A sunny Friday with a Bank Holiday coming and my team, Essex, were sitting this round out, having played overf a rainy weekend at Edgbaston. Another week with 4 Division 1 matches and 3 in Division 2.
Division 1
Hampshire v Glamorgan – Utilita Bowl, Southampton. Ben Brown won the toss for Hampshire and put Glamorgan in to bat. Glamorgan won by an innings and 69 runs.
Glamorgan 536 for 7 dec, Hampshire 214 All Out & 253 All Out
Glamorgan were 353 for 1 at the end of Day 1, which is wow! Openers Asa Tribe (45) and Zain ul Hassan put on 79 for that 1 wicket. ul Hassan was 131* and Kiran Carlson 158* at the end of the day, they’d added 274. Zain ul Hassan went on to score 143 from 141 balls. Kiran Carlson made 209 from 232 balls. Sean Dickson was 53* at the end of the Glamorgan innings, Glamorgan were 536 for 7 when Carlson declared. They batted for 132 overs.
Hampshire’s innings was altogether different, they were bowled out in 73.1 overs for 214. Timm van der Gugten took 4 wickets.
Hampshire followed on and they were on 118 for 5 after facing 46 overs, they trailed by 204 at the end of Day 3. Keeper and Csptain Ben Brown scored 96 from 145 balls and prolonged the Hampshire innings, but they were bowled out in 92.5 overts and Glamorgan had their first win back in Division 1.
Leicestershire v Nottinghamshire – Uptonsteel Grace Road, Leicester. Ian Holland won the toss for Leicestershire and put Nottinghamshire in to bat. Nottinghamshire won by 10 Wickets.
Nottinghamshire 490 All Out, Leicestershire 308 All Out & 254 All Out
Openers Haseeb Hameed (42) and Ben Slater put on 97 for the 1st wicket. Ben Duckett (77) and Slater then shared 250 runs for the 3rd wicket. Nottinghamshire were 405 for 4 at the end of Day 1 and Ben Slater was 178*. Nottinghamshire added another 85 runs, Slater was out for 178 from 276 balls. Joe Clarke fell just short of his Century with 97. Nottinghamshire batted for 121.1 overs, scoring 490. Ben Green took 7 for 122 in his 33 overs.
Leicestershire lost wickets, without a decent partnerships forming. Stephen Eskinazi and Ajaz Patel (62) put on 120 for the 9th wicket. Eskinazi scored 100 from 191 balls, his was the last wicket to fall, Leicestershire scored 308 in the 95.1 overs bowled. Olly Stone took 5 for 68 in his 22.2 overs.
The Leicestershire openers Rish Patel (53) and Jake Weatherald (38) put on 99 for the 1st wicket, the next decent partnership of 81 came between Jonny Tattersall (61) and Ben Green (37). Leicestershire were bowled out in 87 overs for 254. Liam Patterson-White took 5 for 53 in his 36 overs.
Nottinghamshire took just 15.2 overs to score the required runs, scored by the openers. Haseeb Hameed (22*) and Ben Slater (52*)
Somerset v Yorkshire – The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton. Lewis Gregory won the toss and put Yorkshire in to bat. Yorkshire won by 75 runs.
Yorkshire 162 All Out & , Somerset 274 All Out
This decision at the toss, worked, especially for Lewis Gregory! Yorkshire lost Adam Lyth (8) in the 4th over and were 17 for 1. Finlay Bean top scored with 35. Joe Root (33) and Jonny Bairstow (34) put on 60 for the 4th wicket. Things went downhill fro there for Yorkshire and they were bowled out for 162 in 43.2 overs. Lewis Gregory took 6 for 43 in his 16 overs.
Somerset batted for 50 overs on Day 1 and were 201 for 3 having been 35 for 3. Opener Josh Thomas was 136* at the end of the day, Tom Abell was 41*. Thomas didn’t add to his overnight score, 136 from 155 balls. Tom Abell reached 50. Somerset faced 78.4 overs and were bowled out for 274. Jack White took 4 wickets.
Yorkshire lost both openers by the 12th over and were 43 for 2. Joe Root (64) and James Wharton put on 123 for the 3rd wicket. Wharton missed out on his Century scoring 92 from 153 balls. Yorkshire were 365 for 9 at the end of Day 3. They led by 253 with 1 wicket remaining. Yorkshire added just 6 runs on Day 4. Craig Overton took 4 wickets.
Somerset had a couple of useful partnerships on Day 4, Opener Josh Thomas (57) and Tom Abell (41) put on 64 for the 4th wicket. Thomas and Thomas Rew (30) added 51 for the 5th. Joe Root took 4 wicketsb to help finish off the Somerset innings as they were bowled out in 69.2 overs for 184. A 1st win in Division 1 for Yorkshire.
Surrey v Sussex – The Oval, London. Rory Burns won the toss for Surrey and put Sussex in to bat. Surrey won by 8 Wickets .
Sussex 358 for 9 & 277 All Out, Surrey 622 All Out & 15 for 2
Sussex fell to 92 for 7, Jordan Clark took 5 of those wickets! Fynn Hudson Prentice (53) and Jack Carson put on 75 for the 7th wicket. At 167 for 8 the toss decision had worked. However Carson who scored 105 from 149 balls and Ollie Robinson who was 100* from 152 balls added 173 for the 9th wicket. I imagine Ollie Robinson declared once he reached his Century, Sussex were on 358 for 9, I’ve since found out he was batting with a hand that had been hit and he was in some pain. They batted for 83.2 overs.
Surrey faced 10 overs and were 19 for no wicket at the end of Day 1. They batted for a total of 158.2 overs. Rory Burns (77) and Dom Sibley put on 148 for the 1st wicket, Sibley and Ryan Patel (67) added 109 for the 2nd, Sibley’s was the 6th wicket to fall, he’d batted for over 8.5 hours scoring 187 from 377 balls. Adam Thomas, who is only 19, and Sean Abbot (76) shared a partnership of 161 for the 8th wicket. Thomas’s was the 9th wicket to fall, he scored 120 from 181 balls. Jack Carson took 4 wickets. Surrey batted for 158.2 overs, and scored 622.
Sussex faced 31 overs on Day 3 and were 76 for 4, they went into Day 4 trailing by 188 runs. There was some resistance from the Somerset lower order again, with Charlie Tear (61) Jack Carson (48) and Ollie Robinson (42). But Sussex were bowled out in a total of 85 overs for 277.
Surrey lost 2 wickets to James Coles in the 4 overs iot took to score the 15 runs they required to get their 1st win of 2026.
Division 2
Kent v Derbyshire – St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury. Wayne Madsen won the toss for Derbyshire and put Kent in to bat. Kent won by 225 Runs.
Kent 352 All Out & 335 All Out, Derbyshire 304 All Out & 158 All Out
Kent had their bext batting performance of the season so far, They lost opener Ben Dawkins (6) in the 8th over and were 21 for 1. Zak Crawley (44) and Sam Northeast (28) put on 51 for the 2nd wicket. Captain Daniel Bell-Drummond was the key to this innings, he scored 129 from 142 balls. He and Keeper Chris Benjamin (56) shared a partnership of 126 for the 6th wicket. Kent batted for 80 overs and were All Out for 352. Rory Haydon took 5 for 82 in his 23 overs.
Derbyshire lost wickets at a steady pace, before Keeper Brooke Guest (28) and Luis Reece (84) put on 45 for the 6th wicket. Derbyshire were bowled out in 66 overs. Keith Dudgeon took 4 wickets.
Kent fell to 55 for 5, before Tawanda Muyeye (36) and Keeper Chris Benjamin put on 67 for the 6th wicket. Bejamin and Joey Evison (88) shared a partnership of 184 for the 7th wicket. Benjamin scored 123 from 187 balls and his was the 9th wicket to fall. Kent batted for 92.3 overs, scoring 335.
Derbyshire batted for 10.5 overs on Day 3 and they were 19 for 1 at the end of the day. They will require 365 runs to win, Kent will require 9 wickets. Liuis Reece was in the runs again abnd he reached 67, but Derbyshire were bowled out in 52.1 overs to give Kent their 1st win of 2026. Matt Milnes took 6 for 12 in his 15 overs!
Middlesex v Durham – Lord’s, London. Leud du Plooy won the toss for Middlesex and elected to bat. Match Drawn.
Middlesex 430 All Out, & 146 for 4, Durham 567 All Out
Opener Josh de Caires (8) was out in the 10 over and Midlesex were 3 4for 1. Opener Sam Robson (87) and Max Holden (65) put on 102 for the 2nd wicket. Ryan Higgins (57*) and Keeper Joe Cracknell (42) put on 72 for the 6th wicket. Middlesex were 272 for 6 at the end of Day 1. Higgins and Zafar Gohar (56) put on 125 for the 7th wicket. Higgins was out for 131 from 273 balls, his was the 7th wicket to fall. Middlesex batted for 141 overs and scored 430.
Durham were 19 for 1 in the 6th overs having lost opener Alex Lees. His fellow Opener Ben Mckinney (58) and Emilio Gay put on 133 for the 2nd wicket. Gay scored 129 from 198 balls and he and David Bedingham put on 153 for the 3rd wicket Bedingham went on to score 147 from 226 balls and he and Kasey Aldridge (99) shared a 6th wicket partnership of 79 for the 6th wicket. Durham batted for 136 overs and were on 530 for 8 at the end of Day 3, Aldridge was out for that 99. Durham batted for a total of 141.5 overs and were 567 All Out. Ryan Higgins took 4 wickets.
Middlesex batted for 50 overs on Day 4, Max Holden was 77* when the match was declared a nailed on draw.
Northamptonshire v Worcestershire – County Ground, Northampton. Brett D’Oliveira won the toss and elected to bat. Northamptonshire won by an innings and 177 runs.
Worcestershire 306 All Out & 114 All Out, Northamptonshire 597 for 7 dec
Worcestershire lost wickets steadily but Keeper Gareth Roderick who’d come in at 3 was 164* from 212 balls at the end of the innings. He and Oliver Hannon Dalby (26) who came in at 11, put on 120 for the last wicket. Worcestershire batted for 79.1 overs and were 306 All Out. Ben Sanderson took 4 wickets.
Northamptonshire faced 14 overs on Day 12 and were 40 for no wicket. Luke Proctor was out when Northamptonshire were on 49. Opener Ricardo Vasconcelos and Saif Zaib (76) put on 101 for the 4th wicket. Vasconcelos scored 115 from 226 balls. James Sales and George Bartlett (54) shared a 6th wicket partnership of 105. Sales and Keeper Lewis McManus put on 192 for the 7th wicket. McManus scored 104 from 137 balls. Sales was 146* from 209 balls when Luck Proctor declared, Northamptonshire were on 597 for 7, they batted for 152 overs.
Worcesetshire’s 2nd innings was done and dusted in just 44.1 overs. Ben Sanderson bowled his team to a win, taking 7 fro 31 in his 17 overs. Northamptonshire’s 1st win of the 2026 season, and they did it in some style!
Century Makers and 5 Wicket Takers
- Gareth Roderick – Worcestershire – 164 from 212 Balls
- Ricardo Vasconcelos – Northamptonshire – 115 from 226 Balls
- James Sales – Northamptonshire – 146 from 209 Balls
- Lewis McManus – Northamptonshire – 104 from 137 Balls
- Zain ul Hassan – Glamorgan – 143 from 341 Balls
- Kiran Carlson – Glamorgan – 209 from 232 Balls
- Ben Slater – Nottinghamshire – 178 from 276 Balls
- Stephen Eskinazi – Leicestershire – 100 from 191 Balls
- Josh Thomas – Somerset – 136 from 155 Balls
- Jack Carson – Sussex – 105 from 149 Balls
- Ollie Robinson – Sussex – 100 fron 152 Balls
- Dom Sibley – Surrey – 187 from 377 Balls
- Adam Thomas – Surrey – 120 from 181 Balls
- Daniel Bell- Drummond – Kent – 129 from 142 Balls
- Chris Benjamin – Kent – 123 from 187 Balls
- Ryan Higgins – Middlesex – 131 from 273 Balls
- Emilio Gay – Durham – 129 from 198 Balls
- David Bedingham – Durham – 147 from 226 Balls
365 Sporting Days - New! 