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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Tanya Aldred at Old Trafford

County cricket: Harry Brook stars for Yorkshire with century

Cricket Essex Kent Somerset Lord (Person) Derby
Ben Duckett of Nottinghamshire is bowled against Essex.
Ben Duckett of Nottinghamshire is bowled against Essex. Photograph: Steve Poole/ProSports/Shutterstock

Essex are sole winners as rain washes out opening matches

One hundred and seventy eight spectators got an absolute bargain when they paid to get into Headingley on Monday, where Harry Brook lit up a rain-soaked round of Championship matches with an audacious unbeaten 100 in 69 balls for Yorkshire against Leicestershire.

Brook started in racehorse mode, clipping his second ball straight back past the bowler, before embarking on a boundary spree, 16 in total, including two sixes flayed off the front foot. On 99 he was briefly tormented by a flying insect and played and missed at Ben Mike before turning him around the corner, taking off his helmet and gently lifting his head and bat to the sky. Yorkshire then immediately declared so they could they could improve their over rate, which they duly did until the rain returned for one last time.

Brook withdrew from England’s Test tour of India and his gig with Delhi Capitals in the IPL after the death of his grandmother Pauline. This was his first appearance for Yorkshire since July 2022, though he had got his eye in with 72 off 42 balls in a friendly against Durham on Easter Sunday. “He just wants to play cricket with his mates again,” said the Yorkshire coach Ottis Gibson. “This is his comfort in a difficult time.”
Joe Root is scheduled to play for Yorkshire when they take on Gloucestershire in the next round at Bristol – weather permitting.

Essex top the Division One table after beating Nottinghamshire by 254 runs in the one game to produce a positive result. Sam Cook, who celebrated a hat-trick in the first innings and made a useful 29 as nightwatchman, snaffled six for 15 as Notts were sent on their way for just 80, six of the batters losing their stumps.

Sussex nearly forced victory at Hove, reducing Northamptonshire to 170 for nine, Ollie Robinson thundering in and collecting his 400th first-class wicket with a humdinging yorker, before bad light brought things to a close.

Ryan Higgins collected 221 in the run-fest against Glamorgan at Lord’s, with Middlesex’s 655 their second largest total ever; Jake Libby just had time to reach his century for Worcestershire before the rain returned at Edgbaston and centuries for Joe Denly and Daniel Bell-Drummond ensured Kent survived some final day wobbles.

There was no play at Old Trafford and the game at Durham was washed out without a ball being bowled, as was the game between Derbyshire and Gloucestershire – the first time that had happened in a Championship game at Derby since May 1981.

Updated

Close of play scores

DIVISION ONE

Chester le Street: Durham v Hampshire MATCH ABANDONED WITHOUT A BALL BOWLED

Canterbury: Kent 284 and 290-4 DRAW WITH Somerset 403

Old Trafford: Lancashire 202 DRAW WITH Surrey 15-0

Trent Bridge: Essex 253 and 374-9dec BEAT Nottinghamshire 293 and 80 BY 254 RUNS

Edgbaston: Warwickshire 333 DRAW WITH Worcestershire 360 and 295-3

DIVISION TWO

Derby: Derbyshire v Gloucestershire MATCH ABANDONED WITHOUT A BALL BOWLED

Lord’s: Middlesex 655 DRAW with Glamorgan 620-3dec and 31-2

Hove: Sussex 478-9dec DRAW with Northamptonshire 371 and 170-9

Headingley: Yorkshire 264-6dec DRAW WITH Leicestershire 354 and 26-0

Bad light stops play at Hove

… with one Northants wicket left to take and the Northants lead 63. And that may be that.

I’d better start writing up for the paper. Weather notwithstanding it’s been great to be back! Thank to all those who’ve read CCLive over the last four days and those who’ve joined in below the line – we’ll be back on Friday for round two. Good evening!

Four hundred first-class wickets for Ollie Robinson! Thunders in through the gloom and catapults in on Ben Sanderson’s middle stump. Northants 168-9, lead Sussex by 61.

And then there was one…nervy Northants eight down – 28 overs remaining (minus two for an innings change). The current lead over Sussex is 56.

Middlesex DRAW with Glamorgan

Lord’s: Middlesex 655 DRAW with Glamorgan 620-3dec and 31-2

After the drought, suddenly two wickets in 16 overs! But they shake hands after a very run-heavy four days.

Middlesex 11 points, Glamorgan 13

An email! Hello Peter Walker.

“Isn’t it rather unusual that at Derby, the match was abandoned without a ball being bowled, whereas just under 15 miles away, in Trent Bridge, they had almost 4 full days’ play?”

Bizarre isn’t it! I think it is more to do with the superior drainage facilities available at Test ground Trent Bridge compared to non-Test ground Derby than any quirk of weather. All round the counties the groundstaff have been struggling with saturated ground.

Kent draw with Somerset

Canterbury: Kent 284 and 290-4 DRAW WITH Somerset 403

Somerset 15 points; Kent 12.

And there’s the eighth….a third wicket for James Coles.

Oh. While I was writing off everything left as draws, Northants were losing three for 22 and are seven wickets down with a lead of just 45. Eyes to Hove.

And a hundred for Daniel Bell-Drummond!

With a four. Very nicely done from a scratchy start. Is it now polite to call it a day?

Updated

Hundred for Joe Denly!

He beats DBD to it. And that’s back to back centuries for Denly, who scored one against Lancashire at the end of last season.

Warwickshire draw with Worcestershire

Edgbaston: Warwickshire 333 v Worcestershire 360 and 295-3 MATCH DRAWN

What will be known as Kashif Ali’s match.

Yorkshire draw with Leicestershire

Headingley: Yorkshire 264-6dec DRAW WITH Leicestershire 354 and 26-0

Hundreds for Lyth and Brook, four wickets for Milnes and Mike.

Middlesex finally all out for 655

And with that, time to put the kettle on.

Tea-time scores

DIVISION ONE

Chester le Street: Durham v Hampshire match abandoned without a ball bowled

Canterbury: Kent 284 and 228-3 v Somerset 403

Old Trafford: Lancashire 202 v Surrey 15-0 MATCH DRAWN

Trent Bridge: Essex 253 and 374-9dec BEAT Nottinghamshire 293 and 80 BY 254 RUNS

Edgbaston: Warwickshire 333 v Worcestershire 360 and 295-3 MATCH DRAWN

DIVISION TWO

Derby: Derbyshire v Gloucestershire match abandoned without a ball bowled

Lord’s: Middlesex 655 v Glamorgan 620-3dec

Hove: Sussex 478-9dec v Northamptonshire 371 and 105-4

Headingley: Yorkshire 264-6dec v Leicestershire 354

A double hundred for Ryan Higgins!

Lets skip round the other grounds.

Rain at Edgbaston, while at Canterbury Kent’s new captain Daniel Bell-Drummond (68) and Joe Denly (78) are putting the frightners away. Kent 219-3.

At the run-frenzy at Lord’s, a mammoth 221 by Ryan Higgins, with help from JAck Davies and Tom Helm has given Middlesex -649-4- a 29 run lead over Glamorgan.

And Northants are being saved from potential blushes by Keogh and Procter – 93-4 trail Sussex by 13.

Updated

A hundred for Harry Brook!

Tormented by a flying insect on 99, he plays and misses at Ben Mike then turns one round the corner for his hundred! Whips off his helmet, gently raises his head and bat to the skies. Fourteen fours, two sixes, 69 balls. And Yorks declare – according the commentators so they can get rid of minus points accrued for slow over rates.

Since I switched to the Yorkshire stream, either Brook has been stranded at the wrong end or Yorkshire have lost wickets. Two for Ben Mike in the last over, to give him four for the innings plus a 90 not out. Brook on 96…

Essex beat Nottinghamshire by 254 runs!

And there it is, as Jamie Porter bowls Dane Paterson for 7. Sam Cook finishes with 6-14, to go with 4-59 in the first innings. Six of Notts batters bowled in their 80 all out.

11 wickets and (counting) for Sam Cook

Including a hat-trick. Notts now 74-9, losing five wickets since lunch. Only three double figures scores in the innings. Poor Has, not what he dreamt of in his first game as captain.

Brook takes a stride horizontally and casually scoops Scriven for four, like he’s reaching behind the back of the radiator: 65 off 47. Ah but Lyth’s gone, for 101, as Scriven gets his reward.

A hundred for Adam Lyth!

What a joyful window for Yorks fans who have stuck around. Brook going bonkers, Lyth (almost)keeping time with 100 off 98 balls. Yorks 194-3 and at this rate should pocket at least four bonus points

“Here’s a link to a picture of the even more famous snow stoppage of the Derbyshire - Lancs fixture at Buxton in June 1975. Somewhere out there there’s also a picture of Clive Lloyd (167* along with Handsome Frank’s 104) on the pavilion steps surveying the wintry scene with his most lugubrious (and as it’s Hubert then that would be very lugubrious) expression but I can’t find it. Following the snow of course the two Peters cleaned Derbyshire out. There then ensued one of the hottest and driest summers in records.”

Thank you Iain Noble! Great pic. And yes, I fear we will be desperate for cool and damp later in the summer.

Match abandoned at Old Trafford

Match drawn: Surrey 11 points, Lancashire 8 points.

Fifty for Harry Brook!

With a dab into the covers and a low-key single, nice n easy in his first Championship cricket since 2022, and his first red-ball cricket since the fifth Ashes Test last year (85 and 7). Fifty off just 35 balls.

A Northants wobble, both to Seales who already has six in the match. Procter and Nair attend to the repairs, 32-2, trail Sussex by 75.

They’re on at Headingley and Harry Brook is batting. Just two sixes and four fours to get his eye in. 34 not out and counting.

No post-lunch let off for Notts, now 56-6 as Jack Haynes falls to Jamie Porter, shortly after Montgomery became the first, second, third fourth batter to be bowled in the innings. The one question now – will the rain stop Essex?

Lunchtime scores

DIVISION ONE

Chester le Street: Durham v Hampshire match abandoned without a ball bowled

Canterbury: Kent 284 and 68-2 v Somerset 403

Old Trafford: Lancashire 202 v Surrey 15-0 no play yet today inspection at 2.15

Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 293 and 50-4 v Essex 253 and 374-9dec Notts need 285 to win

Edgbaston: Warwickshire 333 v Worcestershire 360 and 237-2 no play yet today

DIVISION TWO

Derby: Derbyshire v Gloucestershire match abandoned without a ball bowled

Lord’s: Middlesex 546-8 v Glamorgan 620-3dec

Hove: Sussex 478-9dec v Northamptonshire 371 and 14-1

Headingley: Yorkshire 72-2 v Leicestershire 354 no play yet today

Sussex have declared with maximum batting points and a lead of 107! A chance for Nothants to prove their mettle.

And mischief at Trent Bridge as Clarke becomes the third man in the innings to be bowled, this time off an inside edge off Snater. Notts 39-4, trail by 296.

Updated

Derbyshire head of cricket Mickey Arthur : “It’s incredibly frustrating. We work and work for the start of the season and then we don’t get on so it’s very deflating. Everything about the last four days has been very frustrating.

“But we kind of had an idea going into this game, you didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to walk out there and think you might not get on.

And GLos head coach Mark Alleyne, whose team’s next game is at sodden Bristol:

“it’s really disappointing that we didn’t get out there. But we do know it’s part and parcel of the English season so as disappointing as it is, it’s not going to derail what we look to do next, we are going to crack on and get ready for the next challenge.


“There are not a lot of positives to take away from not playing, that said for the players to maintain such a strong work ethic and great attitude even though we weren’t playing is a real takeaway for me, they’ve been brilliant these four days.”

Still, at least it isn’t snowing.

An inspection due at one o’clock at Edgbaston. They’ve been stymied by the high winds of yesterday which meant the groundstaff couldn’t bring on the flat covers.

Relative calm has returned to Trent Bridge, thanks to Montgomery and Clarke (32-3). This was the early damage:

Kent, I’m afraid, have lost both openers cheaply. At 32-2, they still trail Somerset by 83.

In Division Two: Ryan Higgins has settled in and is feeding greedily, now 155 not out in Middlesex’s mammoth 515-6. Handshakes mid-afternoon at Lord’s.

And a six-laden fifty for Jack Carson down at Hove, as Sussex forge ahead.

At 439-8, the lead over Northants is 68. If Carson and Robinson could gather another 70, Robinson and Seales might work some magic with the Kookaburra this afternoon?

Updated

Match abandoned at Durham without a ball bowled.

Optimism meets realism.

A Notts-up ! A Notts-up! Simon Harmer at second slip swallows up an edge from Slater, six wickets safely in the pocket for Sam Cook. Notts 18-3 , need 317 to win.

I have no idea who will be appointed to replace Jonathan Agnew, but Ali Mitchell must be the favourite (if she wants it). An ultimate pro.

A view from the outfield:

OOOF and there goes Hameed as well, off stump trailing behind him. Notts 17-2.

After an unprofitable search through the cupboards for elevenses, time for a skip through the Division One grounds. Just two games are in play

Kent are batting again and, as I type, all is well: 0-0, if 119 runs behind. Somerset must be happy with 403 as a first match, first innings attempt (though we remember the wiles of the Kookaburra ball.)

At Trent Bridge, Ben Duckett has just gone cheaply for the second time in the game, bowled, also for the second time in the game, though this time by Jamie Porter. Notts 15-1 need 320 to win. A good morning for Porter, who smashed his first ball to the rope before Essex declared on 374-9.

An inspector calls

and prods the ground with an umbrella. A further inspection at noon at Durham, at 12.45 at Old Trafford.

Somerset made a brisk start to their morning but have lost Kasey Aldridge for 57 – the same score as James Rew made yesterday, starting as he left off last year, with a fluent half century. Somerset 388-8, a lead of 104.

Happy Birthday to the Gaffer!

And we get underway at Hove, Canterbury, Trent Bridge and Lord’s. Best chance of a result in Nottingham, I think.

A fistful of reads with your coffee. This is interesting on Dawid Malan, who I had completely forgotten had quit red-ball cricket, a Jos Buttler IPL century, an IPL round-up and Sophie Molineux returns to the Australian fold.

And if you’re an up and coming cricket commentator in the north east, this could be for you.

This is nothing whatsoever to do with cricket – though I do wish Hundred teams had been named after local threatened species – but thought it might appeal to readers BTL.

Bless their optimistic hearts:

Elsewhere, an 11am inspection at Headingley, now news yet from Old Trafford, and 11am starts expected at Kent, Edgbaston, Lord’s, Trent Bridge and Hove.

Weather watch

If you’re not at a ground which is already saturated, and not in the west, you may be ok.

The Met office verdict: “A low pressure system arrives on Monday giving further wet and windy weather, especially for southwest England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Sunny spells elsewhere, but heavy and blustery showers in the southeast during the afternoon, with hail and thunder possible.”

Scores on the doors

DIVISION ONE

Chester le Street: Durham v Hampshire no play on days one, two or three. inspection at 10am

Canterbury: Kent 284 all out v Somerset 374-7

Old Trafford: Lancashire 202 v Surrey 15-0

Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 293 v Essex 253 and 329-8

Edgbaston: Warwickshire 333 v Worcestershire 360 and 237-2

DIVISION TWO

Derby: Derbyshire v Gloucestershire match abandoned without a ball bowled

Lord’s: Middlesex 460-5-4 v Glamorgan 620-3dec

Hove: Sussex 351-6 v Northamptonshire 371

Headingley: Yorkshire 72-2 v Leicestershire 354

Sunday's round up

Kashif Ali’s dream debut in Division One continued when he knocked up a second century within three days for Worcestershire against Warwickshire at Edgbaston. This one was even sparkier, 133 runs of gumption made at better than a run a ball – his hundred reached, as on Friday, with a six.

Kashif is a graduate of the South Asian Cricket Academy, set up in 2020 to tackle the under‑representation of British Asians in professional cricket – they make up 30% of recreational players but only 5% of the men’s professional game. Kashif was one of seven male Saca players to get a professional contract with a county in 2022‑23, the first to make a first-class century and now the first to score two in a match. He also put his name in lights as the first Worcestershire player to make two hundreds in a game since Daryl Mitchell in 2018, who tweeted: “He gets em far quicker than I ever did.”

A tantalising final day is on the cards at Trent Bridge where a 132‑run partnership between Matt Critchley and Paul Walter lugged Essex out of a sticky situation against Nottinghamshire: from five down with a lead of just 89, to a lead of 289 at stumps. It was cheering news after Feroze Khushi’s bat fell foul of the umpire’s bat gauge on Saturday evening and a potential points deduction awaits.

A gusting, swirling wind stopped play at Old Trafford when the head grounds manager, Matt Merchant, together with the club’s safety officer, decided that it was too windy for his staff to risk lifting the groundsheets that had been put down at lunchtime as a precaution against predicted rain. Shortly afterwards the deluge arrived and washed out the rest of the day, allowing Lancashire and Surrey players to watch the United game just across the way. It was the first time the match referee, Mike Smith, had come across wind stopping play, but he confirmed there was a similar situation at Edgbaston where the head groundsman, Gary Barwell, had said he would not be asking his staff to put heavy flat sheets on in high winds.

A draw looks most likely in NW8 as Mark Stoneman crafted a 97 and Ryan Higgins his first century at Lord’s, to take Middlesex in sniffing distance of avoiding the follow‑on against Glamorgan: 1,080 runs, including Sam Northeast’s 335, have been scored in three days for the loss of just eight wickets on a gentle pitch, aided and abetted by a Kookaburra ball.

Tom Haines fashioned his first championship hundred since September 2022 as Sussex played catchup with Northamptonshire at Hove. James Coles, still only 20, danced to a pretty 78. And Matt Parkinson celebrated his first wicket for Kent, a screaming leg-break, as Somerset’s batters chugged towards a draw at Canterbury.

There was no play at Durham or Derby for the third day in a row, and Harry Brook still awaits his first innings of the season after the day was washed out at Headingley.

Match abandoned at Derby...

…with not a ball bowled. The first time since 1981 that there has been no play in a championship match at Derby.

Preamble

Good morning! It is, I’m afraid, still wet.

But in the brief period of time when I walked the dog and the sun came out, the wood smelled of wild garlic and lovely damp trees and two herons creaked above the trees like the ancient mechanical creatures they are.

Updated

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