Wainwright follows dad's prediction

David Wainwright will take his dad’s predictions more seriously from now on - after his maiden first-class hundred helped Yorkshire turn round their relegation battle against Sussex.

Wainwright (104 not out) and Adil Rashid (111) each hit career-bests as Yorkshire transformed 84 for six into 400 for nine declared - and then reduced the champions to 25 for three on day two at Hove.

Yorkshire therefore gave themselves renewed hope of staying in LV County Championship Division One next season - depending on events at three different venues over the last two days of the season.

Irrespective of all the head-scratching calculations which may yet therefore come into play, between four teams who can still go down alongside Surrey, today was a personal triumph for both Wainwright and Rashid.

Prior to Thursday, Wainwright's most famous feat this summer was delivering the ball that Mark Ramprakash brought up his 100th first-class hundred with.

But his own success with the bat will have come as no surprise to Wainwright’s father Paul.

“My dad texted me last night, saying ‘you could get a ton tomorrow’,” the 23-year-old left-hander said afterwards.

“I just humoured him and texted him back, saying ‘Yeah, all right’.”

That turned out to be very much the case, as Yorkshire made a mockery of the struggles of the previous day - taking a liking to much-improved overhead conditions.

David Wainwright bowls Nottinghamshire batsman Mark Wagh in last year's Twenty20 Cup encounter

“I joined Adil at lunch, and we were just praying for the clouds to get out of the way and get the sun out - because it was a really good batting wicket, and we made the most of it really,” Wainwright added.

“We stuck together and had a game plan, took it step by step and set ourselves little targets - getting to tea, getting 300, getting 350 - then I got help from Matthew Hoggard at the end.”

Rashid put on 80 for the seventh wicket with Tim Bresnan, and then Wainwright helped the England Lion add 140 for the ninth - before number 11 Hoggard stayed put, and came up with a few handy blows too, as another 82 were plundered.

“It was a rare delight today,” said Wainwright.

“I didn’t expect it - but to get my maiden first-class hundred is something I’ll remember for a long time.”

Yorkshire’s much-improved fortunes were also the result of some tough talk from the previous evening, Wainwright confirmed.

“A few words were said last night. The boys got a bit of a kicking - which maybe we needed,” he added.

The champions had no answer - and Wainwright reported: “The Sussex boys weren’t that together out there really.

“They weren’t too happy with us - I don’t think our demeanour, especially, helped that situation.

“We knew we were on top of them and had them under the pump a bit.”