Surrey fall short on day Kent pay tribute to Derek Underwood
Despite a round of matches without a result, there was an air of high tension at the Oval going into the final hour. After finally dismissing Somerset, Surrey were set 209 in 19 overs. Jamie Smith and Dan Lawrence splattered 14 from the first over, Smith then pancaking Craig Overton into the third tier of the pavilion but Somerset whittled away and there were handshakes with five overs left.
At Chelmsford, the sterling efforts of 18-year-old debutant Jaydn Denly, 41 not out, helped save Kent against Essex. A partnership of 51 in 16 overs with uncle Joe ate up valuable time. Kent wore black armbands in memory of Derek Underwood. And Ollie Price and James Bracey both made solid hundreds to save Gloucestershire from a lick-lipping Yorkshire.
Matthew Potts helped Durham cling on for a draw against Warwickshire at Edgbaston with a plucky maiden first-class hundred, coming in as nightwatchman and finishing 149 not out.
Luis Reece (91) and Brooke Guest (72) ushered Derbyshire to safety against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens in a stubborn stand of 146. And the best efforts of Lancashire’s Nathan Lyon couldn’t tempt Hampshire’s Nick Gubbins (69) into recklessness at the Rose Bowl.
Rain ensured there was no play at Grace Road, Wantage Road or Trent Bridge. This was only the third time that all nine matches have been drawn during rounds in which all 18 counties played – a round in which a record number of scores over 150 (10) were also walloped. The Dukes ball returns next week, to the relief of fast bowlers everywhere.
As they mow the middle in the suddenly piquant sun, it’s goodbye from us. Back on Friday, with Dukes’ balls and the new Wisden. Thanks for your company, as ever. Bye!
Updated
Close of play scores
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 530-7d and 257-4d DRAW WITH Kent 413 and 164-7
The Rose Bowl: Hampshire 367 & 179/4 DRAW with Lancashire 484
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 399 and 151-7 DRAW WITH Worcestershire 355 no play today
The Oval: Surrey 428 and 123-5 DRAW WITH Somerset 285 and 351
Edgbaston: Warwickshire 698-3d DRAW WITH Durham 517 and 293-6.
DIVISION TWO
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 237 & 361-7dec DRAW WITH Derbyshire 198 and 225-3
Bristol: Gloucestershire 263 and 405-6 DRAW WITH Yorkshire 326 & 434-6dec
Grace Road: Leicestershire 338 and 86-1 DRAW WITH Sussex 694-9dec no play today
Northampton: Northamptonshire 552-6d DRAW WITH Middlesex 553-2 no play today
Handshakes at The Oval
The Oval: Surrey 428 and 123-5 DRAW WITH Somerset 285 and 351
Cracking great effort by both sides.
Glos DRAW with Yorks
Bristol: Gloucestershire 263 and 405-6 DRAW WITH Yorkshire 326 & 434-6dec
And then there was one.
Sibley tucks into a short dibbly dobbler and sends it into the hands of bowler Gregory. Surrey 119-5 off 13, enter Atkinson. 90 needed.
Essex DRAW with Kent
Essex (530-7 dec & 257-4 dec) drew with Kent (413 & 164-7)
Burns caught for a duck, with a flick straight into the hands of deep backward square. Surrey 112-4. A second wicket for Aldridge in the over. Next in: Dom “rocket fuel” Sibley.
Overton J out, Rory Burns in. Surrey 112-3, need 97 off 47 balls. Is that the door closing?
Jaunty exhortations from the members, reward for those who’ve sat through the cold wind. In front of me, Bashir fields on the rope in the shadows, hands deep in his pockets. Just three off Gregory’s over with two balls left – and as I tap that Lawrence crackpulls four to reach fifty off 29 balls.
And hello Column Fordham
”Nice to have your updates on the increasingly marginalised world of county cricket and read about discussions of Kookaburra versus Dukes’ balls (obviously the latter should be used in the UK).
”Very sad to hear of the passing of Derek Underwood who was so enjoyable to watch on television as a teenager. His metronomic run-up and action and graceful delivery were fascinating and I tried to emulate his style (albeit right-handed) in the garden or in nets.
”I remember him clean bowling one of the Chappell brothers in an Ashes test way back when and thinking “what a bowler!”. You miss, I hit. And his speed and turn made him virtually unplayable at times. “Deadly” Underwood was a true England great.”
And two balls later Pope takes an extravagant stride horizontally, swipes at Aldridge, and loses his stumps. Surrey 103-2 off 9.4 need another 104.
Just a one-handed cut for six by Ollie Pope.
The rain falls at Chelmsford, play suspended with six overs left and three Kent wickets left to get.
A WICKET AT THE OVAL! Smith toe-ends Gregory’s first ball. Surrey 90-1 off 8.1.
A catch –not! Gregory just in front of the rope parries a ball from Smith up in the air but can’t get forward enough to catch the rebound. Surrey 80-0 from 7.2 overs.
Is this a bazball audition?
The overhead conditions go from sunlit to devilment Surrey 50-0 off five, need another 159 at 11.36.
I’m going to have to start writing up but will pop back…
Bang! Smith cudgels Overton straight for six. After 2.2 overs, Surrey already have 31.
Glamorgan DRAW with Derbyshire
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 237 & 361-7dec v Derbyshire 198 and 225-3
Reece 91 not out, Guest 72 not out.
Glamorgan 11 points, Derbyshire 11 points
Warwickshire DRAW with Durham
Edgbaston: Warwickshire 698-3d v Durham 517 and 293-6.
Matty Potts 149 not out.
Smith advances and crunches Overton for four more. 14 from the first over.
The number of overs to be bowled has reduced to 19 because of the shenanigans, Craig Overton thunders in, eight men on the rope. Smith and Lawrence smear seven off the first two balls.
Updated
Smith and Lawrence are waiting at the bottom of the steps, Somerset meanwhile are back in the dressing room, but now the covers that were half on are being removed. Smith and Lawrence and the umpires are in the middle, and Somerset meander back down the steps.
Updated
Surrey are opening with Jamie Smith and Dan Lawrence…at least I think they are, no, now everyone is running back up the steps… and here come the covers.
Updated
Hampshire DRAW with Lancashire
Handshakes at the Rose Bowl.
Hampshire 367 & 179/4 DRAW with Lancashire 484
Points: Hampshire 12, Lancashire 13
Groundstaff now in position to pull on the covers at The Oval. Rain swirls the ground.
Surrey need 209 in 20 overs to beat Somerset!
OOOOFFF!!!! The final Somerset wicket falls – five for Cameron Steel. Surrey sprint into the pavilion.
Six nailed on draws looking a bit more like three nailed on draws and three with a risque twist: at Chelmsford, The Oval and Bristol.
Oh Somerset, and there’s another….Pretorious is caught having a wild welly at Steel, Sibley hangs on desperately and well.
24 overs left, two to be lost at a changeover, the lead 206. Unlikely, but not impossible.
Excuse the plug for the The Next Test, but here are some tips to green your ground.
Read our latest blog post on how to make your cricket club more sustainable:https://t.co/BmoW2u0zby#GreenSports #SustainableSport
— TheNextTest (@TheNextTest) April 15, 2024
The Cricketer’s Greenest Ground competition 2024 launches later this month – do enter if your club are on the case.
Overton hooks a short ball from Atkinson over the rope, two balls later Gregory makes the most of a full toss. Overton on 49, Gregory into the eighties except… now he isn’t! Caught at backward point off Steel – Somerset 345-8, the lead 202. Nineteen wickets now to the Surrey spin twins.
Updated
Just had this recommended in an email from Raf in her Cricket Research Network email. It’s an ECB-made documentary Cricket Actually.
Time for a final quick walk round The Oval as the players re-emerge.
A hundred for Matthew Potts!
From nightwatchman to three figures… a maiden first-class hundred off 173 balls, but more importantly he’s stayed in all day and Durham are on the brink of holding Warwicks to a draw. Gers a huge hug from (t’other) Ollie Robinson.
Tea-time-ish scores
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 530-7d and 257-4d v Kent 413 and 79-5
The Rose Bowl: Hampshire 367 and 120-4 v Lancashire 484
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 399 and 151-7 DRAW WITH Worcestershire 355 no play today
The Oval: Surrey 428 v Somerset 285 and 320-7
Edgbaston: Warwickshire 698-3d v Durham 517 and 194-4
DIVISION TWO
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 237 & 361-7dec v Derbyshire 198 and 185-3
Bristol: Gloucestershire 263 and 293-5 v Yorkshire 326 & 434-6dec
Grace Road: Leicestershire 338 and 86-1 DRAW WITH Sussex 694-9dec no play today
Northampton: Northamptonshire 552-6d DRAW WITH Middlesex 553-2 no play today
Ollie Price falls at last, for 147, a fabulous effort over 220 balls, and in a partnership of 199 with James Bracey. Gloucestershire must now survive the final session without him, Glos 293-5.
Joe and Jaydn Denly now at the crease together and tasked with holding precarious Kent (70-5) together.
Ooof, a chance grassed at The Oval, as Gregory top edges and the ball flies to Kemar Roach on the rope, who seems to slip, the ball drip through his fingers whereupon it hits his head, before it drops to the floor. A frustrated Gus Atkinson trudges back to his mark.
Updated
Through the Overton window – both brothers on the ground: Jamie after trying to exact a run-out, Craig diving to safety at the striker’s end and landing like a grand piano dropped from a crane.
In Division One, sun outside The Oval window, Somerset bat on. Rain at Edgbaston. At the Rose Bowl, Lancashire have only managed to winkle out the nightwatch Kyle Abbott. Gubbins (50) and Vince batting prettily.
Kent, in black armbands, are crumbling, now against Essex, 37-4. Harmer (1-13) on the prowl.
Notts DRAW with Worcestershire
Notts saved by the rain.
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 399 and 151-7 DRAW WITH Worcestershire 355
Notts 14 points, Worcs 13
Updated
A hundred for Ollie Price!
Three games called off six games left:
In Division Two, Derbyshire have had time to add four runs in a rain affected day; while Gloucestershire are flourishing thanks to Ollie Price and James Bracey. Price reached his fourth first-class century by finely cutting Dan Moriarty for four. Glos 234-6, Yorkshire’s hope dripping away.
And hello Gary Naylor:
“Deadly, with some other big names, would benefit from World Series SuperTests being incorporated into recognised stats. You can see the impact here (note 2011 baseline figures) . The adjusted numbers surely represent the players more fully.”
The union jack on top of the Surrey pavilion is now flying at half mast.
We are saddened to hear of the passing of Derek Underwood. As a mark of respect we have lowered the Union Flag to half mast.
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) April 15, 2024
Underwood took 108 first-class wickets at The Oval including taking 7/50 to win the game late on the final day in the 1968 Ashes.
🤎 | #SurreyCricket pic.twitter.com/Mm9rQGdZww
Before we trot round the grounds, an update from The Oval where Lewis Gregory is playing a captain’s innings, a session and a half left. Somerset currently 294-7, the lead crept up to 151.
And a recommendation from my lovely friend Taramaitri, who is not a big cricket fan but enjoyed this on Radio 4 this morning.
Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace chews over the Kookaburra:
“My verdict on the Kookaburra - we’ve had two good games of cricket played on good pitches, the only time we’ve changed the ball was when it got hit out of the ground and lost, yes the bat has been slightly on top against the ball but the spinners have bowled a lot of overs and while the seamers have got to be skilful to get it off the straight that’s the whole idea of using it, so I’ve got no complaints.
“That said, I’m still not absolutely sure that we need it and I don’t like the fact that every time we lose an Ashes series we have to change English cricket. We should concentrate on what we do well and certainly a lot of bowlers up and down the country will be looking forward to playing with the Dukes again next week.”
And Leicestershire head coach Alfonso Thomas:
“Would you have rather have a guy like a Rushworth taking 70 wickets with the Dukes or average batters making hundreds? And in a Test match played in England in English conditions I would back a Rushworth to bowl a team out but I probably wouldn’t back a lot of the batters who’ve got runs against it here to go to Australia and score hundreds. So that’s where I’m at the moment with it and I think it might have to be a decision that is looked at again.
“I think it could even encourage counties to doctor the pitches to make it a more even contest between bat and ball. You could potentially put a lot of bowlers out of work.”
Northants DRAW with Middlesex
Northampton: Northamptonshire 552-6d DRAW WITH Middlesex 553-2
The players took an early lunch but with rain and winds circling the ground, the umpires called it a day.
Northants 11, Middlesex 12
“Very sad to hear that Underwood has died,” writes AnthonyA “a great and unique bowler.”
He is still the leading English spinner, 42 wickets ahead of nearest rival Graeme Swann. And his 297 Test-wicket haul would be larger still if he hadn’t joined WSC and toured South Africa with the rebels.
Here he is in his own words, speaking to The Guardian in 2006 about one of the uncovered pitches on which he reigned supreme.
Updated
Derek Underwood has died aged 78
After 297 wickets in 86 Tests, slow left armer Derek Underwood has bowled his final delivery. Rest in peace.
One of the greatest to ever play the game. pic.twitter.com/tm1sD9dZde
— Kent Cricket (@KentCricket) April 15, 2024
Updated
Just realised that Somerset had an early post-lunch hitch, losing Aldridge for a stout 42, the new ball and Kemar Roach doing the business.
Big wicket! 💪 Keep going, Surrey!
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) April 15, 2024
🤎 | #SurreyCricketg https://t.co/imWOLpgdy5 pic.twitter.com/r9VnW4DQsS
Just back from a delicious Oval lunch of roasted vegetable skewers with green salad and chips with mayo that were far too delicious to resist. A stroll round the ground to work off a bite of roasted courgette, and a lovely chat with a steward who told me there are squirrels in the green roof and foxes are sometimes seen trotting up into the stands.
Lunchtime scores
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 530-7d and 257-4d v Kent 413 no play yet today
The Rose Bowl: Hampshire 367 and 39-2 v Lancashire 484 no play yet today
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 399 and 151-7 v Worcestershire 355 no play yet today
The Oval: Surrey 428 v Somerset 285 and 252-6
Edgbaston: Warwickshire 698-3d v Durham 517 and 119-3
DIVISION TWO
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 237 & 361-7dec v Derbyshire 198 and 128-3
Bristol: Gloucestershire 263 and 166-4 v Yorkshire 326 & 434-6dec
Grace Road: Leicestershire 338 and 86-1 v Sussex 694-9dec MATCH DRAWN
Northampton: Northamptonshire 552-6d v Middlesex 553-2 no play yet today
Leicestershire DRAW with Sussex
They’ve called it a day at Grace Road after a saturated outfield, heavy showers, and strong winds, making it impossible to move the covers, combined to make play impossible.
Sussex 14 points, Leicestershire 12
Updated
Surrey take the new ball, with ten minutes till lunch. Kemar Roach paws the ground from the pavilion end.
Key event
Ackermann goes for an 100 ball 22 at Edgbaston, but Beddingham isn’t a bad replacement. A sixth wicket in the match for Rob Yates’ lesser-seen spin. Durham 90-3.
“Hello Tanya,” lovely to hear from you Geoff Wignall.
“The mention of Alex Tudor reminded me that my son once faced him, in I think an U17 game against Surrey.
“He reported taking a ball to the ribcage and expecting to be out next ball - because for the next few minutes he could no longer raise his bat.
“It’s a different game that some people play, compared with the quotidian version.”
Super work by Ackermann (21) and the happy-slappy Potts (55) at Edgbaston; Ollie Price (62) and James Bracey (30) at Bristol and Gregory (35) and Aldridge (36) at The Oval.
Half an hour more for Somerset to survive until lunch, as Cameron Steel reels in from the pavilion end.
“Can I just put a word in for the sensational pork scratchings being sold at Bristol yesterday, where Joe Root and the Yorkies were tonking Gloucestershire all around the Seat Unique Stadium.” Of course you may showbizguru.
”Gorgeous long thin crunchy things the likes of which I’ve never tasted before. They may even have been homemade.In fact the price and quality of the grub in general on sale at the ground was top quality and good value for money.
As we’re Adam Lyth and Rooty.”
A wicket at Sophia Gardens, where James Harris has picked up a second, Madsen for 25. Derbys 83-3, a heavy heart behind.
And, while I remember, a stat from yesterday that got ruthlessly chopped from the round-up:
Surrey have already taken more wickets with spin this season (18) than they did in the whole of 2023(17).
A world record!
With a big fat thanks to our Adam Collins and Andrew Sampson for this small but perfectly formed statette:
This Championship round has seen more individual scores of 150-plus (10) than any other, beating the nine made in rounds beginning on 25 May 2004 and 21 April 2022. *
* In rounds starting on the same day
Overton asks for a ball change, and gets another clump of old rags. Sun out now, and a scattering of spectators have settled into their turquoise bucket seats.
The players are on at The Oval and Lewis Gregory has just biffed Jamie Overton for two consecutive fours. It doesn’t look so hopeful at Chelmsford:
🌧️ℹ️ The rain is back at Chelmsford. Covers are coming back on. https://t.co/G9oetwNMdI pic.twitter.com/ujKyrF2yVS
— Kent Cricket (@KentCricket) April 15, 2024
Just three games underway, two in Division Two. At Bristol Ollie Price and James Bracey (who took a fabulous catch to dismiss Joe Root yesterday) are hanging on, Glos 114-4; Reece and Madsen doing the same at Sophia Gardens after the needless run out of Lloyd.
And hello to Gary Naylor who thinks he sees a famous commentator in today’s google doodle of Etel Adnan:
Celebrating Etel Adnan #GoogleDoodle @Google #Doodle #Poet #Artist https://t.co/P333YO4jfe
— RyKas™ (@RyKas) April 15, 2024
It is raining again at The Oval, one big rectangular groundsheet in position. No play before lunch at Wantage Road and at the Rose Bowl.
At Chelmsford, Essex have declared and they’re due to start at 12.15 after the mopping up is completed. Kent will need 375 to win, or have two and a bit sessions to survive.
Hello John Starbuck! “If people are going to take Thoreau as a model, they should remember that at weekends he took his washing home to his mum. Touching, but hardly pioneering. Also, comments on IT whizzkids: you could try the many livestreams by counties to get a better look at scorecard trends. The IT people have plenty of free rein, as you might expect, but they still haven’t fixed the problem of cameras bouncing up and down in high winds, and up-to-the -minute scorecard information is rare, as the changes often lag for a couple of balls.”
Updated
Filthy clouds are racing behind the Surrey pavilion, but, at the moment at least, just passing through. Tim is still cross with the ECB website:
“Re: the earlier whingeing about the ECB’s live scoring
https://www.ecb.co.uk/county-championship/match-centre/104258
”Typical of the poor execution, there is currently no way of telling which games are delayed UNLESS you click on each individual match, which is fine if you’re only supporting one county, but a pain in the proverbial if your interest is more general.
”I know, I know. I should get a life.”
Say the name, Mason Crane!
𝗪𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗧 💪
— Glamorgan Cricket 🏏 (@GlamCricket) April 15, 2024
David Lloyd gone for 24 thanks to a brilliant direct hit from Mason Crane!!! We need 8 more scalps to get our first win of the season ☝️
Derbyshire 43/2 | Reece (16*) and Madsen (0*)
Watch live 👉 https://t.co/qJXdpVN2Jb#OhGlammyGlammy #GLAvDER pic.twitter.com/xHg0ueKCbA
Rain watch
They’re underway at Edgbaston, where Colin Ackermann and Matthew Potts are digging in, and at Cardiff, where Derbyshire have added three and lost none.
Play to start shortly at Bristol, at noon at The Oval, with inspections at 11.30 at Chelmsford and the Rose Bowl, 12.40 at Grace Road and vague delayed starts at Wantage Road and Trent Bridge.
“I do agree with Tim,” taps Richard O’Hagan. “Getting reliable county scores remains a problem – which is of course precisely why I am here. Even the BBC isn’t infallible. Yesterday they were showing Tom Banton as being caught off the bowling of Ben Foakes.”
Richard, I’m very touched that you come to the Guardian blog for accuracy …
The players are out in the middle warming up, and we will have play at The Oval at noon.
And a hearty hello to Mike Daniels in the Grace Road score box: “Covers on here after heavy morning rain.
“I’ve been reading Walden by Thoreau and brought that along as any book that teaches you about how to live a solitary life in a wood cabin by a lake might be relevant today.”
Briliant! I’m afraid I havent read Walden, but I have read the gorgeous children’s picture book Henry Hikes to Fitchburg, which is supposed to be based on a passage from it.
#Thoreau200 for young readers (and old) 'Henry Hikes to Fitchburg' 1st book of 5 picture books by D.B. Johnson based on #thoreau philosophy pic.twitter.com/z1PeHYaDTe
— Dr. Kimberly Alexander (@SilkDamask) July 13, 2017
Updated
A lovely story for a rainy day (or any day, actually) by our own Jim Wallace, who has started a substack Arrangements of White on Green with another super writer, Jon Hotten.
On a new season of hopes and dreams ⤵️ https://t.co/AbMCj5bh33 🟢🪵✍️
— Jim Wallace (@Jimbo_Cricket) April 15, 2024
Thanks to @fisherclassics and @collinsadam pic.twitter.com/zSwLGOp4wK
Rain, rain, rain
Starts delayed at Chelmsford, the Rose Bowl, Trent Bridge, The Oval, Sophia Gardens, Bristol, Grace Road and Northants. Everywhere, in fact, except, maybe, Edgbaston.
An email lands with a splash:
“ Hi Tanya,” Hello Tim Maitland!
“Sorry you’ve been dragged down south... although I do have particularly fond memories of visits to a batting coach at the Oval, during the days when shift work at the BBC World Service made holding down a place in a half-decent (who am I kidding? one-tenth-decent) side almost impossible.
”Irrelevant to this missive, there was one time when said coach was firing chin music at me. He’d just commented that we were up in the mid-80s mph which isn’t far off what the West Indians deliver when some gangly kid burst my bubble by firing Exocets into the net next to me. Tudor, I think the name was. No idea what happened to him.
”On another occasion, our musings were interrupted by a (relatively) young Alec Stewart and Mark Butcher working on improving their technique, which was quite impressive given that it was a) only 11-20 on the first morning of a Championship game, b) that Surrey were batting first and c) they were both in the top three of the order that day.
”Anyway, to get to the point, has anyone else found the latest iteration of the live scoring on the ECB to be at best underwhelming?
”Apart from the fact that there was a chunk of the weekend where it wasn’t working at all, several of the scores on the left-hand side of the page spent most of Sunday with spurious Ds giving the erroneous impression that some highly creative bartering had been going on amongst the captains. Then there are the stupid omissions that seem to be de rigueur when the IT whizzkids roll out something new, like the totals in the scorecard, which despite the established traditions are not accompanied by the number of wickets, meaning everyone has to scroll up and down needlessly or count up the stricken batters themselves.
”It’s not that it’s THAT bad, it’s just that it really should be better.”
I’m actually can’t comment as I tend to use the BBC scorecards but I’m sure someone BTL is gnashing their teeth as we speak.
Updated
Sunlight now glistening on the covers and groundstaff running around with great enthusiasm. Things are looking up (though not for Somerset).
The covers are firmly tethered at The Oval and no sign of life. The scoreboard shines through the gloom.
Shocking news from Australia:
Sunday's round-up
Surrey closed in on victory as Somerset faltered to the county champions’ spinners – not the usual turn of events in April. Dan Lawrence grabbed three with his flat-footed whirlygigs from the Vauxhall End, and there were two for Cameron Steel. Surrey had added 70 in the morning, with Kasey Aldridge picking up the second five-fer of his career. Despite fifties from Tom Lammonby and Lewis Goldsworthy, Somerset finished the day just 61 runs ahead with only four wickets in the bank.
Jordan Cox rolling-pinned 116 from 89 balls against his old county as Essex built up a stout second innings lead; Ben Compton had been last man out for 165 as Kent limped past the follow-on target.
Nottinghamshire once again suffered calamitous subsidence, losing six for 19 in the evening session – this after mislaying six for 34 in their first match. Ben Duckett had skipped to 63 before being the first of Nathan Smith’s four wickets in seven balls. Earlier, Smith had shepherded Worcestershire’s lower order with 58.
Despite knocking up 517, Durham failed to avoid the follow-on against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, and lost two second-innings wickets in the evening gloom. Lancashire were on top against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl thanks to 172 from Keaton Jennings and 99 from George Bell, run out itching for the golden single.
In a round notable for hundreds by captains, Sussex’s John Simpson flashed an unbeaten 205 against Leicestershire which, alongside 134 from Danny Lamb, allowed him to declare on 694 for nine. Chris Cooke’s 126 put Glamorgan in the box seat against Derbyshire at Sophia Gardens.
Idiosyncratic fifties by Joe Root and Harry Brook, alongside 113 from Adam Lyth, helped Yorkshire plunder the Gloucestershire attack before pulling the rug away from their second innings.
Nathan Fernandes became the youngest man since 1862 to make a century on first-class debut for Middlesex. He was joined in three figures by Max Holden (211 not out) and Leus du Plooy (196 not out), the two plundering Northants for an unbeaten 350 for the third wicket.
Scores on the doors
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 530-7d and 257-4 v Kent 413
The Rose Bowl: Hampshire 367 and 39-2 v Lancashire 484
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 399 and 151-7 v Worcestershire 355
The Oval: Surrey 428 v Somerset 285 and 204-6
Edgbaston: Warwickshire 698-3d v Durham 517 and 12-2
DIVISION TWO
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 237 &361-7dec v Derbyshire 198 and 40-1
Bristol: Gloucestershire 263 and 97-4 v Yorkshire 326 & 434-6dec
Grace Road: Leicestershire 338 and 86-1 v Sussex 694-9dec
Northampton: Northamptonshire 552-6d v Middlesex 553-2
Preamble
Good morning from a cold, wet, windy south London, the sort of day when any gap between trouser hem and socks, collar and neck, is calamitous.
The Met office are downbeat: A narrow band of squally heavy rain clearing England and Wales by late morning. Blustery showers, with hail and thunder already in the north spreading to all parts during the afternoon. Feeling colder than of late, with gusty winds.
But play is possible, in parts. It shouldn’t need too big a window for Surrey to polish off Somerset; Sussex to gobble Leicestershire, Yorkshire to run through Gloucestershire, Glamorgan to polish off Derbyshire, Warwickshire winkle out Durham, or even Worcestershire to sew up Notts after last night’s impression of falling masonry. But first of all, coffee.
