Roundup
The Essex old hands, Simon Harmer and Alastair Cook, made hay against a beaten-down Gloucestershire. Cook’s 73rd first-class hundred came up with a back-foot glide. His 145 made up nearly half of Essex’s total, Zafar Gofar grabbing five for 84.
Gloucestershire’s second innings then sank into an inevitability vortex as Harmer, who had taken five wickets in the first innings at Chelmsford, picked up five more.
Amar Virdi, on loan to Somerset, didn’t find things as much to his liking as Lancashire’s Luke Wells and Keaton Jennings got stuck into the spinners, putting on 164 at Southport. Wells had to chew his evening meal on 99 not out.
There were no easy runs for England’s out-of-sorts Zak Crawley, out dabbing to midwicket for five, but Kent got within a sniff of Northamptonshire thanks to three scores of 63. England’s Alex Lees also fell for single figures in a topsy‑turvy Durham scorecard, where a wagging tail gave them a slim lead against Derbyshire.
It was the Ed Barnard show again at Merchant Taylor’s School as his unbeaten 69 gave Worcestershire a slim lead over Middlesex, who then built a credible second-innings total with bits and pieces.
At Hove, Lewis Kimber and Rishi Patel helped Leicestershire to recover from losing Hassan Azad to the first ball of the innings, after Sussex flogged 589. Ian Holland rediscovered his form with 99 for Hampshire against Warwickshire, while Nottinghamshire suffered an unbecoming collapse against Glamorgan, losing six for 30 after Haseeb Hameed had made a fluent 70.
Another former England opener, Rory Burns, finished unbeaten on 94 for Surrey after Adam Lyth and Jonny Tattersall notched up Yorkshire’s first triple-century stand for the sixth wicket.
That’s it from me - thanks for your company. And a toast, today, to the old hands: Alastair Cook and Simon Harmer. Good night!
