Bird would have been thrilled with how his beloved club started as they removed both Durham openers in the first five overs.
Captain Alex Lees pushed one to third slip Finlay Bean off Matt Milnes for three and Emilio Gay edged to the same player off Jack White two balls later for four.
Ben McKinney stroked some nice boundaries in his 29, but when he was caught behind off Hill, Durham were 51-3.
From there, Bedingham and Rhodes rebuilt with a stand of 101 before Rhodes departed as soon as he had got to his half-century, sharply caught at short midwicket off Dom Bess.
And when Ollie Robinson was out for one, offering no stroke and being bowled by Hill, it was 155-5.
Image source, Getty Images
Ben Stokes bowled on the outfield at lunch as he recovers from a shoulder injury to be fit for this winter's Ashes in Australia
Bedingham, by his high standards, has been short of runs this summer after scoring six centuries and 1,331 Championship runs in 2024.
The South Africa batter put on 48 with Graham Clark, who was lbw to Jordan Thompson for 27, before finding more good support from Raine.
Seven away from his first century of the season, Bedingham skied an attempted pull and was brilliantly caught by a diving Hill, running back about 30 yards from slip to take it, his innings ended after 195 balls and five hours at the crease.
Yet Raine carried on, playing a great hand for his team as he reached his 50 from 58 balls and ended 87 not out from 85 balls with 10 fours and four sixes, only 13 away from just a second first-class hundred.
He also found a valuable ally in England's Matthew Potts, who was 22 not out in an eighth-wicket stand of 77, having survived a bad drop by home captain Jonny Bairstow on seven.
With Hampshire, the side sandwiched in between these two, already having a first innings lead against Surrey, this match between seventh and ninth looks like it could turn into a relegation shoot-out.
Yorkshire started six points ahead of Durham, and with each claiming two bonus points on day one they will know that a tense three days lie ahead.
