Roundup: Labuschagne warms up for Ashes against Yorkshire
Marnus Labuschagne hitting top form isn’t news to thrill Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, but it was rich reward for those who swapped wall-to-wall coverage of ermine and crowns to plonk their bottoms on blue bucket seats in Leeds.
Sam Northeast, who made 66, had the perfect view from 22 yards away for a large part of the day, and called Labuschagne’s innings of 170 not out for Glamorgan against Yorkshire “almost ridiculous at times”. And it was. A slow start – he was dropped on 11 – became an innings of invention and precision, as he flicked his wrists, danced and dallied, swept and reverse swept, unerringly finding the gaps in Yorkshire’s increasingly desperate fields. Dom Bess took a particular tonking, his 10 overs going for 76, with one ball panned for six high into the stands below the pavilion.
Even Labuschagne was prepared to admit that things were starting to sing: “I have been a bit sort of all over,” he said, with his woolly hat pulled low, after play. “It hasn’t felt like it has come together until that innings. I hit a few nice straight drives, a couple of nice cover drives and a nice flick through midwicket. That’s probably the most I’ve felt balanced at the crease, I felt like my head position was in a nice spot, my bat path was coming down nicely.
“For me it is taking it game by game and trying to build up that momentum that leads into the World Test championship and the Ashes.”
Glamorgan declared just before tea, as Billy Root reached 50, setting Yorkshire a lofty 492 to chase. The rain saved any premature blushes, while Labuschagne, the World’s No 1 Test batsman, with consecutive scores of 64, 65 and 170, confirmed that he would probably get an evening call from Sussex’s Steve Smith, the world No 3, for a debrief.
Cricket proved a unifier for long-suffering Yorkshire fans who’d ditched their television sets. “I’ve got my flags and my tape is on and I’ll be watching tonight,” said Jennifer Massheder. “But cricket comes first, we’d have been at the Bradford League if not here.”
“If it poured down all day I’d rather stick pins in my eyes than watch the coronation,” said her good friend Shelia Waterworth as they prepared to spend the day together.
At Taunton, Tom Kohler-Cadmore reached his hundred with a buoyant six off his first ball of the day, and completed a fluent 130 for Somerset; while James Rew, whose season has got off to a purring start, reached 89. There were five wickets for Jack White as Somerset, heady with runs, built a first innings lead of 157. Northamptonshire’s fightback was hindered by a costly hand injury to Hassan Azad, which forced him to retire hurt.
The weather gave Nottinghamshire a friendly helping hand at Trent Bridge, but ruined the dreams of Lancashire’s Josh Bohannon and George Balderson. After scoring freely in the morning, the rain forced them off in sight of their centuries. After a four and a half hour break, they returned and were both promptly out in the nineties, before the umbrellas were raised again. England’s Olly Stone, whose career has been hounded by injury, was unable to finish his 15th over and left the field.
Rain washed out the games at New Road and Southampton, where Warwickshire’s Ed Barnard was stranded on 91, and there was time for only 28 balls at Chelmsford – more frustration for Essex who have lost 458 overs to rain this season. Derbyshire had time to pick up a batting bonus point and declare before the rain fell, mopping up efforts hampered by the temporary breakdown of the groundsman’s blotter.
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With the evening drawing in at Headingley, time for me to go. Thanks for sticking with us despite other distractions, and thank you to Marnus Labuschagne for an innings to remember. Till tomorrow, good night!
Close of play scores
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 314 and 24-0 v Surrey 240
The Rose Bowl: Hampshire 229 all out v Warwicks 364-5 play abandoned for the day without a ball bowled
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 249 v Lancashire 214 and 219-4
Taunton: Somerset 412 v Northampton 255 and 66-1
DIVISION TWO
The County Ground: Derbyshire 350-7dec v Leicestershire 122
New Road: Worcestershire 264 and 34-1 v Sussex 373 play abandoned for the day without a bal bowled
Headingley: Yorkshire 106 v Glamorgan 245 and 352-4dec rain Yorkshire need 492 to win
I’m just told they’ve gone off again at Trent Bridge. Coronation rain eh.
With imperfect timing, as the game resumes at Trent Bridge, and Northants start their second innings, I must stop blogging and write up for the Observer. They’re mopping up here at Headingley, don’t give up all hope. BTL remains open for business!
The power of the rain break. Balderson adds just one run at Trent Bridge before being caught off Olly Stone for 91. The partnership with Bohannon worth 188. Can Bohannon push through to get the eight he needs for his hundred?
Somerset all out 412
Jack Leach is left stranded on a happy-g0-lucky 21, but Somerset collect their batting point. The lead 157. Five wickets to Jack White. Now Northants…
Cut their losses at The County Ground
A wipe out at Derby too. Leicestershire will now only have to bat out a day (max).
Your two and a half minute Marnus:
The best of Marnus Labuschagne's 170. Some shots in here that's for sure#LVCountyChamp pic.twitter.com/iLejmJ4XeM
— LV= Insurance County Championship (@CountyChamp) May 6, 2023
Optimism abounds – an inspection at 5pm at Derby, the same time play is supposed to resume at Trent Bridge. At Taunton, Somerset are heady with runs, a big hit away from another batting point. James Rew was out eleven runs short of another century, but Coverton is having a heave, 26 not out. Somerset lead Northants by 149.
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Did a quick round of the ground – only very light drizzle but floodlights on. And that rain was heavy when it fell.
Play abandoned for the day at Chelmsford
They’ve give up in Essex too, with just 28 balls possible.
Tea-time scores
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 314 and 24-0 v Surrey 240 rain
The Rose Bowl: Hampshire 229 all out v Warwicks 364-5 play abandoned for the day without a ball bowled
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 249 v Lancashire 214 and 195-1 no play yet, inspection 4pm
Taunton: Somerset 354-7 v Northampton 255
DIVISION TWO
The County Ground: Derbyshire 350-7dec v Leicestershire 122 rain delay
New Road: Worcestershire 264 and 34-1 v Sussex 373 play abandoned for the day without a bal bowled
Headingley: Yorkshire 106 v Glamorgan 245 and 352-4dec rain Yorkshire need 492 to win
Updated
The rain has arrived in Leeds. Buckets of it.
Glamorgan declare! Laubschagne 170 not out
With five minutes until tea, and possibly ten until the skies open, Glamorgan declare as Billy Root reaches fifty. Yorkshire were rather steam-rollered there, Labuschagne finding gaps where there were none, and inspiring Billy Root to brisk runs of his own. Marnus gets a standing ovation and turns to salute all the crowd. A masterclass.
Glamorgan 352-4 declared; Yorkshire need 492 to win.
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150 for Laubschagne!
Yorkshire call for Shakeel – and his over goes for eight. Bess (7 overs for 50) comes back for more punishment, serves up a wide one and Labuschagne drops to his knees and sweeps him to the fine leg boundary. Yorkshire’s only hope is the rain – and the clouds are strolling in.
And with another dab to third man, Labuschagne moves to 152 – his third fifty off 44 deliveries. 22 fours and one six.
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While we wait for Glamorgan to declare – lead 422 as Dom Bess comes in to bowl – actually make that 428 as Labuschagne steps and frying pans him for six over long off– there is one other game currently in play - at Taunton. There, TKC has gonne for a swift 130, breakthrough innings that for Somerset, off 102 balls and James Rew, who is having an early season to remember, 69 not out. Somerset 295-5 lead Northants by 40.
Sign of a good player ➡️ looks like he has plenty of time ⏰#WeAreSomerset pic.twitter.com/M9tzsw6wyL
— Somerset Cricket 🏏 (@SomersetCCC) May 6, 2023
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If Labuschagne’s eighth hundred isn’t enough, here is some IPL stattage to digest with your coronation quiche.
Virat Kohli becomes the first man to score 7000 runs in the #IPL! #IPL2023 #DCvsRCB pic.twitter.com/71wSDYkNpo
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) May 6, 2023
Another washed away
They call it a day at Southampton too, with Ed Barnard stranded on 91.
Play abandoned for the day at New Road
It’s because Ali isn’t there. Steve Smith will have to wait, and wait, for his second dig.
Now Billy Root joining in as he casually advances down the pitch and pings Hill away. Four more swung to the pink boundary boards. Poor Hill swings his arm and takes his jumper from the umpire with a fed-up air.
While in the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint trophy:
The first player to take 7⃣ wickets in a Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy match 💥
— PCA (@PCA) May 6, 2023
An outstanding display from Nadine de Klerk 🌟#RHFTrophy pic.twitter.com/f6drn1Idoe
A hundred for Labuschagne!
A delicate dab through second slip takes him to 96. An elaborate drive and miss off Thompson resulted in exasperated hand signals. Gets hit in the box, but then the hundred comes, with a charming, crafted guide through the slips. A huge acceleration after lunch: his first fifty came off 104 balls, his second off 38.
His seventh hundred for Glamorgan. And fabulous and clever and high class it was too.
In the meantime, Kiran Carlson has been out for a five-ball duck, nicely taken by Bairstow, straight into the gloves.
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Labuschagne advancing towards his century in mega-strides, as he shimmies to leg stump and clubs Edwards for two fours into the gap in the field. Now into the nineties.
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A wicket! No century for Sam Northeast who plays a flashy cut and is caught by the diminuative Shakeel for 66. Glamorgan 205-3, the partnership between Northeast and Labuschagne worth 153.
Edwards getting some tonk by Labuschagne, accelerating words may have been whispered at lunch. Labuschagne opens the arms wide, drops to a knee and slams him straight down the ground, then backs away and pulls him for four more over mid-off.
Tom Kohler Cadmore hits a six to reach a hundred
TKC not hanging around at Taunton. First ball of the day – bang – over Jack White’s head for six to bring him his first Somerset century!
Another email about Ian Dews, thank you to Anthony Bradley:
“Ian was our Cricket Development Officer from the YCB when our club - Settle CC - was looking to reinvigorate our club. Tutored coaching award courses, supported a lottery bid, put us forward as one of the first to run a Chance to Shine programme etc. I understand he was one of the first non first class cricketers to achieve a Level 4 coaching award.
”In addition our club was part of Beyond the Boundary a scheme to get more ethnically diverse visitors to the Yorkshire Dales.
”I offer this not as a defence of Ian but rather my sadness and no little anger at the culture at Yorkshire that was allowed to go unchallenged for so long.”
Ireland men's Test squad
Squad announced for the Lord’s Test, June 1-4 (with a warm-up game against Essex at Chelmsford, May 26-28)
Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (Capt), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Fionn Hand, Graham Hume, Tom Mayes, Andrew McBrine, James McCollum, PJ Moor, Conor Olphert, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.
If it doesn’t rain again at Taunton, play will start at 2pm, with 67 overs left in the day.
Just off to find some lunch, back shortly!
Lunch-time scores
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 314 and 24-0 v Surrey 240 no play yet today
The Rose Bowl: Hampshire 229 all out v Warwicks 364-5 no play yet today
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 249 v Lancashire 214 and 195-1
Taunton: Somerset 199-4 v Northampton 255 no play yet today
DIVISION TWO
The County Ground: Derbyshire 350-7dec v Leicestershire 122
New Road: Worcestershire 264 and 34-1 v Sussex 373 no play yet today
Headingley: Yorkshire 106 v Glamorgan 245 and 178-2
And fifty for Labuschange too, who eyes up the field and reverse-sweeps Bess for four. Two further fours follow in the over, another reverse sweep, then a crafty scoop on one knee over his collar bone
That’s Labuschagne’s second fifty of the game – and the third in succession. A useful little player Glamorgan have got on their books.
And that’s lunch!
Marnus Labuschagne has reached a third consecutive half-century
— LV= Insurance County Championship (@CountyChamp) May 6, 2023
He's been getting creative with reverse sweeps and scoops against Dom Bess!#LVCountyChamp pic.twitter.com/axDArldipl
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And another four to Northeast, driving Edwards, through mid off, beating a scampering Bess to the rope.
First six of the morning (I think) as Northeast leans and chops a fat wide one from Thompson over third man. And he wins the race to fifty with a delicate waft off Edwards to the third man boundary: 88 balls, his first half century of the season.
And lo, for the first time today, we have Dom Bess. It won’t just be the one over before lunch as we’re playing till 1.10. Peroxide curly mop, in he comes – two from the over.
Rain now at Trent Bridge too, where George Balderson and Josh Bohannon leave the field reluctantly. They’ve taken Lancs to 195 for one; Balderson lunching on 90, Bohannon on 85. Broad’s 11 overs have cost 50 runs. The lead over Notts a more than handy 160.
Glamorgan building steadily here at Headingley. Yorkshire a bowler down without Coad “a niggle to the groin”. He missed most of last season with similar, so fingers crossed it is an insignificant as Yorkshire are suggesting. Sun out, hills visible over the top of the West Stand, Labuschagne and Northeast accumulate. Glamorgan 119-2.
Balderson and Bohannon still making the Notts attack look ordinary – as Lancs advance to 180-1, a lead of 145.
Still play only at TB and Headingley. The forecast promises: Outbreaks of rain, heavy in places, moving northeast across much of England and Wales. An inspection was due at 12 at Taunton, but elsewhere just many raindrops.
An email! Hello Tim Sanders.
“Hello Tanya
”There a distinct divergence between the BBC and the Met Office on the weather prospects today. I’m about to make a sandwich and a flask of coffee, and set off for the ground. I like to walk before a day of sitting down, and there’ll be bluebells on Woodhouse Ridge.
”Anyway, I’ve been reflecting on what it might be like for Jonny coming back to the club. One of the 14 sacked staff was Ian Dews, who was important to him as a coach and mentor. These are two extracts from ‘A Clear Blue Sky’, from the Academy years, and then after being dropped by England early in 2014…”
Very true. I can’t upload the extracts I’m afraid but they talk about Dews championing YJB from the start and encouraging the academy to take him even though he was also playing rugby.
.
At Trent Bridge, Stuart Broad is bowling, but still wicket-less as Balderson and Bohannon’s partnership reaches 134. Sorry, slightly distracted by Penny Mordant walking towards the King with a sword. Fancy gold dressing gown for Charles.
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A tricky battle between Edwards and Labuschagne brewing. Labuschagne was beaten by a beauty, but held the pose, a glorious drive, for longer than was strictly necessary. Later in the over Edwards disappeared to the boundary, upper cut away.
I heard this from others who were there. Not so much of a sense of occasion here at Headingley this morning.
To my surprise, @tjaldred, I was moved by the silent tribute to The Queen at The Oval the day after she died. My reaction was not motivated by support for the monarchy, more by that rare sense of a moment shared deeply by thousands. That nobody had their phones out said a lot.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) May 6, 2023
And Labuschagne is dropped by Tattersall, tricky but he reached it with both hands. On 11. Glamorgan move onto 74-2. It’s not been easy to bat this morning, the ball zipping all over.
Derbyshire declare
With a tasty lead of 228. What odds on Leicestershire surviving till tea? All depends on whether it is Leicestershire version early season 2023 or Leicestershire version 2022.
Weather watch
Four games in progress, at Chelmsford, Trent Bridge, Derby and Headingley. Delayed starts at New Road, Taunton and the Rose Bowl.
"I'd rather stick pins in my eyes"
I doorstepped some spectators waiting outside the pavilion. There were mixed views about the coronation.
Colin Hicks and Malcolm Davies had come from Cardiff to follow Glamorgan, and no coronation was going to stop them. “It’s a prestigious stadium, we don’t have a chance to come here. I’ve never been to Leeds before, said Hicks.”
Like watching their King at Westminster Abbey? “He’s [Labuschagne] the best batsman in the world – better than Bairstow,” – says Davies with a twinkle.
Jennifer Massheder and Shelia Waterworth, sitting next to each other on a bench, are good friends with very differing views on politics and the monarchy.
“I’ve got my flags and my tape is on and I’ll be watching tonight,” says Massheder. “But cricket comes first, we’d have been at the Bradford league if not here.”
Waterworth disagrees. “Definitely not, if it poured down all day I’d rather stick pins in my eyes than watch it. I’m disgusted that it is being shown on BBC1 and BBC2 all day.”
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We just had the national anthem. Didn’t see many lips moving.
Coronation line-up at Headingley. pic.twitter.com/KKHnIXROK8
— tanya aldred (@tjaldred) May 6, 2023
Scores on the doors
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 314 and 15-0 v Surrey 240
The Rose Bowl: Hampshire 229 all out v Warwicks 364-5
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 249 v Lancashire 214 and 98-1
Taunton: Somerset 199-4 v Northampton 255
DIVISION TWO
The County Ground: Derbyshire 326-7 v Leicestershire 122
New Road: Worcestershire 264 and 34-1 v Sussex 373
Headingley: Yorkshire 106 v Glamorgan 245 and 57-2
Updated
Preamble
Good morning! It is warm and sunny here at Headingley, and not much sign of any coronation jazziness apart from the celebration cup cakes in the coffee van (no sales yet today.) There will be a splash of pomp with the players lined up in front of the pavilion at 1054, an announcement and then the National Anthem.
