Welcome to another scintillating round of the County Championship – Kookaburra Style! Records were set and not necessarily in a good way! In Division 1 on Day 1 1758 runs were scored, only 22 wickets taken! As an Essex member and fan whose team had a very difficult game it’s quite hard to write about the endless runs scored across the country. At least this week there were 3 wins! And Lancashire got their first of the season!
Division 1
Hampshire v Worcestershire – Utilita Bowl, Southampton. Jake Libby won the toss for Worcestershire and elected to bat. Match Drawn.
Worcestershire 679 for 7 dec, Hampshire 221 All Out & 294 for 4
Worcestershire members have had a bit of a grim season so far, they must have thought they were in for another couple of similar days when poor Henry Nicholls was out for a 12 ball Duck! Jake Libby and Adam Hose 395 for the 3rd wicket! Hose scored 266 from 253 balls, a strike rate of 105.14. Libby and Gareth Roderick who’d come in at 7 put on 147 for the 6th wicket. Libby carried his bat and finished the innings on 228* from 438 balls, his strike rate was 52.05. Worcestershire declared after 160 overs on 679 for 6. 3 bowlers shipped over 100 runs.
Playing at home Hampshire’s innings was somewhat different! Tilak Varma and Tom Prest put on 80 for the 6th wicket, Tilak scored 56 form 171 balls and had the top score in the innings. Hampshire were bowled out in 90.3 overs for 221. Tom Taylor took 4 for 42.
At the end of Day 3 Hampshire were 86 for 3, still trailing by 372 runs! Hampshire batted for 117 overs and scored 294 for 4 before the game was declared a draw. Captain and Keeper Ben Brown scored 109* from 270 balls, he shared 154 runs with Liam Dawson who scored 60 from 152 balls.
Somerset v Nottinghamshire – The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton. Craig Overton won toss and elected to bat. Match Drawn.
Somerset 379 All Out & 238 for 4, Nottinghamshire 509 All Out
Somerset were 46 for 3 in the 15th over, James Rew who’d come in at 4 and Tom Abell put on 99 for the 4th wicket. Rew scored 58 from 108 balls and Abell made 64 from 166 balls. Tom Banton in at 6 scored 84 from 179 balls. Somerset faced 119 overs and made 379.
Notts were 143 for 3 before Opener Ben Slater and Jack Haynes put on 92 for the 4th wicket. Slater scored 124 from 245 balls. Haynes and Ishan Kishan then made 138 for the 5th wicket, Kishan scored 77 from 128 balls. Haynes and Lyndon James shared a 6th wicket partnership of 105, Haynes scored 157 from 295 balls. James went on to sore 66 from 118 balls and Notts 509 from 163.2 overs.
Somerset faced 1 over on Day 3 and lost Matt Henry, who opened as a Night Watch. They start Day 4 trailing by 126. Somerset batted for 74 overs on Day 4 and scored 238 for 4. Tom Kohler-Cadmore scored 147 from 196 balls.
Surrey v Durham – The Oval, London. Alex Lees won the toss for Durham and put Surrey in to bat. Match Drawn.
Surrey 820 for 9!!!!!, Durham 362 All Out & 262 for no wicket
Rory Burns and Dom Sibley put on 95 for the 1st wicket. And there was then a series of big partnerships. Sam Curran and Sibley put on 170 for the 3rd wicket. Curran scored 108 from 124 balls. Dan Lawrence and Sibley then added a huge 334 for the 4th wicket. Lawrence scored 178 from 149 balls. There was no let ups for Durham as Will Jacks came in next. He and Sibley added 133 for the 5th wicket. Sibley was the 5th to fall, he’d batted for 10 hours and scored 305 from 475 balls, a strike rate of 64.21. Surrey batted on, with Jacks being the 9th wicket to fall, he scored 119 from 94 balls. 4 of the Durham bowlers shipped over 100 runs and poor George Drissell had figures of 1 for 247 in his 45 overs!
Durham’s start looking at the massive total wasn’t the best, they lost opener Emilio Gay in the 4th over and were 10 for 1. They then fell to 114 for 3. Opener Alex Lees and Keeper Ollie Robinson put on 152 for the 4th wicket. Robinson made 79 from 105 balls. Alex Lees scored 125 from 240 balls. Durham faced a total of 124 overs and were 343 for 9 at the end of Day 3, trailing by 477. Durham batted for a total of 131.1 overs in this innings and scored 362. Dan Worrall took 4 for 60.
Day 4 saw the Durham openers bat for 55.4 overs, they scored 262. Alex Lees made 100 from 162 balls and Emilio Gay 156 from 172 balls. The match was an inevitable draw, I do wonder if Surrey were making a point with their innings!
Sussex v Warwickshire – The 1st Central Ground, Hove. Alex Davies won the toss for Warwickshire and elected to bat. Match Drawn
Warwickshire 415 All Out & 260 for 4, Sussex 533 All Out
The Warwickshire openers put on 79 for the 1st wicket. This was an unusual innings in this round, with n centuries, but a set of solid partnerships. Tom Latham and Opener Rob Yates put on 95 for the 2nd wicket. Yates’ was the 3rd wicket to fall, he scored 93 from 142 balls. Sam Hain and Ed Barnard put on 151 for the 5th wicket. Hain made 87 from 118 balls and Barnard scored 66 from 119 balls. Warwickshire faced 107.5 overs and scored 415.
The Sussex openers Tom Haines and Daniel Hughes put on 98 for the 1st wicket. Haines scored 40. His fellow opener Hughes put on 142 for the 3rd wicket with James Coles. Hughes scored 151 from 260 balls. Coles shared a 5th wicket partnership of 73 with Danial Ibrahim, then 59 with Captain John Simpson and 50 with Finn Hudson-Prentice. Coles’ was the 6th wicket to fall, he scored 150 from 294 balls. Sussex were bowled out in 151.4 overs for 533.
Warwickshire faced 24 overs on Day 3 and were 88 for 1, they trail by 30 runs as Day 4 starts. Warwickshire batted for a total of 88 overs and were 260 for 4 when the draw was agreed. Alex Davies ad Tom Latham put on 91 for the 2nd wicket. Davies scored 58 from 102 balls, Latham 53 from 170 balls
Yorkshire v Essex – Clifton Park, York. Tom Westley won the toss for Essex and elected to bat. Yorkshire win by 10 wickets.
Essex 368 All Out & 131 All Out, Yorkshire 459 All Out & 41 for no wicket
I made it to Days 2 and 3 for this one, Outground cricket is always worth making the effort for. Day 1 for Essex saw Dean Elgar and Tom Westley put on 198 for the 2nd wicket. Westley scored 107 from 239 balls and Elgar was out in the next over for 94. Essex then went from 226 for 3 to 368 all out on Day 2. Only Noah Thain in at 8 added a significant number of runs. He made his 50 from 81 balls and just squeezed that in as he was running out of partners. The Yorkshire bowlers shared the wickets.
The Yorkshire openers put on 81 for the 1st wicket and were then 169 for 4. Opener Adam Lyth, who again against Essex this season batted really well, and Matthew Revis put on 53 for the 5th wicket. Lyth was out for 84 from 257 balls. Revis and Ben Coad, in at 10 then added 169 for the 9th wicket as Essex again struggled to deal with a lower order batter. Coad scored 89 from 110 balls and Revis went on to score 150 from 187 balls. Shane Snater took 4 for 93 in his 33 overs. This was the 1st match for a very long time to see Essex without eithe rof their front line bowlers, Jamie Porter and Sam Cook. Michael Pepper, behind the stumps, took 5 catches.
With a very handy lead of 91 Yorkshire took 3 wickets at the end of Day 3 to see Essex still trailing by 58 at the start of Day 4. Essex reached just 131 and were bowled out in 59.1 overs. Jordan Cox top scored with 55 from 108 balls.
It took Yorkshire just 9 overs to score the 41 runs required for a much deserved win.
Division 2
Derbyshire v Lancashire – Queen’s Park, Chesterfield. James Anderson won the toss for Lancashire and elected to bat. Lancashire won by 261 runs.
Lancashire 367 All Out &, Derbyshire 261 All Out & 251 All Out
Lancashire batted for 93.2 overs, scoring 367. In amongst some low scores opener Keaton Jennings and Chris Green put on 106 for the 7th wicket. Jennings scored 106 from 194 balls and Green made 121 from 167 balls. Zak Chappell took 4 for 73.
Derbyshire’s innings was a similar tale, with no major partnerships. Wayne Madsen scored 70 from 87 balls and Martin Andersson made 79 from 107 balls. Derbyshire were bowled out in 67 overs for 261. George Balderson took 4 for 71.
Lancashire’s 2nd innings lasted for 73.5 overs and they declared at 406 for 6. Th openers put on 6-0 for the 1st wicket. Keaton Jennings added 58 from 91 to his tally for the game. Ashton Turner in at 4 scored 121 from 135 balls. Michael Jones scored 63 from 46 balls and GHeorge Balderson 82 from 60 balls.
Derbyshire faced 47 overs on day 3 and lost 3 wickets for 139. They start Day 4 trailing by 374. Derbyshire faced a total of 83.4 overs and were bowled out for 251. Wayne Madsen scored 95 from 158 balls and put on 127 for the 4th wicket with Keeper Brooke Guest. George Balderson took 4 for 54.
Glamorgan v Gloucestershire – Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. Sam Northeast won the toss for Glamorgan and out Gloucestershire in to bat. Match Drawn
Gloucestershire 380 All Out & 255 for 7, Glamorgan 528 All Out
The Gloucestershire openers put on 77 for the 1st wicket. Captain Cameron Bancroft scored 50 from 103 balls. Zaman Akhter and Keeper James Bracey put on 96 for the 7th wicket. Akhter scored 58 from 67 balls and Bracey went on to score 133 from 197 balls.Gloucestershire were bowled out in 120.1 overs for 380.
Glamorgan were another tea, who went big in their 1st innings. They scored 528 in 151.1 overs. Colin Ingram and Ben Kellaway put on 254 for the 5th wicket. Ingram scored 117 from 208 balls and Kellaway 139 from 239 balls. Keeper Chris Cooke and Time van der Gugten put on 82 for the 7th wicket. Cooke scored 75 from 126 balls.
Gloucestershire faced 11 overs on Day 3 and were 12 for no wicket, trailing by 136 runs. Gloucestershire faced a total of 95 overs and scored 255 for 7 before the draw was agreed. Miles Hammond top scored with 84 from 170 balls. Ben Kellaway took 6 for 111 in his 38 overs.
Kent v Northamptonshire – The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury. Daniel Bell-Drummond won the toss and elected to bat. Match Drawn.
Kent 566 for 8 dec & 160 for 8, Northamptonshire 722 for 6 dec
A quick round up of this one. Kent batted for 155.5 overs and scored 566 for 8. Ben Compton scored 676 from 145 balls, Tawanda Muyeye 58 from 139 balls, Daniel Bell-Drummond 158 from 275 balls. Keeper Harry Finch scored 118 from 155 balls.
Northamptonshire batted for 416 overs and scored 722 for 6. The 2nd highest score of the round! Ricardo Vasconcelos scored 100 from 148 balls, Calvin Harrison 122 from 179 balls, Tim Robinson 55 from 71 balls, Saif Zaib 196* from 213 balls, and Justin Broad was 157* from 137 balls. Matt Parkinson had horrible figures of 1 for 200 in his 41 overs.
kent faced 61 overs and were 160 for 8 when the game was declared a draw.
Leicestershire v Middlesex – Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester. Peter Handscomb won the toss for Leicestershire and put Middlesex in to bat. Middlesex won by an innings and 127 runs.
Middlesex 534 All Out. Leicestershire 205 All Out & 202 All Out
The Middlesex openers put on 173 for the 1st wicket as the Kookaburra balls did Kookaburra ball things. Josh de Caires scored 76 from 137 balls. His fellow opener Sam Robson then shared a partnership of 85 with Leus du Plooy for the 3rd wicket. Robson scored 133 from 241 balls. du Plooy and Ben Geddes then put on 61 for the 4th wicket. du Plooy scored 56 from 113 balls. Geddes and Keeper Joe Cracknell added 92 for the 7th wicket,, Cracknell scored 38. Geddes went on to score 137 from 208 balls. Middlesex were out for 534 in 154.3 overs.
As always I kept an eye on scores across the country and things didn’t go quite as you might expect for the team at the top of the table by some stretch! Captain Rishi Patel top scored for Leicestershire with 51 from 86 balls as his team were bowled out in 74 overs for 205. Navy Sharma took 4 for 43.
Leicestershire’s 2nd innings was even shorter as they were bowled out in just 53.2 overs. Logan van Beek was the top scorer with 36. The wickets were shared across the 5 bowlers used and Middlesex had a win within 3 days!
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