Key events
Weather watch
Remaining cloudy this afternoon. England and Wales will have with spells of rain and showers, heavy at times. Elsewhere, it will be drier with a few showers or patches of rain. Windy in the far south.
Could we stay cautiously optimistic? Anyway, they’re underway at Durham, who lead Gloucestershire by 197, with two wickets in hand. I’ve just got to disappear for 20 mins, back shortly.
An optimistic Mitch Killen yesterday, who joined Gloucestershire on Wednesday on loan.
“I think the boys bowled pretty well, I think we stuck at it pretty well. Maybe leaked a few too many runs, a few four balls and stuff. I think as a unit we stuck at it pretty well to keep them down, it’s quite a good side we’re playing against and they’re quite aggressive, so to keep the run rate at a decent pace is good.”
“You’ve always got to look to win the game, so I think for us, it’s just a case of batting time.”
Unfortunately for Gloucestershire, the sun is blazing in the north east.
Some reading while you wait.
Rain
Hmm, there are an awful lot of delays around, everywhere in fact except Chester le Street – though that might be to come.
Inspection at 11.30 at Scarborough
The wet patches on the wicket need a closer look.
Roundup: Yorkshire fireworks light up Scarborough
Despite a morning washout, play broke out at Scarborough and Yorkshire’s tail wagged entertainingly against Leicestershire. George Hill bashed a merry 62, while Dom Bess and Ben Cliff added fireworks to please a crowd dressed in pink and purple to support the local Saint Catherine’s hospice.
John Simpson’s unbeaten 64 was crucial in giving Sussex a small first- innings lead at Hove as Craig Overton (four for 66) and Lewis Gregory (three for 55) fought back with the ball. Somerset’s Tom Lammonby then made batting look easy with a breezy 74 not out.
A couple of days after announcing his retirement at the end of the season, Dean Elgar jigsawed a crucial century for Essex. The South African struck around for nearly four hours, backed up by a silky 43 from Charlie Allison. Rahul Chahar grabbed six wickets but Surrey then slumped to 51-4, still 45 behind.
There was a century of a different hue for Durham’s David Bedingham, hit off 99 balls and full of punchy gorgeousness. It was his fifth ton of the Championship season. Ben Stokes biffed 45 before Sai Kishore floated one between bat and pad as Durham built a lead of 194 over Gloucestershire.
There was no first hundred of the year for Zak Crawley, removed by Ben Sanderson for 89, as Kent had a staircase-and-trapdoor kind of day in the Division Two eye-baller. They lost eight for 94 against excellent Northants bowling, then added 89 for the last two wickets thanks to Daniel Bell-Drummond’s captain’s knock of 70.
Nottinghamshire endured a terrible start to the day at Edgbaston against Warwickshire. Haseeb Hameed and Freddie McCann were both dismissed for ducks, but the in-form Joe Clarke knitted a support blanket with a stylish hundred, ending the day unbeaten on 146 as he passed the 1,000-run mark for the season.
Lancashire were invited to bat at New Road on a dish-dirty morning, and though Keaton Jennings opened with a studied 55, he had to watch the middle order cascade away. Ben Walkden and Tom Bailey added late-order fibre, with four wickets for Worcestershire’s Beyers Swanepoel.
Glamorgan tootled to 149-9, just 13 behind Hampshire at Sophia Gardens as the game heads to a one-innings shootout, while there was time for Middlesex’s Ryan Higgins to take two wickets at Derbyshire.
Scores on the doors
Division One
Chelmsford: Essex 279 v Surrey 183 and 51-4
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 149-9 v Hampshire 162
Hove: Sussex 250 v Somerset 202 and 167-2
Edgbaston: Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire 299-7
Scarborough: Yorkshire 263 v Leicestershire 12-0
Division Two
Derby: Derbyshire 79-3 v Middlesex
Chester-le-Street: Durham 331-8 v Gloucestershire 137
Northampton: Northamptonshire 74-0 v Kent 345
New Road: Worcestershire 12-1 v Lancashire 180
Preamble
Hello. Wherever you are, here is the salve of county cricket to carry you through the day. There are lots of people about on a Scarborough bank holiday Saturday, walking dogs along the North Bay and making early sandcastles, maybe some of them will make it to North Marine Road. We’ll be here all day, do join us.