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An early tumble of wickets round the grounds: OHD and Tom Latham gone at Edgbaston, where Warwickshire at are now in a spot of trouble at 42-4 against Hampshire; Craig Overton has been smartly caught by John Simpson at Hove, oh and Pretorius too – Somerset 362-8 and Archie Vaughan in danger of running out of partners while in sight of a century. And Worcestershire have been bundled out for 358 by Essex.
At OT, four boundaries already after a slow grind yesterday – it took 47 minutes for the first ball to travel over the rope.
Some interesting insight from the reporters network last night, that Luke Wells had asked to return to the top of the order
“I’m obviously pleased to get a score. I actually called Benky the other day asking to go back up the order. I did have opportunities to win a couple of games in run chases batting at six, so I did have opportunities to impact the team there and was disappointed that I didn’t get a match-winning contribution score.
“But I just felt, especially when everyone’s under pressure, we haven’t got the results we wanted. I’d rather go to what I know best, having done that for the majority of my career.
“It paid off and the game is such a funny one because, you know, narratives completely change according to the result and what happens. Drop second ball or whatever, that gets caught, (it’s a) whole different narrative.”
Incredible that over 6,000 people were at The Oval yesterday – well played to everyone there. Here at OT, Ben Aitchison has the new ball, playing his first Championship match since July 2023, after a terrible run of luck with injuries.
A great journey down memory lane from Taha, and a thoughtful analysis on the disappearance of cricket from the national conversation.
Friday's round-up
In Division One, a feisty Jonny Bairstow frisked 89 at a honey-warm Oval, where the Guardian football writer Jonathan Wilson and his stag do were among the 6,000 spectators. There were three wickets apiece for Surrey’s Jordan Clark and Tom Lawes and a gravity-defying catch by Ben Foakes, hanging in the air like an unvoiced memory. Adam Lyth added another fifty to his hefty season’s collection, but Yorkshire wilted after tea.
The Nottinghamshire captain Haseeb Hameed was a sea of calm on a stormy scorecard at Chester-le-Street, carrying his bat for 206. Brydon Carse, playing in his first game for Durham this season after a toe injury, bowled through 14 overs, and grabbed three wickets. Somerset appeared to have thrown their batting order into a paper bag and pulled out the numbers at random - but the new approach had its successes against Sussex. The upside-down opening partnership put on just 21, but there were contributions down the order, including an unbeaten 70 from Archie Vaughan.
Warwickshire’s Ed Barnard (four for 56) and Olly Hannon-Dalby (three for 47) riffed through Hampshire at Edgbaston, despite an unbeaten 52 from James Fuller. At New Road, a swarm of bees forced the players off the pitch where Worcestershire earned their first batting points of the season, ending on 354-9 against Essex.
In Division Two, more than 2,000 children revelled in the heat of the concrete concourse at Old Trafford, where it has been a busy few days. On Tuesday, Keaton Jennings stepped down as Lancashire captain, replaced by Marcus Harris, and the club officially apologised for the bad start to the season. That bad start continued shortly after Jennings walked out and was caught off Blair Tickner for two, Josh Bohannon following close behind. But Luke Wells took charge of the rebuild against Derbyshire, his carefully crafted 141 his highest score at Old Trafford.
At Lord’s, Ian Holland’s golden summer continued, his five for 35 giving Division Two leaders Leicestershire the upper hand over Middlesex. Northants lost nine for 80 at Sophia Gardens, brittle as overcooked flapjack, before Marnus Labuschagne made a duck on his Glamorgan return. At Bristol, Grant Stewart’s boundary-biffing 173 not out transformed Kent’s day as they made 386-6 against Gloucestershire.
Scores on the doors
DIVISION ONE
Chester-le-Street: Durham 2-0 v Nottinghamshire 470
Taunton: Somerset 317-6 v Sussex
The Oval: Surrey 46-0 v Yorkshire 255
Edgbaston: Warwickshire 27-2 v Hampshire 300
New Road: Worcestershire 354-9 v Essex
DIVISION TWO
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 82-3 v Northants 185
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Kent 386-6
Old Trafford: Lancashire 250-5 v Derbyshire
Lord’s: Middlesex 232 v Leicestershire 22-1
Preamble
Good morning from a cloudy Old Trafford – possibly not the best news for Derbyshire with Jimmy Anderson due to stretch that 42nd year old body later today. Play starts around the grounds at 11am, do join us.
