Key events
Looking out from the balcony at a barley sugar outfield, the clouds towering over Cleeve hill. Jimmy Anderson, still captain despite Marcus Harris’ return, has won the toss and decided to bat.
Overheard in the queue, Jimmy is the first knight of the realm ever to play at Cheltenham.
DIVISION TWO TABLE
1 Leicestershire 157
2 Derbyshire 126
3 Glamorgan 124
4 Gloucestershire 111
5 Northamptonshire 108
6 Lancashire 102
7. Middlesex 99
8 Kent 89
DIVISION ONE TABLE
1 Surrey 140
2 Nottinghamshire 139
3 Sussex 123
4 Somerset 117
5 Warwickshire 117
6 Durham 108
7 Hampshire 105
8 Yorkshire 91
9 Essex 88
10 Worcestershire 73
The future of the County Championship
Part XXXXV…the votes are (starting to come) in: Surrey and Somerset have announced that they want 14 Championship games, with a return to eight teams in Division One and 10 in Division Two; Middlesex also want 14, but with ten teams in the top tier, while Durham and Lancashire support the 12/6 conference idea.
The PCA, meanwhile, have put their weight behind the conference plan and a reduction in the number of games to 12, alongside a reduced Blast schedule.
“A change in format of the County Championship to 12 league games is the only reasonable option” said Olly Hannon-Dalby, PCA chair, breathing “new life” into the competition.
Gary Naylor’s excellent round-up of the Blast, as it goes into hibernation.
Fixtures
DIVISION ONE
Southampton: Hampshire v Nottinghamshire
Taunton: Somerset v Durham
Hove: Sussex v Essex
Edgbaston: Warwickshire v Worcestershire
Scarborough: Yorkshire v Surrey
DIVISION TWO
Derby: Derbyshire v Leicestershire
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan v Kent
Cheltenham: Gloucestershire v Lancashire
Merchant Taylors’ School: Middlesex v Northamptonshire
Good morning! Torrential rain in Manchester (good luck for the Test …) has turned into thoughtful clouds above Cheltenham, at the start of this two-week late-July dip in the Championship waters. Fortified with porridge from the cafe opposite the station, I will follow the rucksacks to Cheltenham college. Play starts at 11am – do join us to rummage around cricket, the universe and everything.
