Key events
100 for Vasconcelos!
With six off Ben Stokes and then three through backward point off Ben Raine –a very good century for Ricardo Vasconcelos. Northants 176-0. A 12th century for Northants brings Vasconcelos level with Usman Afzaal – a name to bring back memories, three Tests during an England broken-finger crisis in 2001.
They’re taking an early tea here at CLS, and I’m going to have to write up for Friday deadlines. I will be back but apologies for being not very present.
Rain at Chester le Street
On come the covers. It isn’t heavy. But it is dark. The players trail off. Northants 163-0, Vaconcelos 88, Procter 56.
Lots of wickets everywhere, but here.
Lancs have ‘recovered’ from 74 for six, to 152 for nine – thanks to George Balderson’s 37. Three wickets to Abbas and Dal.
Essex 134-8 against Notts – Tom Westley’s 44 the only real scores. Four for Patterson-White.
Glamorgan 99-6 – two wickets for ATkinson, two for Abbott.
Yorkshire 139 for six on the Grace Road pitch with a Ben Stokes haircut.
Four wickets for Warwickshire’s Beau Webster in Somerset’s 144-7, Goldsworthy 50 not out.
And Hampshire 113-6 at Hove, a half century for Gubbins
Here, the lights are on. Stokes has his hands on the back of his head after a caught behind appeal is turned down.
Sorry all, slightly distracted there for a bit. Stokes now bowling again, but Northants’ top two are still together. Time to go around the grounds.
Back on at Chester le Street, where the clouds are settling greyly and heavily after lunch. Northants 104-0.
Lunchtime scores
Division One
Chelmsford: Essex 87-3 v Nottinghamshire
Sophia Garden: Glamorgan 71-4 v Surrey
Grace Road: Leicestershie v Yorkshire 89-5
Taunton: Somerset 94-5 v Warwickshire
Hove: Sussex v Hampshire 83-3
DIVISION TWO
Chesterfield: Derbyshire v Lancashire 106-6
Chester-le-Street: Durham v Northants 91-0
Canterbury: Kent 69-0 v Middlesex
New Road: Worcestershire v Gloucestershire 78-2
Just seen the score at Chesterfield. Oh Lancs. 81-6. Two for Abbas, two for Aitchison. Marcus Harris the highest scorer with 17.
And that is Stokes done and dusted for now: 6-2-16-0.
Over number six – but who is going to take the ball off him? A nice crowd in, like the man who got on the train at Durham and told the conductor he was hoping to see Stokes. A huge lbw appeal against a walking Procter, Stokes pleads, squats down on his heels but no cigar. Looked pretty out. Another maiden.
Stokes finishes his fifth over, a maiden, takes his cap and sunglasses from the umpires and marches to mid-off. Probably that’s it for now.
In and out of the wings, Graham Clark is signing more autographs than he’s ever signed in his life to enthusiastic school children. Northants 64-0.
Stokes polishes off his fourth over with one that lifts with feeling from a length past Procter’s nose.
Stokes building up a head of steam. A bouncer hits Procter on the helmet, who has to get a concussion check. A succession of short balls followed, which Procter ducks stoutly under. Vasconcelos fullstops the over with a pull for six.
Stokes gets through over number two, which unfolded without incident, apart from tumbling over in his follow-through second ball. And relax.
Vasconcelos dropped from Stokes’s fourth ball.
And now from the Finchale end, Ben Stokes… the first ball is a dot, the second flies down to fine leg off the thigh pad of Vasconcelos for four. Ball three: nothing. Ball four – ooops, a drop by Ben McKinney at leg slip. In and out, midnight sweats. Ball five: four through the covers in front of the watching groundsmen sitting on plastic chairs. Ball six – off the ankles to long leg for a couple. Ten from the over.
The Grace Road groundstaff have gone for a weird striped pitch today – beige ends and a grassy middle. It has been largely successful – Luxton and Whiteman both out, Yorkshire 40-2.
Stokes watch: the man warms up.
A dismal start for Somerset, as Etham Bamber rocks out Thomas and Kohler-Cadmore in his second over; and now Jordan Hermann is caught off Nathan Gilchrist. Somerset 21-3.
Atkinson watch
England’s other naughty curfew-breaker has taken the new ball for Surrey at Sophia Gardens, where Joe’s brother Billy Root is opening the batting with Asa Tribe. Glamorgan 7-0.
And good morning to Mike Daniels, in his scoreboard perch at Grace Road. “Yorkshire win toss and bat here. Looking forward to seeing if Will Luxton can build on his 100 against Warks last game.
“He’s looked very good when I’ve seen him and surely he might get a look in for the Lions soon?”
Ben Raine, with an old fashioned fast-bowler’s build runs in from the end, Ben Stokes stalks at midwicket. And Matthew Potts takes the ball at the Lumley end.
Fixtures
Division One
Chelmsford: Essex v Nottinghamshire
Sophia Garden: Glamorgan v Surrey
Grace Road: Leicestershie v Yorkshire
Taunton: Somerset v Warwickshire
Hove: Sussex v Hampshire
DIVISION TWO
Chesterfield: Derbyshire v Lancashire
Chester-le-Street: Durham v Northants
Canterbury: Kent v Middlesex
New Road: Worcestershire v Gloucestershire
Durham won the toss and will field
And, when the time comes, Stokes to bat at No. 5.
Stokes is now stalking over to some rubber stumps and bowling with vigour. Today is also schools day at the ground, so 600 lucky north east kids are getting a blue riband ticket
Preamble
Good morning from Chester le Street, where Ben Stokes, lean and freshly shorn, is warming up with his teammates on a muggy Chester le Street Friday 250 long miles from The Oval. We’ll be keeping an eye on him, and around the grounds, where play starts at 11am. Do join us!
