A total of 22 wickets fell on the opening day of the LV= Insurance County Championship Division One match between Warwickshire and Middlesex at Edgbaston.
Warwickshire were put into bat but were all out for just 60 runs – their lowest championship total since 1982 when they could only muster 43 against Sussex.
Middlesex were in scintillating form with the ball as Ethan Bamber took five for 20 and captain Toby Roland-Jones chipped in with three for 27, as the Middlesex attack made the most of the bowling conditions to remove Warwickshire with just 22.5 overs bowled.
The visitors had a lead of 139 after posting 199 in response. Ryan Higgins top-scored with 53 as bowlers Ed Barnard and Mir Hamza both took three for 49.
There was still time left for Warwickshire to start their second innings and they lost two wickets before stumps, reaching 53 for two at the end of a hectic day’s play.
Nottinghamshire opener Ben Slater notched his first ton since April last year to give his side a healthy advantage over Kent.
Slater put exactly 100 runs on the board before he nicked Jaskaran Singh straight into the hands of Harry Finch and while Haseeb Hameed, Will Young, Joe Clarke and Steven Mullaney all made starts, they failed to go on.
Kent took regular wickets to stop the hosts from going on to make a big partnership, but in the end it was wicketkeeper Tom Moores who frustrated the Kent attack, finishing unbeaten on 72 as Nottinghamshire closed on 275 for five.
Northamptonshire’s Emilio Gay posted three figures for the first time in nearly a year as their batters dominated against Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford.
Gay posted 144, one run short of his career-best total, and hit 14 boundaries in his 342-minute innings which helped his side post an impressive 302 for five at the close of play.
Aiming to haul themselves off the bottom of the table, the Northamptonshire opener put on 207 runs with captain Luke Procter for the fourth-wicket stand and earn just their second batting bonus point of the season.
Jamie Porter took five wickets as Essex landed the first blow over Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl.
Pace bowler Porter conceded just 37 runs as the hosts could only manage 120 on a bowler-friendly pitch, with Simon Harmer chipping in with three for 26.
Batting also proved tricky for Essex, who replied by reaching 145 for six at the close, but more importantly take a 25-run lead into day two.
Surrey’s Tom Lawes destroyed the Somerset top order as they were bowled out for just 170 at Taunton.
The hosts were all out after just 56.3 overs, with 20-year-old seam bowler Lawes claiming wickets of three of the top four on his way to figures of four for 41, Tom Kohler-Cadmore top-scoring with 59 for Somerset.
Surrey replied with 138 for four, Tom Latham leading the way with 67 not out while his fellow countryman Matt Henry began his final appearance of a prolific spell in red and white-ball cricket for Somerset by taking three for 26.
Division Two leaders Durham endured a frustrating day at Scarborough after Yorkshire openers Adam Lyth and Finlay Bean shared a century stand as the hosts threw the first punch on a curtailed day’s play.
Lyth and Bean shared 113 inside 31 overs and went on to a score of 142 for two from 38 overs before Bean fell lbw to England Test pacer Matthew Potts.
Lyth led the way with 75 not out off 118 balls, but hail at lunch prevented an afternoon restart and when play looked to get under way at 2.30pm, rain fell again and it was not until 5.30pm when play resumed for nine overs before bad light cut short play for good.
Colin Ingram’s century put Glamorgan in the driving seat of their clash with Derbyshire.
Ingram notched his first century of the season and stood firm with a record second-wicket stand of 193 from 338 balls with Zain-ul-Hassan, who himself made 69 before being caught and bowled by George Scrimshaw.
After Ingram was bowled for 136 from 200 balls, Kiran Carlson and Billy Root hit half-centuries and shared a run-a-ball fifth-wicket stand of 107 as the visitors closed on 408 for six.
