Yorkshire legend Bob Appleyard has passed away aged 90.

Appleyard, born in Bradford, took 708 wickets in 152 first-class matches at 15.48 apiece, including 31 in nine Test matches for England between 1954 and 1956.

Appleyard passed away at his Harrogate home yesterday after battling ill health.

He bowled off-spinners and medium paced seamers, even taking the new ball on occasions.

A first-class career which did not start until he was 27-years-old was played out between 1950 and 1958, although he missed the 1952 and 1953 summers with tuberculosis.

It was a remarkable feat to return to the game at all, let alone star as he did for county and country.

Although Appleyard did not win the Championship with Yorkshire, he helped England win the Ashes in 1954/55.

He took a staggering 200 first-class wickets in his maiden full season in 1951, including 20 hauls of five wickets or more. His career best of 8-76 came in the final match of that season against the MCC team at Scarborough.

Appleyard, a Yorkshire president between 2006 and 2008, was a leading player in the formation of Yorkshire's Academy at his beloved Bradford Park Avenue and he fought hard to see first-class cricket return to the venue in the 1990s.

It will have no doubt delighted him greatly when, earlier this winter, Yorkshire announced they are open to returning there again during a hectic summer in 2019.

Former Yorkshire and England off-spinner Geoff Cope paid tribute to Appleyard, saying: “For him to take 642 wickets for Yorkshire in such a short career shows what a great bowler he was.

“In the right conditions, he was virtually unplayable.

"The hardest thing for a captain to do with Bob was to get the ball off him once he was into his spell, and this was because he saw bowling as a great challenge, particularly against top-class batsmen.

"Bob was respected by first-class bowlers around the world, and his work for cricket charities connected with the Yorkshire club was outstanding.

“His love of Bradford Park Avenue was to the fore in all of his cricket conversations.”

Appleyard’s wife Connie has already passed away, and he leaves behind two daughters and grandchildren.

Meanwhile, Jonny Bairstow and fledgling fast bowler Ben Coad were the standout performers during yesterday’s second and final day of Yorkshire’s intra-squad friendly in Abu Dhabi, with Team Alex Lees coming out on top against Team Adam Lyth.

In reply to the Lees total of 419-8, scored on Monday, Lyth’s troops were bowled out for 354.

Bairstow top-scored for Team Lyth with 77 off 102 balls, including 15 fours, while all-rounder Will Rhodes added 64 and White Rose captain Andrew Gale, who is nursing a hamstring niggle and only batted in the match, 53.

Twenty-one-year-old Coad has three wickets in seven first-team one-day appearances to his name over the last two seasons, and he finished yesterday with 3-27 from 13 overs for Team Lees.

The star performance of the match was Jack Leaning’s first day unbeaten 207.

Yorkshire are back in action tomorrow when they face Middlesex in a Twenty20 match in Abu Dhabi, which is a warm-up for Friday’s Emirates Airline T20 tournament in Dubai when Lancashire await in the morning semi-final.