Tanya's county roundup
Despite an evening wobble, Warwickshire’s middle order probably did enough to stave off any nasty last-day surprises on a slow pitch. From the chaos of 41 for four as Surrey’s Kemar Roach ran rampant, Matt Lamb, Sam Hain and later Dan Mousley pulled the game past the follow-on and towards a draw.
Lamb’s hundred was a bucketful of strokes, 17 fours and, once in the nineties, a cheeky six flying off Roach. He finally fell to Reece Topley, he of the strutting walk back to his mark, who thundered in tirelessly, sometimes fruity with the short stuff. Hain, who was most reluctant to walk back after leaving a ball from Jordan Clark that rattled into the stumps, sculpted a patient 78. Mousley fell to a flying catch from Ollie Pope at second slip, also off Clark who, bowling with four slips and a short leg, flew in with some hostility.
Somerset’s summer started with a sad whimper, defeated by an innings and 113 runs by a rampant Hampshire at the Rose Bowl. Somerset’s second innings was dismantled first by James Fuller, who skittled the top order after Ben Green and Tom Lammonby had battled to an opening partnership of fifty; and then by Mohammad Abbas, who persuaded Steven Davies to edge to first slip with the first ball after lunch and finished with four for 22.
“We’ve very aware of it,” said Somerset’s captain, Tom Abell, of his side’s problem with collapses. “We tried to address it over the winter. We need to try not to panic.” The good news for Somerset is they should have most of their absentees back for the next game. The bad news? Their next game is against Essex. The Chelmsford pitch continued to smile sweetly at the batters as this time Kent totted up two more centuries, one to Ben Compton, the other to Jordan Cox. Compton, on his Kent debut, and who only squeezed into the team because of those injured and resting, had a previous highest score of 20 in the UK. Cox reached his hundred by bustling a single just before the close, while Darren Stevens and Tawanda Muyeye picked up fifties.
Steven Mullaney, the captain with infinite patience, made a magnificent 192 – his highest first-class score, to steer Nottinghamshire from a position of jeopardy (52 for four) to a lead of 159 against Sussex. Notts fizzed along to 534 for nine, at four an over, giving themselves time to have a bowl at Sussex in the evening chill. Haines then fell to Liam Patterson‑White, giving him his sixth wicket in the match, to complement the two sixes he heaved onto the pavilion roof in an innings of 44.
A Derbyshire collapse of four for nought in nine balls, triggered by Tom Helm and Toby Roland‑Jones, gave Middlesex a chance of forcing a win on the last day. While Ryan Higgins followed four wickets with an unbeaten 134 to give Gloucestershire a sniff of victory in a match that flew this way and that against Northamptonshire at the County Ground. Ed Pollock’s maiden first-class century gave Worcestershire the keys to the match with Leicestershire at Grace Road.
England’s Alex Lees had a successful return to the Championship after a tricky West Indies tour, making an unbeaten 163 for Durham who built a healthy lead over Glamorgan. Lees plumped for a very off-stump guard when Glamorgan came around the wicket, which worked well, though he escaped a couple of good shouts for lbw.
The groundstaff in woolly hats pull on the covers here at Edgbaston, with late wickets probably coming too late for Surrey. Elsewhere round the grounds, hundreds for Alex Lees, Ryan Higgins, Jordan Cox and Ed Pollard arrived while I was writing up. Looks like there will be a result at Grace Road, Lord’s and Hove - maybe more. That’s it from me, time to de-addle my brain. Have a lovely evening. Good night!
