Roundup: Lawrence sends message with century
On a sun-kissed Manchester day, Essex’s Dan Lawrence, excluded on Wednesday from England’s squad for the first Test against New Zealand, turned a shapely ankle towards the selectors.
From an awkward start, Lawrence, who has been out with a hamstring injury all spring, found his form with drives, nudges and speedy running between the wickets . He was missed on 77, edging Jimmy Anderson between first and second slip, the first of three misses off successive Anderson overs, which left Lancashire’s finest stalking menacingly back to his mark.
Lawrence reached his hundred in the penultimate over of the day, but not before running out Adam Rossington with a single that wasn’t there. Simon Harmer then gloved a snorter from Luke Wood’s first ball as the new ball continued to do its work.
Yet another hundred from Ben Compton, his fourth, gave Kent one of their better days, reaching 286 for two against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road. Zak Crawley, off the mark with a haughty pull before edging just short of the slips second ball, made his highest championship score of the year with 62. Daniel Bell-Drummond marched to a steady 83.
Shan Masood’s race to a thousand runs before the end of the month was thwarted when the Derbyshire opener was caught for 18, his lowest score of the season. He needs 156 in the second innings against Nottinghamshire. There were a couple of wickets for Stuart Broad. At Lord’s, Durham’s Alex Lees rattled to 44, but Ben Stokes made just 15, before holing out to the young Middlesex leg‑spinner Luke Hollman.
It was a miserable day for Leicestershire under new red-ball captain Callum Parkinson, dismissed for 148 just after lunch. Azhar Ali passed 50 for the fourth successive time as Worcestershire took the lead by stumps at New Road. From 43 for four against Yorkshire at Headingley, Warwickshire recovered thanks to 96 from Michael Burgess. Hampshire rattled through Somerset at Taunton, hindered only by 44 from Craig Overton.
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Right, that’s it from me. The weather forecast for tomorrow is awful but I refuse to believe it, as the sun bakes the fertile Manchester soil dry. Thanks for your company, well played Dan Lawrence et al. Have a lovely evening.
