Key events
Hmmm, it seems my weather forecasting was a little optimistic this morning, currently there are only four games in play. In better news, my husband reports the first swallow of the year!
In Division One:
Mohammad Abbas is wicketless at The Rose Bowl, as is Kyle Abbott. Rob Yates, fresh from his bowling triumph last week, 21 not out.
No play yet at Chelmsford or Canterbury. Notts have recovered from the early loss of HH, 26-1 v Somerset, who are playing Bashir. And Durham lost Borthwick in the first over, 19-1 v Worcestershire.
Round the grounds, no great tumble of wickets. I’m almost disappointed. Division Two:
Leicestershire 30-0 v Derbyshire
Yorkshire, a heady 41-1 at Lord’s, where it is now raining. Lyth the man out, to TRJ.
No play yet at Wantage Road, and Gloucestershire (49-0) racing away against top-of-the-table Sussex.
The weather is easing at Chelmsford where play will begin at 12.15, with the toss shortly.
Meanwhile, a 16 year old was getting stuck in for Lancashire seconds.
My son, doing Georgraphy revision, tells me there was a 2.5 magnitude earthquake in Derbyshire last night. Perhaps that rattled the slip cauldron, as reported BTL. Leicestershire 22-0
Durham have won the toss and will bat. Looks brisk.
Yorkshire are off like the clappers (27-0 off four) against Middlesex; Notts less so – having won the toss and chosen to bat against Somerset, poor old HH was out third ball for 0.
For anyone who missed it, and it was heartening to hear the news covered widely on sports broadcasts, the eight tier one women’s counties are: Durham, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, Surrey, Essex, Hampshire and Somerset.
And an interesting point I picked up from Raf on twitter today:
Yes, Sussex do have a strong history in women’s cricket, but it was very little to do with the County Cricket Club.
The volunteer-run Sussex Women’s Cricket Association did most of the work, so it’s a bit disingenuous to now say “oh but we developed Holly Colvin & Sarah Taylor”. https://t.co/259S4tWsxx
— Raf Nicholson (@RafNicholson) April 19, 2024
A delayed start at Wantage Road too, and at Chelmsford and at Canterbury.
Rain at Kidderminster. Delayed start
Meanwhile, lots of cricket news this week, including the birth of Wisden number 161. It feels almost nepotistic to plug it but Tim wrote a lovely piece about the Almanack and it’s editor Lawrence Booth.
Just back from a lovely walk in the woods where the sun had decided to come out and everything was that perfect lime green that should be bottled up for November days.
Meanwhile Gary Naylor is at Lord’s: “Greetings from an overcast Lord’s on a ‘bowl first and hope you’re not bowling again before the close’ day.”
“Phalanxes of primary schoolkids were flooding the North Gate as I arrived and they’re now sat shivering in the Grandstand. If a day of Champo cricket in April doesn’t put them off the game for life, nothing will. That said, well played MCC for sorting them out.”
Balls, balls, balls
After two rounds of the Kookaburra, we swap the soggy pile of rags for a shiny Duke. There were some interesting numbers from those first two rounds. In 2023, 427 wickets were taken with seam bowling in the first two rounds at 29; in 2024 it was 233 at 43. By contrast, 4605 balls of spin were bowled in 2023, taking 63 wickets; in 2024 that had increased to 6214 balls and 135 wickets. And there have already been as many double hundreds as there were in the whole of 2023. Thanks to Kevein Howell’s county podcast for these numbers.
Rob Key is a fan of the Kookaburra
Unsurprisingly, Dukes aren’t so keen on the idea.
Fixtures
They’re mostly down south this week:
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex v Lancashire
Southampton: Hampshire v Warwickshire
Canterbury: Kent v Surrey
Taunton: Somerset v Nottinghamshire
Kidderminster: Worcestershire v Durham
DIVISION TWO
Derby: Derbyshire v Leicestershire
Lord’s: Middlesex v Yorkshire
Northampton: Northamptonshire v Glamorgan
Hove: Sussex v Gloucesterhire
Preamble
Good morning and welcome to round three! It’s currently raining in Manchester, and cold, but looks perky elsewhere.
The state of play? Essex top Division One, Notts bring up the rear; while in Division Two, Sussex sit pretty, Derbyshire scrape the barrel. Plenty of time for that to change though, plus the weather to throw a cloudburst into the mix. Also, we await news on Essex’s possible points deduction for the big bat fiasco.
Play starts at 11am BST, the coffee is on, all welcome.
