Gracious Gale proves he’s heeded lesson

Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale, who was ordered to undergo anger management training last year, was admirably accepting of an incorrect umpiring decision that left him agonisingly short of his 18th first-class century.

Gale has only just returned to county action from a four-match ban after an incident involving Lancashire’s Ashwell Prince in August last year.

Quick Single: Gale banned for Prince incident

Having been involved in some on-field exchanges in the past, Gale was required to take an anger management course as part of his punishment from the England and Wales Cricket Board.

And just two matches into his Championship return, the temperament of the 31-year-old was put to the test when he was incorrectly given out on 96 during Yorkshire's match against Warwickshire at Headingley.

Having guided Yorkshire past the follow-on mark, Gale skied his shot from a full toss bowled by Boyd Rankin and, as the ball sailed in the air towards cover, turned to square-leg umpire Jeremy Lloyds to indicate that he believed the ball was above waist high and should therefore be called a no-ball.

After Sam Hain completed the catch, Lloyds conferred with Umpire Steve Garratt at the striker's end and eventually upheld the decision to leave Gale four runs short of his century.

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Gale goes for 96 after querying the umpire // Getty Images

Gale accepted the decision in good grace and walked off the ground, even though he had every right to feel aggrieved given replays indicated the ball was clearly above waist height.

The skipper's magnanimous approach continued after play, saying he was keen to move on from the incident.

"Controversy seems to follow me around, doesn’t it?," he said.

"Umpires make mistakes. Let’s move on.

"I was a bit shocked but I kept my mouth shut and took the decision.

"The guy was bowling 85 miles an hour and if that had been a Twenty20 game there would have been no qualms about it because the benefit always goes to the batsman."

"I keep my mouth shut now. But I was not actually given out, in that the umpire did not raise the finger," he added.

"I heard them call tea, so I just asked if I was out. They said I was, so I walked off.

"Obviously, I was a bit disgruntled to be out, but I'll take it on the chin."

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Gale solid on the front foot // Getty Images

The minor incident took some attention away from Gale's impressive innings, which had rescued Yorkshire from a perilous position in response to Warwickshire's imposing first innings of 435.

His 182-ball knock featured 10 fours and helped push their total to 303 after they had been 7-224 during the second session.

Warwickshire finished the day on 2-108, a lead of 240, meaning Gale and his side will likely need to dig deep with the bat again on the final day.

The Jason Gillespie-coached side have won one and lost one of their opening two matches of the season, an impressive performance given six frontline players are in the Caribbean with England's Test squad.