May Day saw glorious weather across the country, I’m starting this write up on the morning of Day 2. We had just 3 Divison 1 matches and the full 4 in Division 2. Things weren’t over quite as quickly in this round, with two matches finishing on Day 3. After a lazy morning on Day 4 play is in motion as I start. I went out at 5:30 on Day 4 thinking the Somerset win was the most impressive, that was before I checked out the scores to find that Middlesex had won! There were more Century Makers this week, including 2 doubles, 1 in a losing casue and 1 in the midst of a Draw!
Division 1
Hampshire v Durham – Utilita Bowl, Southampton. Alex Lees won the toss for Durham and elected to bat. Match Drawn.
Durham 511 All Out, Hampshire 470 All out & 61 for no wicket
Durham lost Emilio Gay early and were 25 for 1, a steady loss of wickets saw them on 81 for 4. Keeper Ollie Robinson and Graham Clark put on 124 for the 5th and final wicket of the day. Robinson scored 76 from 94 balls. Clark was 110* at the end of Day 1, he and George Drissell had put on 124 and Drissell was 58*. Durham scored 330 for 5 in 96 overs. Clark went on to score 160 from 309 balls as Durham batted on for a total of 148.2 overs, they amassed 511 runs. Liam Dawson took 5 for 158 in 48 overs.
Hampshire faced 43 overs on Day 2 and were 112 for 1 at the end of the day. Opener Mark Stoneman was 54*. Stoneman only added 3 runs on ay 3. Nick Gubbins and Keeper Ben Brown put on 65 for the 5th wicket. Gubbins scored 77 from 172 balls. Brown then shared a partnership of 164 with Felix Organ, Organ scored 70 from 158 balls. Brown’s was the 9th wicket to fall, he scored 162 from 275 balls. Hants faced 154.5 overs and scored 470. A match heading for a Draw!
Durhan followed on and faced 25 overs, battinf practice for the openers they scored 61 for no wicket and the match was declared a draw.
Somerset v Essex – The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton. Lewis Gregory won the toss for Somerset and put Essex in to bat. Somerset won by 3 wickets.
Essex 206 All Out & 259 for 9, Somerset 145 All Out & 325 for 7
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a photo of such a green pitch, it was hard to see it amongst the rest of the field. The decison at the toss was a good one as Essex were bowled out for 206 in 88.2 overs. Thew wickets were shared between 4 bowlers. Noah Thain in at 7 top scored with 41 from 112 balls.
Somerset faced 6 overs on Day 1 and lost opener Archie Vaughan for a 5 ball Duck. A wicket for Sam Cook on the day it was announced he’s in the England squad for the match against Zimbabwe. Somerset faced another 40.3 overs on Day 2 and were bowled out for just 145. Because, of course, anything the Somerset bowlers could do on that pitch the Essex bowlers could too! Josh Davey, in as NIght Watch I presume, top scored with 27. Simon Harmer took 4 for 43, including a great caught and bowled effort.
Essex were back in on Day 2 and faced 52.3 overs. They were 45 for 2 before Tom Westley and Jordan Cox put on 57 for the 3rd wicket. Cox was 61* at the end of the day. Essex were 163 for 4, a lead of 224. Cox went on to score 103* from 156 balls and immediately retired hurt, with a side strain I believe. Things went downhill for Essex from there, they lost 5 wickets for 7 runs! The wickets were shared amongst 5 of the 6 bowlers used. Essex went from 253 for 6 to 259 for 9, All Out, with Cox unable to return.
Somerset fell to 78 for 5 before Lewis Gregory and James Rew put on 101 for the 6th wicket. Gregory scored 57 from 87 balls. Rew and Craig Overton then, basically won the game for their team. They put on 133 for the 3rd wicket. From what I saw on YouTube Rew in particular batted beautifully. He was out for 116 from 189 balls. Somerset were on the brink of a very good win thanks to that partnership and Overton finished the innings on 53* from 111 balls. Simon Harmer took 4 for 120.
Yorkshire v Warwickshire – Headingley, Leeds. Alex Davies won the toss for Warwicks and out Yorkshire in to bat. Warwickshire won by 5 Wickets.
Yorkshire 205 All Out & 232 All Out, Warwickshire 253 All Out & 186 for 5
Yorkshire suffered a very similar fate to Essex, they were bowled out in jusy 52.2 overs for 205. Not great for the returning Joe Root who scored 1 from 17 balls and Harry Brook who made 33. Jonny Bairstow top scored with 47. Ethan Bamber took 5 for 47 in his 15.2 overs. It was a surprise to see Dom Bess opening for Yorkshire.
Warwickshire faced 43 overs on Day 1 and were 161 for 6. Warwicks faced another 18 overs, a total of 61 overs. They scored 253. Ed Barnard and Dan Mousley put on 59 for the 5th wicket. Barnard then shared 50 runs with Beau Webster. Barnard scored 41 and Webster went on to score 85 from 86 balls. Ben Sears took 4 for 45.
Having seen the headlines about Joe Root’s innings, I was surprised to see they were bowled out got 232 in 70.2 overs. Root scored 90 from 131 balls as he saw his team mates come and go! Ethan Bamber took another 4 wickets.
Warwickshire faced just 3 overs and were 15 for no wicket, they require 170 runs to get the win. Warwickshire got tjhe job done in a total of 43.2 overs. Zen Malik and
Division 2
Glamorgan v Derbyshire – Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. Wayne Madsen won the toss for Derbyshire and out Glamorgan in to bat. Match Drawn.
Glamorgan 431 All Out & 256 for 7, Derbyshire 350 All Out & 308 for 9
Glamorgan haven’t had the best of starts to the season, but Day 1 of this match was a good day. Zain ul Hassan and Asa Tribe (on debut) put on 93 for the 1st wicket. ul Hassan scored 32 and Tribe 58 from 72 balls. Kiran Carlson and Sam Northeast put on 60 for the 3rd wicket, Carlson made 35. Northeast scored 63 from 132 balls, he and Colin Ingram put on 88 for the 4th wicket. At the end of Day 1 Ingram was 80*. Derbyshire used 7 bowlers. Ingram added just 1 to his overnight score. Timm van der Gugten and Andy Gorvin put on 86 for the 8th wicket. Gorvin made 39 and van der Gugten 62 from 125 balls. Glamorgan scored 431 from a total of 127.4 overs. An innings of solid partnerships. All but 1 of the 7 bowlers took at least 1 wicket
Derbyshire faced 64 overs on Day 2 and were 215 for 7. Keeper Brooke Guest and Martin Andersson put on 76 for the 5th wicket. Andy Gorvin had taken 4 of the 7 wickets. Luis Reece (73 from 184balls) and Alex Thomson, (60 from 135 balls) put on 121 for the 9th wicket Derbyshire batted for a total of 107 and were all out for 350. Gorvin got his 5th wicket for a total of 85 runs.
Glamorgan batted for 82 overs and went from 15 for 3, to 124 for 4 as Ciolin Ingram and Zain ul Hasssan put on 119 for the 4th wicket. ul Hassan scored 48 and Ingram 64 from 104 balls. Ben Kellaway and Keeper Chris Cooke put on 110 for the 7th wicket. Kellaway made 74 from 117 balls and Cooke was 49* at the end of the innings. Sam Northeast declared on 256 for 7.
Derbyshire batted for 65 overs and scored 308 for 9 before a draw waa declared. They put on 67 for thr 1st wicket Tom Guest and Martin Andersson shared another decent partnership of 97 for the 6th wicket. Guest socred 48 and Andersson 78 from 95 balls. Ben Kellaway took 5 for 101 in his 25 overs.
Lancashire v Gloucestershire – Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester. Keaton Jennings won the toss for Lancashire and elected to bat. Match Drawn.
Lancashire 450 All Out & 255 for 8, Gloucestershire 589 for 8
Lancashire lost early wickets and were 23 for 2, Josh Bohannon with 56 from 115 balls and Marcus Harris put on 98 for the 3rd wicket. Harris and Keeper Matty Hurst then put on 212 for the 4th wicket. Hurst scored 78 from 139 balls. At the end of Day 2 Harris was 165* from 263 balls. Lancs scored 342 for 5 in their 96 overs. Lancashire faced another 32 overs. Harris added 2 to his overnight score to finish on 167 from 269 balls. There were 30 extras, adding to a final total of 450 in 128 overs for Lancs. Another match with 7 bowlers used, 5 took the wickets.
Gloucestershire faced 62 overs on Day 2 and were 184 for 2. Ollie Price was 54* and Miles Hammond 57*. That partnership continued and put on 203 for the 3rd wicket. Hammond was out for 97 from 172 balls. Price batted through all but 16.4 overs of the 158 bowled. He and Keeper James Bracey (44) put on 85 for the 5th wicket. Ollie Price was 253* from 405 balls at the end of the inning; he’d batted for nearly 9.5 hours. Gloucs declared on 589 for 8.
Lancashire faced 88 overs in their 2nd innings and scored 255 for 8 before a Draw was declared. Tom Hartley top scored with 37.
Leicestershire v Northamptonshire – Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester. Luke Proctor won the toss for Northants and put Leics in to bat. Leicestershire won by 132 runs.
Leicestershire 304 All Out & 175 All Out, Northamptonshire 191 All Out & 156 All Out
Rishi Patel was making his 1st appearance of the season and wow did he make an impact! He and Sol Budinger put on 58 for the 1st wicket. Patel’s was the 7th wicket to fall, he’d scored 105 from 189 balls, as others fell around him. Leicestershire were 304 All Out in 88.3 overs. Harry Conway took 5 for 68 in 21.3 overs.
Northants faced 5 overs and were 6 for no wicket at the end of Day 1. Northants faced another 62.3 overs on Day 2 and were bowled out for a total of 191. Logan van Beek took 4 for 47.
Leicestershire faced 33.2 overs on Day 2 and were 96 for 6. Ben Sanderson had 5 of those wickets to his name. Leics batted for a total of 59.1 overs and were 175 all out. Sol Budinger top scored with 39. Ben Sanderson finished with 6 for 72 from his 17.1 overs.
Northants were bowled out in 58.2 overs, All 6 bowlers used shared the wickets. George Bartlett top scored with 37.
Middlesex v Kent – Lord’s, London. Daniel Bell-Drummond won the toss for Kent and elected to bat. Middlesex won by 2 wickets.
Kent 129 All Out & 473 All Out , Middlesex 238 All Out & 388 for 8
This proved a poor decision on the toss, Kent were bowled out in just 50.3 overs for just 129. Tawanda Muyeye top scored with 39. Toby Roland-Jones took 5 for 33 in his 14 overs.
Middlesex faced 45.3 overs on Day 1 and were 162 for 4. Ryan Higgins was 45* and Ben Geddes 29*. Middlesex were bowled out in a total of 65 overs for 238. Higgins scored 54 from 101 balls.
Kent had faced 61.4 overs as I wrote this, as Day 3 had just started. Zak Crawley scored 68 from 114 balls. Daniel Bell-Drummond had reached his century on Day 2 and was 107* as I wrote. Another big innings in Division 2, Bell-Drummond went on to score 223 from 360 balls. He shared a partnership of 74 with Keeper Chris Benjamin who scored 34, then 78 with on loan Jamal Richards, who scored 43. Kent scored 473 in 130.5 overs.
What must have been a nail biting day 4 at Lord’s saw Middlesex achieve a win! They faced 119 overs in all in their 2nd innings, Luke Hollman batting at 5 scored 103 from 192 balls. He and Keeper Jack Davies (59 from 83 balls) put on 93 for the 6th wicket. The most valuable stand of the day? To score 223 and be on the losing side must be devastating, but, what a game of cricket!
Century Makers and 5 Wicket Takers
- Rishi Patel – Leicestershire – 105 from 189 Balls
- Graham Clark – Durham – 160 from 309 Balls
- Ben Brown – Hampshire – 162 from 275 Balls
- Jordan Cox – Essex – 103 from 156 Balls
- James Rew – Somerset – 116 from 189 Balls
- Marcus Harris – Lancashire – 167 from 269 Balls
- Ollie Price – Gloucestershire – 253 from 405 Balls
- Daniel Bell-Drummond – Kent – 223 from 360 Balls
- Luke Hollman – Middlesex – 103 from 192 Balls
- Ethan Bamber – Warwickshire – 5 for 47 in 15.2 Overs
- Harry Conway – Northamptonshire – 5 for 68 in 21.3 Overs
- Ben Sanderson – Northamptonshire – 6 for 72 in 17.1 Overs
- Liam Dawson – Hampshire – 5 for 158 from 48 Overs
- Andy Gorvin – Glamorgan – 5 for 85 from 22 Overs
- Ben Kellaway – Glamorgan – 5 for 101 in 25 Overs
- Toby Roland Jones – Middlesex – 5 for 33 in 14 Overs
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