Lyth has time on side to get better of Hutton

Lyth hit a brilliant 194 as Yorkshire made 543-5 declared against Leeds-Bradford MCCU on day two of the three-day match at Headingley, Leeds-Bradford reaching 40-0 in their second innings, a deficit of 366.

Hutton, Maurice Leyland and Yorkshire’s director of cricket Martyn Moxon all hit five double hundreds for the club during their distinguished careers.

It puts Lyth’s achievements into perspective and, aged 29, he still has plenty of time to overhaul that distinguished trio.

Beyond that, the only more prolific double centurions for Yorkshire have been Herbert Sutcliffe (15 and one triple century), Percy Holmes (seven and two triples), and Geoffrey Boycott (seven).

Lyth has a happy knack of “going big”, as they say, and he proved it again before being bowled by seamer Will Cook.

For the record, Lyth’s double hundreds are 248 not out against Leicestershire at Grace Road in 2012, 230 against Northants at Northampton in 2014, 251 against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 2014, and 202 against Surrey at the Oval last year.

His latest marathon lasted for eight minutes over six hours, during which time he faced 278 balls and struck 21 fours and four sixes.

Having scored 1,153 first-class runs last season, the signs are good for Lyth again this year.

Ditto fellow opening batsman Alex Lees, who made a splendid 100 on the opening day after Leeds-Bradford had been dismissed for 137 in their first innings.

Yorkshire’s reply proceeded in similarly effortless vein yesterday as the hosts made hay in the Headingley sunshine.

Lyth, 61 overnight, reached his 21st first-class century from 152 balls with 12 fours and two sixes, the two maximums both savage pull strokes on the first day.

He lost Eliot Callis early on yesterday, the 22-year-old right-hander trapped lbw by Oliver Bocking for 17, but, having added 174 with Lees for the first wicket, Lyth found another durable ally in Gary Ballance, with whom he shared a third-wicket stand of 154 in 37 overs.

It was comfortable stuff for the Yorkshire pair, who, not so long ago, were making runs against international attacks, let alone student ones. That is not to decry the efforts of the Leeds-Bradford bowlers, who toiled manfully in the fine conditions, but the gulf in class in this game has been glaringly obvious.

After reaching a half-century from 88 balls with seven fours, Ballance also looked set for a hundred, which would have been the 30th of his first-class career.

Having advanced to 72, the Yorkshire captain was brilliantly caught by a diving Martin Andersson at square-leg as he pulled Ben Shoare.

Lyth continued on his merry way, easing past his previous highest first-class score at Headingley of 143 against Durham in 2014. The left-hander seems to enjoy playing against Leeds-Bradford; this was his third century against them and a high-class display.

However, with the tea interval just starting to drift into view, Lyth fell with the total on 439 having hitherto looked untroubled.