Tanya Aldred's report
With a bound down the pitch, and a slammed six into the pavilion, Sam Curran had what Tiggers like best – his first hundred in senior cricket, seven years and 120 first-class innings after his debut. He leapt once, twice, rabble-roused his bat towards the dressing-room, kissed his helmet and grinned.
There was time to smash 19 runs off one over from Jacob Duffy before he was bowled by George Linde for 126. Surrey eventually declared on 673 for seven, once Will Jacks had collected the fourth century of the innings – the first time that had happened since 1947. Curran then bowled 2022 run machine Ben Compton in the fourth over, but Kent rebuilt thanks to a half-century from Daniel Bell-Drummond.
In a see-saw game at Chelmsford, Simon Harmer took eight for 46 – the best figures in the 2022 Championship - and then shovelled 61 to plonk Essex into a strong position. But it didn’t go all their way; Liam Dawson took seven for 38 before Felix Organ spanked Harmer for three sixes as Hampshire chased 299.
Sussex’s tricky season continued as Anuj Dal (146no) and Mark Watt jollied Derbyshire past 500 and onto a declaration. Sam Conners removed both openers but Tom Alsop and Mohammad Rizwan (54no) provided some stoicism.
Rain made batting difficult at Wantage Road; while Lancashire still trail Gloucestershire, despite 94 from Keaton Jennings. Mark Stoneman was the only batter to thrive in Middlesex’s reply to Nottinghamshire’s 551-8 declared, which included a century for Lyndon James.
Thirteen wickets fell at New Road as Glamorgan were skittled for 139, Joe Leach taking six for 44, before Worcestershire finished the day on 147 for six, a lead of 279.
Updated
Time for me to run for my train north - thanks for all the messages and comments, see you tomorrow!
And before we go, our Mes in action.
Time for me to write up, pls stick around though BTL.
Division Two
At Trent Bridge, Mark Stoneman has made 31 of Middlesex’s 42-3. Robson, Eskinazi and Davies all gone for single figure scores. The deficit 509.
Tom Alsop and Mohammad Rizwan have taken Sussex from 27-2 to 108-2 at Hove.
And Worcestershire’s lead is 224, despite a couple of wickets for Hogan. 92-2.
We spot a banner over in the stands:
“No City Franchises, save our Counties.”
A last look round the grounds before I write up:
Division One
Bell-Drummond and Leaning prodding Sam Curran back up the pitch: Kent 70-2, trail by too many.
Harmer (52) and Snater now crushing Hampshire’s dreams, Essex 206-8, a lead of 281.
Warwickshire’s Sibley and Davies are strapping in to follow Northamptonshire’s 451. Warwicks (who I’ve just noticed have dropped (pls tell me if I’m wrong) last year’s wunderkind Rob Yates), 21-0.
And Lancs plough on: Jennings 87 not out; Bohannon 34 before being bowled by Payne.
Watching Rory Burns standing at slip, hands in his pockets, hair in a bun. Is his time gone? Has BazBall ruled him out? Or is there space for a shifter and a nurdler in re-set England?
And a huge high five to Chance to Shine today - just reward for their hard work.
Huge congratulations 🥳 to @_laurenbell2 and @Wongi95
— Chance to Shine (@Chance2Shine) June 27, 2022
who have today become the first full #ChancetoShine participants to play 🏏 for England. pic.twitter.com/69tLS0aOPi
Test squad v India
As the New Zealand series - but with added Sam Billings. Crawley survives.
Ben Stokes (Durham) captain
James Anderson (Lancashire)
Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire)
Sam Billings (Kent)
Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
Harry Brook (Yorkshire)
Zak Crawley (Kent)
Ben Foakes (Surrey)
Jack Leach (Somerset)
Alex Lees (Durham)
Craig Overton (Somerset)
Jamie Overton (Surrey)
Matthew Potts (Durham)
Ollie Pope (Surrey)
Joe Root (Yorkshire)
Denly bowled! Nipped between bat and pad, 38 pretty runs, but not enough. Kent 55-2.
Updated
Notts have declared at Trent Bridge. Middlesex 2021 wouldn’t have stood a chance. Middlesex 2022? A feather.
Has anyone read ex-county cricketer Patrick Foster’s book on his gambling addiction, Might Bite? Crazy insight into a world I had no idea about - the mad excesses and the panicking desperation. A real eye opener.
Kent’s torture is about to recommence at The Oval.
There was time for Shane Snater to wiggle nine runs off an over from Brad Wheal, before the rain drew by at Chelmsford.
Worrying about that wiry grey hair? Dont bother:
Issy Wong is the first England Test cricketer who is younger than Wikipedia#ENGvSA
— Mark Puttick (@GryllidaeC) June 27, 2022
Tea-time ish scores
Division One
Chelmsford: Essex 238 and 155-7 v Hampshire 163
Bristol: Gloucestershire 337 v Lancashire 102-1
Northampton: Northants 451 v Warwicks 1-0
The Oval: Surrey 673-7dec v Kent 45-1
Division Two
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 516-7 v Middlesex
Hove: Sussex 36-2 v Derbyshire 551-8 dec
New Road: Worcestershire 271 and 43-1 v Glamorgan 139
Things will restart at The Oval at 4.30 ,with 33 overs remaining.
The groundstaff are contemplating the covers at The Oval where they’ve taken an early tea. The rain has stopped so it depends how good the drainage is.
Rossington is out at Chelmsford (154-7); Sam Conners has already unpicked Sussex’s opening pair (27-2); Notts pass 500. And at Bristol, Keaton Jennings (63 off 76) has caught the express; Josh Bohannon (18 off 91) the jalopy. Lancs 89-1.
Ali on Eoin’s adieu:
Adam Rossington’s fifty has taken Essex to 139 for six. Harmer keeping his spinning fingers warm with a rapid 23. The Essex lead 214.
At The Oval, rain. Lots of rain.
In Division Two:
Derbyshire have declared on 551 for eight. Apologies to Anuj Dal whose 146 not out passed me by. Three wickets to Delray Rawlings and I sniff trouble for Sussex.
Worcestershire are batting again at New Road and have lost Ed Pollock cheaply, caught off Hogan for five. Worry not though, Ed Barnard is in town. Worcs, 7-1, lead by 139.
And despite the best efforts of Tim Murtagh, who dismissed Mullaney and Moores, Notts are 465-5. Tea-time declaration?
And at Headingley, Jonny Bairstow takes England to a seven wicket win, with a six. You have to feel for Harry Brook - he hits a golden run, and YJB goes one better.
Ahem, Glamorgan? All out 139. Joe Leach six for 44; Barnard, fresh from his century, two for 2. Only three scores in double figures - Ed Byrom’s 57 the standout. Worcestershire, implausibly, lead by 132, having been 63 for five.
Big thanks to Rupert at Surrey CCC who brings Bon Bon Bum lollies to the press box, a Colombian delicacy. Mine is tangerine and somewhere in middle is some bubble gum - or maybe that’s the Kent line-up.
Four slips await Worrall. 17-1.
Round Division One:
At Chelmsford, Adam Rossington has decided that defence is pointless. Three sixes later he is 32 not out. Essex 91-5, a lead of 166.
Jennings and Bohannon have eased Lancs to 21-1 at Bristol.
Kent’s best hope, Ben Compton, plays on against Sam Curran. Kent in the mire, 9 for one. Compton still eight runs short of a thousand runs.
And miserable weather at Northampton has delayed the start till 3.10.
Worrall finding some early spice with his first three balls..
Things continue to be spicy at Chelmsford, Essex now 59 for five. Walter and Pepper both dismissed for one. Organ three for 20; Dawson two for 17. The Essex lead is 134 which, the pitch suggests, is plenty.
And a fourth hundred of Surrey’s innings, with Will Jacks joining the three-figures club with a four darting through the leg side - and that’s the DECLARATION! Surrey 673-7. Now then Kent.
Updated
A 22-ball three is all Luke Wells has to show for his day, bowled by Tom Price. Lancs 7-1.
Falafels with garlic mayonnaise - very yummy. Gus Atkinson drives down the ground for another four.
And after all that wait at Trent Bridge, Steven Mullaney falls in the first over, for 79. Lyndon James then strides to his second hundred of 2022. Notts 398-5.
Time for something quick to eat, back soon.
Lunchtime scores
Division One
Chelmsford: Essex 238 and 45-3 v Hampshire 163
Bristol: Gloucestershire 337 v Lancashire 3-0
Northampton: Northants 420-6 v Warwicks No play before lunch
The Oval: Surrey 635-6 v Kent
Division Two
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 378-4 v Middlesex No play before lunch - start due 1.30pm
Hove: Sussex v Derbyshire 430-7
New Road: Worcestershire 271 v Glamorgan 93-6
Not to sound obsessed with Sam Curran but that was his first hundred not just in the Championship but in any senior cricket.
💥🏏💯 Here's the moment Sam Curran went to his hundred. Fantastic call by @backandacross too! pic.twitter.com/D4BWDNqrXU
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) June 27, 2022
Ok, who did what to the Chelmsford wicket, and how? Felix Organ fails by a fingertip to pocket a hat-trick as a Dan Lawrence blow slips from his grasp. Essex now 39-2 - a lead of 114 - after Hampshire were bowled out for 163 - Harmer eight for 46.
Richard Dixon, take a bow.
@tjaldred I think I've managed to sum up Day 1 at the Oval in a photo. pic.twitter.com/pfPhim4pGm
— Richard Dixon (@drdickdixon) June 27, 2022
An ecstatic Curran scores 19 off a single over from Duffy (which flows for 27 in total including noballs and byes) before skying Linde to backward point where Milnes holds on for dear life. The ground rises: 126 effortless runs off 75 balls.
Right, elsewhere:
And just before that happened, Will Jacks had skipped to the fifth Surrey half century of the innings - off 49 balls. In the corresponding game at Beckenham, where Surrey rattled up 671-9 declared, eight players made half centuries, but none made hundreds.
Curran’s hundred came in his 120th first-class innings. Moving to see how much he meant to him, after all he has achieved and at such a young age.
A first first-class hundred for Sam Curran!
And he’s cock-a-hoop! Leaps for joy, once, twice, throws his bat (without letting go). Sheer delight and it is wonderful to see. Gets a huge round of applause and has the breath squeezed out of him by Will Jacks. Sixty-four balls, 12 fours, three sixes. And the rain starts to fall. Surrey 545-5.
Updated
Simon Harmer rolls up his sleeves for the rest of the season. Twelve wickets before today; seven for 44 in Hampshire’s calamitous first innings - 161-9.
🖐 @Simon_Harmer_ gets his fifth of the innings
— LV= Insurance County Championship (@CountyChamp) June 27, 2022
Watch Harmer bowl here: https://t.co/saoT9unVax#LVCountyChamp pic.twitter.com/wHVQu4emf2
And as Surrey make hay at The Oval, the floodlights come on and the skies darken.
The penultimate round of Blast games starts on Friday, with all to play for. Gary Naylor knows his onions.
I would ask Kent fans whether avoiding relegation counts as a successful season - but of course we don’t know how many teams will go down, and what they will go down to. Surrey rocketing along - Jacks has caressed nine fours in his morning’s 40; Surrey 504-9.
At Hove, Wayne Madsen trudges away for 176 - Derby 356-6; and, just to the west, another overnight centurion, Chris Dent, follows, lbw to Tom Bailey for 110. Gloucestershire 287-8.
At Taunton, there is a cream tea’s worth of Test debutants. For England: Lauren Bell, Alice Davidson-Richards, Emma Lamb and tyro speedster Izzy Wong. For South Africa, practically a full team: Andrie Steyn, Laura Wolvaardt, Lara Goodall, Sune Luus, Anneke Bosch, Nadine de Klerk, Sinalo Jaffa, Tumi Sekhukhune ad Nonkululeko Mlaba
Follow it all here with Daniel Gallan:
Sunday's round-up
Two superb centuries, by Surrey old and Surrey young, swept the Division One leaders past 400 and to maximum batting points. Hashim Amla, 39, had been averaging 21 this season but on a good pitch, against a weary and sometime wayward Kent bowling attack, form suddenly hit his veins, ball yomping back over the boundary, easy as you like.
At the other end Ben Geddes, just 20 and in only his third Championship game, made his first Championship century. Both fell for 124, and were ushered off to standing ovations from an excellent crowd sprinkled liberally about The Oval and blissed out by June.
Jamie Smith also raced to fifty, before being bowled in the last over of the day, and with Sam Curran coming on like a super sub, screaming to an unbeaten 26-ball fifty with a six off Jacob Duffy, things had progressed a quite a lick. They too play Baz-ball, who toil in the County Championship. It was a long day for Kent captain Jack Leaning, who had looked at the green-tinged pitch and plumped for a bowl.
Things proceeded nearly as quickly at Northampton, where Emilio Gay and Josh Cobb jogged to rapid half centuries against the county champions; while Rob Keogh blasted 130 in quick-time. A late unbeaten 55 from Lewis McManus rubbed salt in the eye.
At Chelmsford, four late wickets by Simon Harmer on a spin-friendly surface had Hampshire in a fix at 68 for six. Earlier in the day they had been cock-a-hoop to have Essex 105 for seven, until Shane Snater, fresh from an England mauling with the Netherlands, made a free-flowing 71.
Derbyshire’s Shan Masood became the first player to pass a thousand runs in 2022 during his 46 against Sussex, lbw to the returning Steven Finn, while Wayne Madsen finished unbeaten on 171.
Haseeb Hameed picked up his second century of the season for Nottinghamshire, in the top of Division Two table clash against Middlesex, building a firm base for Lyndon James and Steven Mullney to put on 151 for the fourth wicket.
Three wickets for left-armer Jack Morley gave Lancashire the upper hand against Gloucestershire at Bristol, despite a hundred from Chris Dent; and Ed Barnard saved the day for Worcestershire yet again, with a brilliant 131 against Glamorgan, picking up the debris from 63 for five. Joe Leach then took three for 21 to reduce Glamorgan to 32 for three.
Updated
Will Jacks looking frisky. Surrey 469-5.
Rain round the grounds: play should start at New Road after an 11.30 pitch inspection and soggy delays at Northampton and Trent Bridge.
A very good Monday crowd here at The Oval, with the Surrey flag flapping away on top of the pavilion next to the union jack. A quieter start to today, than yesterday ended.
At Headingley, it is raining. Follow it drop by drop here:
England one-day captain Eoin Morgan set to retire
The end of an era. But what a ride!
Updated
Start of play scores
Division One
Chelmsford: Essex 238 v Hampshire 68-6
Bristol: Gloucestershire 279-7 v Lancashire
Northampton: Northants 420-6 v Warwicks
The Oval: Surrey 445-5 v Kent
Division Two
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 378-4 v Middlesex
Hove: Sussex v Derbyshire 339-5
New Road: Worcestershire 271 v Glamorgan 32-3
Preamble
Good morning from The Oval, where there is a slice of blue splitting the clouds. After yesterday’s fun and japes, Surrey will restart at 445 for five , Sam Curran 53 not out and doing what Tiggers like best.
