Cold air from the Baltic brought a chill to the final day of Championship cricket before mid-May. Surrey and Essex at The Oval trundled to a draw, with Surrey declaring at 324-6 at 4.40 in order for Rory Burns to bowl six balls to give the over rate a boost. Burns had made a nuggetty 98 before squeezing Simon Harmer into the hands of Ryan ten Doeschate and hammering his bat into the turf in disgust. Then Surrey’s extraordinary line-up of young batsmen had a flutter - Ollie Pope made a quite charming 69 of quick-step drives, cuts and hooks, Ben Foakes casually flicked a six to get off the mark, and Will Jacks finished with 54 to go with his 88 in the first innings. Simon Harmer took 5 for 88.
Yorkshire roared up to second in the Division One table with an innings and 44 runs victory over Hampshire. Three quick wickets for Ben Coad just after elevenses suggested a lunchtime finish, but Yorkshire were detained by a 131-run partnership for the ninth wicket between Keith Barker (64) and Liam Dawson (92). Afterwards Yorkshire captain Steve Patterson was full of praise for the efforts of England captain Joe Root: 297 runs in three innings.
Kent won their first game in Division One since 2010, but not without a scare. They spent most of the day trying to rid themselves of Warwickshire’s eighth-wicket pair of Tim Ambrose (107) and Henry Brookes (84), who put on 145. Set 123 to win after tea, Kent got there for the loss of two wickets - with forties for Zak Crawley and Matt Renshaw.
In Division Two, Australian Glenn Maxwell’s offbreaks were Lancashire’s secret weapon as he took 5-40 to bowl out Middlesex at Lord’s, despite the best efforts of Sam Robson (63) and Dawid Malan (51). Set 39 to win, Lancashire lost 3 wickets before, aptly, Haseeb Hameed and Rob Jones took them over the line.
Charlie Morris took 7-45, his career-best bowling figures, as Worcestershire beat Leicestershire by an innings and 18 runs at Grace Road. Tom Taylor and Colin Ackermann delayed the inevitable with hard-working half-centuries.
At the Riverside Sussex knocked off the 68 they needed to beat Durham with ease, thanks to an unbeaten century for Stiann van Zyl. While at Bristol, Derbyshire batted out the day against Gloucestershire with an unbroken partnership of 278 between double-centurion Wayne Madsen and a century from Alex Hughes.
And finally to Sophia Gardens, where record followed record, and Northants were finally bowled out for 750. Rob Keogh made 150 - the third centurion of the innings, and the sixth of the match. Every member of the Glamorgan side, other than the wicket-keeper, had a bowl.
Well, that kept things interesting. I’m sure someone down in the depths of Guardian analytics has the numbers on a Lancs-up - Paul Allot might like a read sometime.
Well done to Lancashire and Kent, and Yorkshire, Worcestershire, Sussex and Somerset. Andthanks to all of you for your company, fun and knowledge BTL.
That’s it from CountyCricket Live till May 14. See you then, with factor 50 and a double-decker. Good Evening!
OOoooh the charmingly in-touch Malan’s gone too - a third for Maxwell. Just Simpson, Roland-Jones, Finn and Murtagh between Lancashire and a first win.
Cancel that! Roland-Jones gone too, a third for Anderson.
Look the other way and Wayne Madsen not only passes 100 but gets close to 150. Bravo! What an innings. 140 not out of Derby’s 288-3. Hughes unbeaten on 74.
“What can Sussex take from their Durham victory? One lost, one won so far, but they should be better than that. And, do you think we’ll see a lot of “reflect”ing in Sport over the next week or two? May’s suggestion to MPs possibly having useful currency beyond parliament!
It hasn’t really happened for Gillespie at Sussex yet (T20 apart) -no seems entirely sure why. And they could have been in big trouble against Durham too if Luke Wells hadn’t stuck around. Most people seem to have pencilled them in to go up. My money is on Worcs, Lancs and one other. Reflecting? I reckon that happens in the off season!
Middlesex creep, belly-to-the-groud, past Lancashire at Lord’s. A lead of 2. Malan 40 not out. Glenn Maxwell’s golden arm got Holden and Morgan in consecutive balls.
Durham’s lead high performance coach James Franklin, speaking frankly boo boom:It has been evident in our four innings this season that when we lose one, we can lose two or three quite quickly. Whether or not that is a little bit of reminiscence of what has been happening the last couple of years and we’re suffering a hangover of that. I’m not too sure. What we can do now is reflect on how we want to go about our Championship cricket.
What?! Pope top-edges Harmer to Porter for 69. That wasn’t in the post-lunch script. He walks s l o w l y up The Oval steps as Foakes skips down, whirring his arms. If you could capture the two emotions as they exactly pass each other, might it form a black hole Katie Bourman?
Sussex have beaten Durham by six wickets. 101 not out for Stiaan van Zyl, 51 for Laurie Evans.It’s not really looking great for Durham, but perhaps Marcus North and James Franklin can rustle magic together in the next month.
Popped outside to see if spectators could hear the (gospel?) music blaring into the press box - answer, faintly - just in time to see Pope cut Quinn gorgeously for four. Watched someone in a sunhat take a bite of a heavily-filled bap, went back inside, Pope hooked a six. This boy will go far.
And that’s Rory Burn’s fifty. Unobtrusive, nuggety - the next man to this round’s hundred merry-go-round? Jamie Porter is thrown the ball at the Vauxhall End. Surrey 106/2.
Er, about that bore-draw at The Oval. Stoneman bowled by Siddle - perhaps a nibble of inside edge, Patel pulled Harmer to mid-wicket for a duck. Surrey 72/2 - a lead of 20.
And on a final Palm Sunday tip - how about a meditation led by Rowan Williams at St Paul’s tonight, 7-815, to kick off a series of events about the climate emergency.Also available for Durham fans.
Good morning from The Oval. The chilly air coming from the Baltic doesn’t make cricket the most alluring prospect in town, but make the most of it - today is the last day of County Championship until mid-May – with the Royal London nipping in for its month in the sun.
Congratulations to Somerset – two good wins now, this last one against one of the big hitters, and big spenders, Notts. It would be lovely, on this cricket year of all years, if the Championship could be theirs at last.
Elsewhere, Durham are in for a beating unless something very surprising happens up in Chester-le-Street, also Hampshire after yesterday evening’s clatter of stumps and pads. Likewise Leicestershire and Warwickshire.
I’m not holding out for much excitement here at The Oval or at Sophia Gardens, but something to play for at Bristol and Lord’s.
Right time for a quick coffee and a rustle through the Sunday papers.
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