Key events
Lunchtime scores
Division One
The Rose Bowl Hampshire 462 v Worcestershire 24-3
Canterbury Nottinghamshire 433 v Kent 60-2
Old Trafford Lancashire 140 and 106-3 v Somerset 146
The Oval Durham 262 v Surrey 155-3
Edgbaston Warwickshire 78 and 52-6 v Essex 232
Division Two
Derby Derbyshire 173 v Middlesex 207-5
Cardiff Yorkshire 361 v Glamorgan 98-6
Bristol Gloucestershire 109 v Sussex 259-6
Northampton Leicestershire 203 v Northamptonshire 250-4
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An email drops:
“Greetings Tanya!” Hello Tim Maitland!
”Did you notice that Kamindu Mendis is continuing his ridiculous start to his test career. He’s scored another century on day one of the first test against the Kiwis in Galle. Isn’t that his fourth test ton in just his seventh s”tart?”[Yes, Cricinfo notes four hundreds, four fifties in seven Tests]
Lunch at OT, lunch round the grounds. Scores to follow.
Bohannon has a pre-lunch rush of blood and directs the ball to gully with the toe of the bat. Lancs 106-3. Enter Flintoff.
Lancashire lead by a round hundred. Bohannon has just passed fiftyfor only the fourth time in 22 innings. Three slips squat. A nice scattering of spectators in the stands, light-weight fleece kind of weather in the sun. Some lunatics with crisply crossed arms are choosing to sit in the shade.
A double ton for Nick Gubbins
Mohammad Abbas gets rid of Libby with his fifth ball – actually add him to the list of Most Valuable Bowlers. Worcs 2-1. Hants all out 462 , with Gubbins unbeaten on a magnificent 201. Virdi 5-133.
And we think Craig Overton has just been warned for running on the pitch. Lancs 92-2.
Andy Bull
Morning from the Oval, where it’s another sunny day and Surrey have just brought up their hundred. Rory Burns is on 55 – was on 55, Chemar Holder bowled him the moment I typed that – so here comes Dan Lawrence to join Ryan Patel. There were, I’m told, already two ball changes in the half hour it took me to get here to my seat after the start of play, one of them lasted exactly nine deliveries which makes you wonder exactly how it ended up in the box of replacements to begin with. I can also report that yesterday’s lunch, the infamous ballotine of guinea fowl, was in fact a part of the club’s sustainability drive. It was cooked for the corporate guests attending a function, and would have gone unused otherwise. Let’s hope they’re being served fillet mignon today. Ooof, that’s a glorious cover drive for four by Lawrence. Ooops. I’ve jinxed him too. He’s been caught behind. Sorry, Surrey. They’re three down, and 150 behind.
After much mithering, Somerset have managed to have the ball changed. debutant Singh and Bohannon batting very well here. Lancs 70-2.
Where Yates, Rhodes and Hain go, Shaikh soon follows. Warwicks a now very off colour 3 for four.
And Surrey have had a mini collapse to callow Durham, Burns for 55, Lawrence for 6. Surrey 112-3.
Fifty for Rory Burns at The Oval – more pennies for his purse – he, and Jennings, passed a thousand runs yesterday. Surrey 92-1, Sibley caught at slip off de Leede.
Kent, oh dear, oh dear. 5-1: Fletcher.
Warwickshire, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear: 2-3: Cook, Cook, Porter.
A lovely read by Taha on Worcestershire:
Glamorgan obviously fancy a bit of spice in their pumpkin latte – 37-4 is probably taking it a bit far though. Two each for Fisher and Coad at Sophia Gardens.
Notts made a hash of their dash for a final point – losing four for seven – 433 all out. Suspect that might be a little too challenging for Kent but…
Elsewhere, Notts are gunning for full batting points –and it looks very much as if they’re going to get them. With nine overs left to scramble them, they need just 27.
Rory Burns has slowed down a little, but he and Sibley press on without too much trouble at The Oval. Surrey 62-0.
Liam Dawson has been winkled out at Southampton, for 110, a third for Taylor, but Gubbins presses on 161 not out. Hants 394-5.
Overton pins Williams, and the crowd sighs. A little press box discussion – purely going on vibes – are there any more valuable Championship bowlers than Craig Overton and Dan Worrall?
Craig Overton thunders in from the James Anderson end and 20 year old Harry Singh carefully presses back. No pressure son. Lancashire 16-1.
Dont shout at me but I do feel some sympathy for the ECB fixture people – this is some of the nicest weather we’ve had all season, in mid September. I actually quite like early autumn Championship cricket – the day-nighters are a crazy idea though, there were people in the crowd in Cardiff wearing hat, gloves and scarf.
Jason Kerr was to be avoided last nightt:
“I’m certainly not happy at this stage. Twenty-one wickets in the day suggests there’s something happening with the surface but to be 58 for one gave us an opportunity to take the game forward and we’ve missed that opportunity.
“I thought Lancashire bowled well on that surface but you need to find a way to absorb pressure and then put it back on the opposition and we didn’t do that. You could argue there were a couple of soft dismissals in there as well and when have an opportunity, you need to be far more ruthless.
“We weren’t sure how the surface was going to play. It looked better than it played but I thought Lewis was exceptional. He led from the front and bowled the lengths you need to on that surface. We had an opportunity to bat past them and we haven’t taken it.
“Taking Keaton Jennings’ wicket in the second innings was huge. He normally scores heavily against Somerset and I think the surface will get better tomorrow as it dries out. “
Scores on the doors
Division One
The Rose Bowl Hampshire 373-4 (Gubbins 153 no; LA Dawson 102 no; JM Vince 57) v Worcestershire
Canterbury Nottinghamshire 393-6 (BT Slater 160; JA Haynes 62; Haseeb Hameed 56) v Kent
Old Trafford Lancashire 140 (KK Jennings 56) and 16-1; Somerset 146
The Oval Durham 262 (CN Ackermann 78 no); Surrey 52-0
Edgbaston Warwickshire 78 v Essex 189-9
Division Two
Derby Derbyshire 173 (HRC Came 66); Middlesex 125-1 (MD Stoneman 79 no)
Cardiff Yorkshire 361 (GCH Hill 90; JH Wharton 63; DM Bess 50); Glamorgan 12-0
Bristol Gloucestershire 109; Sussex 149-4
Northampton Leicestershire 203 (S Budinger 56); Northamptonshire 134-3
Tuesday’s round-up
Twenty-one wickets fell on the first day at Old Trafford in a match crucial to fortunes at the top and bottom of the Division One table. Somerset, starting the penultimate round just eight points short of leaders Surrey, were cock-a-hoop at dismissing Lancashire for 140 by mid-afternoon. There were four wickets each for a steaming Craig Overton and Lewis Gregory on a hybrid pitch that tipped the bowlers a wink. A weary Keaton Jennings was the only man to get above 16, moving past 1,000 runs for the season during his patient 56.
Somerset didn’t look so happy just 40 overs later, bundled out with a lead of just six. George Balderson was the baby-faced destroyer with four wickets, alongside Tom Bailey, whose magical slower ball left Overton cartoonishly bemused. There was just time for Jennings to fall for the second time in the day, as the shadows stretched like backgammon points across the field. It was a high-pressure test for teenagers Rocky Flintoff and Archie Vaughan, who both batted with admirable composure.
At The Oval, a carefree Rory Burns ensured that Surrey rattled along to 52 without loss by stumps after winkling Durham out for 262. Colin Ackermann was criminally stranded on 78 while Emilio Gay’s debut for the visitors started with a 12-ball duck. Liam Dawson and Nick Gubbins both sashayed to centuries for Hampshire against Worcestershire. Essex trio Shane Snater (who took five for 13), Jamie Porter and Sam Cook whistled Warwickshire out for 78 at Edgbaston, while Nottinghamshire took a giant stride towards safety by swatting Kent all around Canterbury, led by Ben Slater’s 160.
In Division Two, leaders Sussex rolled over Gloucestershire for 109 while Toby Roland-Jones helped Middlesex keep the pressure on Yorkshire in the promotion chase with five for 34, before Mark Stoneman led the Derbyshire bowlers a merry dance. In Cardiff, George Hill’s 90 took Yorkshire to a useful 361 all out against Glamorgan.
Preamble
Good morning! It’s another blue, beautiful, bonny day and at Old Trafford both sides are looking busy on the outfield. Huge day today – will Somerset come to regret what Jason Kerr last night called “missed opportunities”
