An astonishing decision by captain David Byas robbed Yorkshire of the opportunity to wrap up victory over Glamorgan inside two days at Swansea yesterday.

Yorkshire blasted out Glamorgan for only 104 soon after lunch and with a first innings lead of 176 and his bowlers still as fresh as daisies it seemed certain that Byas would enforce the follow-on.

But to everyone's surprise he declined to do so and with bad weather forecast he has opened up the possibility of Glamorgan getting out of jail with a draw.

Byas himself then hit an unbeaten 64 to hurry Yorkshire on to 208 for six by the close when their lead was an almost unassailable 384.

"I was unsure what to do but I did not want to face the prospect of Glamorgan drawing level and possibly going ahead by close of play so I decided the best thing was to bat them out of the game," explained Byas.

His plan could still backfire on him but if the weather stays reasonably dry then Yorkshire should have no difficulty in converting their mastery of Glamorgan into a win which would give them an even bigger lead at the top of Division One of the CricInfo Championship.

Glamorgan had no answer to the sheer hostility of Chris Silverwood who snatched five wickets for only 20 runs in eight overs yesterday and must have been looking forward to ripping through the batting for a second time in the day.

It was Silverwood's best bowling since claiming five for 13 against Hampshire at Headingley three years' ago and it took his tally this season to 24 dismissals at 17.79 runs apiece, blistering form which suggests a Test recall may not be far off.

Silverwood grabbed three of his wickets at no cost in his first two overs of the morning and after lunch he failed by a whisker to achieve a hat-trick as Glamorgan completely caved in.

Keith Newell edged to wicketkeeper Richard Blakey, Dean Cosker was lbw pinned back on his crease and last man Steve Watkin somehow failed to make contact with a delivery which was a hairsbreadth away from hitting his off-stump.

Gavin Hamilton bowled extremely well on his first Championship appearance of the season to pick up two wickets and there were a couple also for Ryan Sidebottom who bowled better later on than with the new ball.

Byas's decision looked even harder to justify as Yorkshire plunged to seven for two with both of their openers failing yet again, Matthew Wood becoming Bradford-born Alex Wharf's 100th victim in first class cricket and Scott Richardson falling to Watkin.

Craig White and Darren Lehmann added 46 together before Lehmann was superbly caught low at backward point by Watkin who in the following over comprehensively bowled White with a slower one.

Byas and Fellows avoided any further embarrassment with a free-scoring stand of 120 in 30 overs for the fifth wicket in which left-arm spinner Cosker bore the brunt of the punishment.

Fellows lofted him for two sixes in his 77-ball 50 which also contained five fours and Byas included one-driven six in his second 50 of the game, the first time a Yorkshire batsman has done this in two seasons.

The partnership ended when Fellows, on 61, tickled Wharf down the legside for Shaw to take his third catch.

Blakey was soon out but Hamilton kept Byas company until the close when Glamorgan needed no reminding that their biggest winning score at Swansea stands at 311.

Updated: 09:25 Friday, June 01, 2001