Key events
Lunchtime-ish scores
DIVISION ONE
Chester-le-Street: Durham 153 and 305-6 v Surrey 322
Chelmsford: Essex 602-6dec v Warwickshire 202-2
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 271-3 v Somerset 438
New Road: Worcestershire 191-5 v Hampshire 293
Scarborough: Yorkshire 453-6 v Sussex 222
DIVISION TWO
Cheltenham: Gloucestershire 54-1 v Middlesex 445 no play before lunch
Canterbury: Kent 217-3 v Leicestershire 471
Old Trafford: Lancashire 137 v Glamorgan 261 and 231-2
Northamptonshire: Northants 347-6 v Derbyshire 377
Hundreds for Kiran Carlson and Matthew Revis, Justin Broad lunches on 99
“It ‘as to hit the bat,” heckles a man in the crowd as Sandhu appeals for a caught behind against Revis. Revis survives to pick up a hugely impressive third successive ton in CC matches. He pulls off his helmet, raises his bat, gets a huge hug from George Hill and smiles. He is applauded off the field, by spectators and Sussex players, George Hill, 73 not out, lagging deliberately behind.
Meanwhile at OT, Carlson sits unbeaten on 106, Northeast on 84 – the Glamorgan lead hurtling towards 400. Justin Broad will nibble nervously on his sandwiches, one run short of his hundred, but he’s taken Northants to within 30 runs of Derbyshire.
Lunch round most of the grounds, scores to follow.
Justin Broad and Rob Keogh are ushering Northants to parity and beyond at Wantage Road – in fact Broad is just three short of his hundred…
While Yorkshire smack Sussex all over Scarborough, things have just got underway at New Road, where Sonny Baker has almost immediately sent Adam Hose on his way for 82.
Lancashire’s bad evening has been followed by a bad morning. Glamorgan’s Sam Northeast and Kiran Carlson have added 100 runs and ye glorious Chris Green has come in for a particular tonking. Glamorgan lead by 321.
Here is that Clark on Clark bouncer – sadly the footage stops before Jordan goes to give Graham a big get well soon kiss (possibly).
George Hill lofts Jack Carson out of the ground and into the garden of the air bnb where the Yorkshire marketing man is staying.
More from Hoppsy in the north east:
The ladies setting up the bookstall to raise funds for the Durham academy were not overly confident before start of play. “We’ll be open at lunch if the game is still going,” one said. Hopefully, they are not also running the Academy’s positive-thinking sessions.
Their pessimism has been unfounded as Durham have negotiated the first hour – including the taking of the second new ball – without mishap. Well, not entirely without mishap: Graham Clark, who has been leading the resistance, has been clunked on the grill of the helmet by his older brother, Jordan. That led to a change of helmet and some studying of the pitch from the umpires. This pitch has flattened out, and very little is misbehaving, but these days umpires faced by a five-minute delay have to look businesslike. They can’t just get a crossword out of their pocket.
In the big game at Trent Bridge, Somerset have just made a breakthrough. Lewis Gregory sending Joe Clarke on his way for 42 after a hundred partnership with Haseeb Hameed – still there on 125. Notts still trail by 203 and will need to slam their big white cricket boots down if they are to get a win out of this.
Apologies, briefly distracted by looking at garden furniture. Let’s go around the grounds – first to CLS where Surrey have taken the new ball and Jordan Clark is playing the Overton challenge, and has hit brother Graham on the grill. More on this from Hoppsy later.
They’re up and running at Chelmsford and Canterbury – where Kent – buttressed by Ben Compton – had an unexpectedly good Wednesday against Leicestershire.
Fifty for Revis – who the Yorkshire cognoscenti consider to be the best of the batting bunch (though I feel I’ve written that about various others in the top five over the last few years). The Yorks lead is currently 113 and you’d think they’ll bat till tea if they last the course.
Our man with the battered suitcase has arrived at Chester le Street. Here Hoppsy raises a – deserved – glass to Surrey.
“It’s time to give thanks for Surrey. A risky assertion perhaps as they have never been universally popular, but they set the standards for county cricket and everybody should be grateful for that. Sure, it’s easier with a turnover of £65m but if they secure four successive titles to emulate their feat under Stuart Surridge in 1955 it will be a considerable achievement.
Surridge inherited a bat company and the bats were emblazoned with his initials. Rory Burns, the current captain, is selling a bit of promotional kit for his testimonial year (bucket hats a speciality) so who knows, perhaps he will get the bug too. Durham‘s lead is only 53 with five wickets left and, although the pitch is showing signs of spin, Surrey will be confident that they can wrap this one up by tea.
More than any other county, Surrey still regard the Championship as an event and their crowds have risen as a result. They also oppose the abominable idea of a conference system which once again this summer has reared its ugly head. The unstated energy behind this is that it would reduce the number of Championship matches but some naive counties are seduced by the notion that all 18 teams would start the season with a chance of winning the title. The fact is that Surrey are so far ahead of some of their rivals they have no right to be playing each other. Pyramid systems are healthy. So well done to Surrey – and now I have said that they will probably lose entirely unexpectedly.
Rain
Delayed starts at Canterbury, Chelmsford, New Road and unlucky Cheltenham. The Met Office promises that the rain is moving south east – and may may hit the Test – turning to hail if you’re really lucky later.
Sussex have taken the new ball – and almost immediately collect a wicket, Harry Duke is gobbled up by the keeper off Hudson-Prentice. Yorks 293 for five.
The next man in is Will Sutherland, who went surfing last night off North Bay with twelfth man Dan Moriarty. There’s a great picture on the Yorkshire CCC website.
Also a restaurant recommendation from last night – a fabulous Italian called Tricolos. Lovely pizza and a very drinkable glass of house red.
The umpires walk out to the middle at North Marine Road, and they are only just behind at The Oval. India are without Jasprit Bumrah, and Taha is on the OBO. Follow it here (but do drop back in with us for a sandwich).
Chris Dent retires
After 356 matches and over 15,000 runs, Gloucestershire stalwart Chris Dent has announced his retirement. He passed 1,000 first-class runs in a season four times, most recently in 2019, when he led Gloucestershire to Division One.
“I want to thank Gloucestershire CCC for giving me my opportunity 16 years ago,” he said. “The support and faith you’ve shown me have been a huge part of any success I’ve had over the years.”
“To the fans – your encouragement throughout my career has meant everything. What stands out most, especially over these last few difficult years, is the love and kindness you’ve shown me. That support helped me more than you’ll ever know.
“The biggest thank you goes to all the players. You guys are what made the last 16 years so memorable. I feel incredibly lucky to have shared the field with so many brilliant people. When I look back on my career, my favourite memories are special because of the people I shared them with.”
Gloucestershire head coach Mark Alleyne said:
“Batting at the top for most of his career in England is an unenviable task, but once again he managed to impact games from that position on a regular basis. His presence there kept him perennially in England’s shortlist, though he never quite got the call. I believe the international stage could have seen him flourish.
“Although still in great physical shape, it has been more challenging mentally, and on that sad note, his appearances have been somewhat restricted.
“The last few years will not define what has been a stellar career with the Glorious, and I would like to thank him for his immense contributions over the years.”
Wishing him a happy and fulfilled future.
Wednesday’s round-up
Yorkshire’s Adam Lyth zinged to his fifth first-class century, nimble as the weasel that darted about Anne Brontë’s grave in the morning sun. The Scarborough faithful delighted in his innings and his passage past a thousand runs for the summer, as they did in James Wharton’s seventh fifty – though he once more missed out on a hundred, shuffling away after being bowled for 85. With a lead of 70 over Sussex, Yorkshire are well placed in what feels like a must-win game to avoid relegation.
Emilio Gay’s sparkling 99 gave Durham an outside chance of causing the leaders, Surrey, a few headaches, though two late wickets stacked the equation southwards. The morning session at Chester-le-Street was taken up by Surrey hot-trotting another 140 runs, spearheaded by Jordan Clark’s 82; Ben Raine finished with five for 72.
Meanwhile Nottinghamshire kept in the game at Trent Bridge, thanks to a third century of the season from Haseeb Hameed – who also passed 1,000 runs. Somerset lost seven for 100 in a hurry.
Kent defied Leicestershire, built largely by an unbeaten 101 from Ben Compton, another 1,000-run graduate. Earlier Tom Scriven missed out on his first first-class century by one run. Jimmy Anderson’s 43rd birthday present from his Lancashire teammates was a collapse of seven wickets for 30 at Old Trafford as Glamorgan’s Mason Crane collected six for 19.
Essex piled up 602 for six declared against Warwickshire, with hundreds from Charlie Allison, Tom Westley and Michael Pepper. Half-centuries from Luke Procter, George Bartlett and Justin Broad kept Northants in the game against Derbyshire. Middlesex are on top against Gloucestershire, Kane Williamson collecting 153.
And an unbeaten partnership of 126 between Jake Libby and Adam Hose steadied Worcestershire against Hampshire at New Road.
Scores on the doors
DIVISION ONE
Chester-le-Street: Durham 153 and 222-5 v Surrey 322
Chelmsford: Essex 602-6dec v Warwickshire 140-2
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 189-2 v Somerset 438
New Road: Worcestershire 187-2 v Hampshire 293
Scarborough: Yorkshire 292-4 v Sussex 222
DIVISION TWO
Cheltenham: Gloucestershire 54-1 v Middlesex 445
Canterbury: Kent 203-3 v Leicestershire 471
Old Trafford: Lancashire 137 v Glamorgan 261 and 95-2
Northamptonshire: Northants 265-5 v Derbyshire 377
Preamble
Hello from the north Yorkshire coast. The Scarborough micro-climate continues to be kind, and the players are all out in the middle stretching this and that.
A morning walk around Marine Drive has given me an excellent potted history of Scarborough thanks to some “portholes in time”. The most interesting of many interesting facts is that in 1253 Henry III granted the town a royal charter to hold an annual summer fair for 45 days. It was the biggest fair in Western Europe and inspired the traditional love ballad Scarborough Fair.
I’ll stop there before I get embroiled in secret wireless stations and 11,000 year-old archaeological remains. Play starts at 11am here, and around the grounds. Come dip your toe in, the water is lovely.
