Mahmood returns with England reminder as Hameed hits ton
On a day when all the talk at county grounds was of someone who was not even playing, Jimmy Anderson’s Lancashire teammate Saqib Mahmood returned after 12 months on the sidelines, to begin to make the case that he could step into the Anderson-shaped hole in the England side.
Mahmood, whose absence was caused by a stress fracture, looked lean and dangerous as he made his first bowling steps of the season and did not have to wait long for his first wicket of the campaign, Nottinghamshire’s Ben Slater poking at a length ball outside off stump and seeing an edge fly into the safe hands of George Bell at third slip.
The lissom-limbed George Balderson then popped up to take three further wickets as the visitors set about protecting their first-innings score of 331. Haseeb Hameed proved a thorn in the side, making 137 runs off 246 balls against his former county to keep things simmering at Trent Bridge.
On a soporific south coast, Hampshire made Durham toil. Tom Prest scoring his second first‑class century as his side made 503. Alex Lees and David Bedingham set about hauling the target in, Lees departed lbw to a scudding Liam Dawson delivery but Bedingham ended unbeaten on 35, with the nightwatcher Matthew Potts for company.
There was even more hard yakka for Kent at Canterbury. Jason Holder and Matthew Waite racking up centuries as Worcestershire posted a nosebleed-inducing 618 for seven declared. Holder went to his ton with a flurry of sixes, on reaching the milestone he poignantly tapped the badge by his heart bearing the number 33, that of his former teammate Josh Baker. Holder then raised his bat to his teammates in what looks to be his final innings for the club during this stint. In response, Zak Crawley fell for a scratchy six runs, under edging a leg-side ball from Joe Leach that was well pouched by the wicketkeeper, Gareth Roderick. Kent ending the day on 111 or two, a whopping 507 runs adrift.
Surrey’s engine room purred at the Oval. Jamie Smith stroked Warwickshire’s bowlers around south London to finish unbeaten on 98, his side 16 runs behind but with four wickets in hand.
In Division Two, Sussex’s Jayden Seales picked up three wickets in the morning session, the West Indian bowling Glamorgan’s Billy Root with a fizzing delivery that jagged back to hit the top of the stumps and send the bails skywards like a pair of quizzical eyebrows. The Welsh side battled back and then dominated. From 41 for four they closed on 411 for nine with a handsome 133-run lead thanks to centuries from Kiran Carlson and Colin Ingram.
Marchant de Lange picked up five for 42 to scatter Northamptonshire for 171 at Wantage Road. Cameron Bancroft and Ben Charlesworth cantered to 77 without loss at the close, meaning Gloucestershire are 315 runs to the good.
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I’ll leave the blog open for a while as the final subbed report will land in a short while. That’s me done though, thanks for your company and comments on a day when the sun began to set on one of England’s all time greats. Tanya will be back tomorrow, do join her for day three. Goodnight!
