Roundup: Surrey's Smith torments Gloucestershire as Essex crumble
In a nail-biter at the Ageas Bowl, tail-wagging Lancashire recovered from the perils of 100 for seven, after the middle-order were unable to resist the wiles of Keith Barker (five for 67) and Mohammad Abbas. Nick Gubbins then led Hampshire’s evening trial against Jimmy Anderson and Hassan Ali as they closed on 103 for 3, 109 ahead.
Jamie Smith made an undefeated 234, his highest first-class score, as Surrey pounded to 600 at Bristol. Smith showed just why he has been whispered about so approvingly at The Oval, in an astonishing innings of concentration and skill. Jordan Clark also strongarmed his way to a hundred as Gloucestershire’s Mohammad Amir bowled 28 overs without reward.
Northants continued in their mission to accumulate, thanks to a painstaking century from Luke Procter and a bish-bosh 75 from Gareth Berg at Chelmsford. Ben Sanderson then ripped through Essex, with four for 24, including an awkward-looking Alastair Cook, leaving Essex 95 for 8 at stumps.
Some late-order wagging followed by some excellent attacking new ball-bowling turned back the Somerset clock to the heady days of 2019. Warwickshire were reduced to 197 for 9, as a pitch that had seemed docile suddenly grew teeth.
Yorkshire’s in-form pair of Dawid Malan and Harry Brook both made wonderful centuries at Headingley. Haris Rauf had earlier taken the first-five wicket haul of his career as Kent collapsed. Nathan Gilchrist was the unlucky recipient of a pistol-crack yorker to record his fifth consecutive duck.
In Division Two Sussex’s Cheteshwar Pujara strolled to a rollicking century against Durham, his third of the season; while it was a good day at Trent Bridge for Stuart Broad, who flayed an unbeaten 45 for Nottinghamshire before grabbing two wickets. However, an unbeaten afternoon hundred from Ed Barnard gave Worcestershire a breath of a chance. Michaels Neser and Hogan finished with four wickets each in Derbyshire’s 368, David Lloyd and Marnus Labuschagne led Glamorgan’s reply. And at Lord’s, Shaheen Shah Afridi took two wickets in his third over to terrorise Leicestershire on a freezing evening. A Mark Stoneman century had earlier propelled Middlesex to a first-innings lead.
Updated
Stumps at Leeds at last, with Malan out for 152 - his third hundred in four first-class appearances at Headingley - and Brook unbeaten on 131. What a start to the season he’s had! That’s it from me, we’ll be back tomorrow. Have a wonderful Friday night.
“A box ticked”: Jamie Smith.
💯 Double centurion 💯 Jamie Smith speaks to @backandacross at the end of the second day 🏏 pic.twitter.com/htWO6GdtZE
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) April 29, 2022
Yorkshire hundreds ago-go!
The golden couple. Malan 136 not out; Harry Brook 103 not out. Yorkshire 265-3, partnership 242 and counting.
Warwickshire’s backbone gone! Hain drives, and is snaffled behind off Abell for 54- Warwickshire 189-8 and deep trouble. Jack Leach has his first wicket of the season.
Friday-night reading:
The light-meters save Leicestershire, with 10.2 overs left. They retreat at 35-3. While at the Ageas Bowl, Hampshire must face Jimmy Anderson and the rest with with overhead clouds and floodlights. James Vince not happy to be given out lbw for 31. Gubbins still there on 31. Hampshire 71-3.
I can’t sum events at Lord’s up any better than Krikkitur BTL.
“Be Afridi.
Be very Afridi!”
Leicestershire 17-3. Two in one over for SSA.
Yorkshire - middle-order-England-battle (194-3). Hampshire - Vince and Gubbins waft away (46-2). Warwickshire - weally wotten (138-7). Glamorgan - plausible runs for Labuschagne here (160-2). Worcestershire - plucky rearguard (175-5).
Surrey - excessive (603). Essex -a Goochian nightmare (59-5). Leicestershire -Shaheen on the warpath (2-1). Sussex - Pujara-led plenty (358-5)
Updated
Ok, I’d better write my first edition piece rapidly. Will be back.
200 for Jamie Smith!
Well played! Surrey 535-7. Jordan Clark 98 not out. That is the ...sixth double hundred this season? Two for Shan Masood, one to Pujara, one to Josh Bohannon, one to Tom Haines, and now one to Smith. Have I missed anyone?
🔥 200 for Jamie Smith! 🔥
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) April 29, 2022
It is his third hundred in six first class innings 💫
Surrey 526/7. pic.twitter.com/jq8R2ceOgu
Updated
Warwicks have lost a fourth, Rhodes for five. 64-4, as Gregory gets in on the action.
Lancs? Creeping up to parity. Tom Bailey was Abbas’s third wicket, for 59. Salt 49 not out, Hassan Ali, a 28 ball three not out. Lancs 212-8.
Northants were finally all out, for 390, with a magnificently extrovert 75 (including three sixes) for Gareth Berg. Essex have already lost Nick Browne in reply. 31-1.
Smashing piece this on Tom Haines. Supports the “isn’t it funny how the best players always work the hardest” cliche. Sussex, incidentally, are 214-4. Alsop has just been out to batting Colossus Trevaskis, for 66.
Smashing piece on Tom Haines. https://t.co/Mcnl5GDNjJ
— tanya aldred (@tjaldred) April 29, 2022
Well, well, well! Warwickshire 51-3, still 407 behind. Yates gone for 9, snaffled in the gully by Coverton - his second catch. Davey 2-4.
Glamorgan have made it through the first 5.3 overs without losing a wicket.
Ah Dom Sibley. A wunderbar pre-season but out cheaply again. Lbw, debatably, for 12. Warwicks 36-2, with both openers in the hut.
And the Middlesex plenty continues to send flower into immediate bloom- past 300 with only five wickets down. John Simpson 53, Luke Hollman 32.
Stuart Broad has taken just two wickets in the match, but that’s pretty much the only ray of light Worcestershire can take from the first day and a half. They still trail by 34, with just six second-innings wickets left.
Ooooh! Alex Davies drives airily and well, you know what happens next. Warwicks 25-1.
There’s a break in play at Headingley, while a member of the crowd receives some emergency treatment.
This was a lovely read by Andy Bull on Rob Key
Bad news for Somerset: Matt Renshaw will be unavailable for the County Championship game against Surrey on June 12th, as he’s been called up for the Australia A tour of Sri Lanka.
Ah, Lyth was out the first ball after lunch. Yorks 29-3. Bailey and Salt will make short work of the 91 run deficit at the Rosebowl, if they can stick around. Lancs 155-7.
A sensational effort that by the Somerset lower-order - it’s back to 2019 levels of tail-ender biffing. From 373-8 to 458 all out. Jack Leach stranded on 34. Now we see the cut of this Taunton pitch’s jib, as Warwicks pad up.
Is there anything better than sitting in spring sunshine? April and May are definitely my favourite months of the year.
Yorkshire really are plodding along. What would the Northern Super Chargers think of 23-2 after 21 overs, eh?
A hundred for Luke Procter, 150 for Jamie Smith
Procter lunched on 99, but picks up his hundred with an easy dab behind. Northants 345-8 Jamie Smith eases into his third fifty of his innings and takes Surrey pass 400. A bit of googling reminds me that Smith made a career best 138 at the end of last season, so picking up nicely on 2021.
Lunchtime scores on the doors
Chelmsford: Essex v Northants 328-8
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Surrey 396-7
The Rose Bowl: Hampshire 246 v Lancashire 130-7
Taunton: Somerset 432-9 v Warwickshire
Headingley: Yorkshire 19-2 v Kent 291
DIVISION TWO
The County Ground: Derbyshire 360-8 v Glamorgan
Lord’s: Middlesex 248-5 v Leicestershire 149 all out
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 266 v Worcestershire 159 and 47-4
Hove: Sussex 155-3 v Durham 223
Lots of pre-lunch wobbles for the Roses:
Lancashire have had a right-balls-up of a morning, currently 121-7, and that includes Hampshire putting down two catches in five minutes.
Yorkshire have lost D Karunaratne for four, and have so far scored 15 in 18 overs. Graft and grind, graft and grind.
Right, Division 2: Derbyshire are being boringly sensible, slowly accruing and stuffing the runs in their pockets. Du Plooy a sensible 26: 334-7.
Mark Stoneman has moved to his first century of the season, but has had little solid support, with no-one else getting past 27. Still no big runs for Handscomb. Middx 218-4, a lead of 69 over Leicestershire.
Sussex have lost Orr and Crane, but Alsop and Pujara dragging Sussex towards Durham’s total: 138-3, 85 behind.
And in the game being played with the fast-forward button pressed down, Worcestershire have contrived to lose three wickets already in their second innings, including Azhar Ali. 23-3, still trail Notts by 79.
Dane Vilas has added to Lancashire’s woes, a third wicket for Barker. With half their wickets down, Lancs have accrued 100.
At Chelmsford: Some excellent tail wagging by Northants has added nearly 50 this morning, Luke Procter a patient 75 not out.
Jamie Smith feels like he has been a bright young things for years, but is still only 21. He’s moved on to 125 not out at Bristol, Surrey have lost three wickets this morning, including Sam Curran for 64. Surrey 352-7.
Lancs flirting with a Lancs-up at the Rosebowl: 83-4, 163 behind. While, in classic style, Somerset have lost 4-7 this morning. Banton bowled by Miles for 57. Currently 393-8.
Bizarre event of the day, N0. 1, an official warning for Grant Stewart in his third over. Yorkshire are 5-0, after Kent were bowled out for 291. Time to go round the grounds...
England-prospect Josh Bohannon is Barkered for 33. Lancs teasing us with their neat 18s and classy 33s. Balderson still there with 15 off 70 balls, actually, he’s not, he’s just been Abbott-ed. Lancs 76-4.
Kent all out for 291 before a sniff of brunch. Haris Rauf’s 5-65 his first ever five-fer in first class cricket! Dom Bess mentioned after play yesterday how little first-class experience he had: this is only his seventh f-c match.
At Taunton, Steven Davies is run-out in a yes-no-sorry situation with Tom Banton - who has just eased past 50. Somerset 368-5.
Updated
It’s all going swimmingly for Yorkshire this morning, as Thompson grabs Milnes then Haris Rauf bowls Gilchrist with a gorgeous yorker, to take his tally to 5-65. At 286-9, Kent need some oomph from somewhere to make that last batting point.
Early wickets round the grounds; for Haris Rauf (Stewart caught behind for 1); for Mohammad Abbas (Lamb for 3). Meanwhile Stuart Broad is making whoopee with the bat at Trent Bridge. Notts 230-8.
Chris Rushworth news:
Chris Rushworth will unfortunately play no further part at Hove due to concussion suffered yesterday and will be replaced by Oliver Gibson. pic.twitter.com/UcrL7X2szC
— Durham Cricket (@DurhamCricket) April 29, 2022
Also, despite reports of a dodgy hamstring, the reason Darren Stevens isn’t playing is because he was rested/ dropped.
That picture of Yorkshire above - it was precisely that cold.
This morning, the dog rolled in something truly disgusting ( a dead rat) for the fourth time this week. Is there something about spring that makes them more inclined to cover themselves in something foul?
Anyway, I’ve just come across this which looks an interesting read at lunchtime. And this (below) on the billion people in the cricket-loving world sweltering in extreme climate-induced heat.
Ten percent of all the people on earth are sweltering under truly extreme heat tonighthttps://t.co/u4uAhy4ulo pic.twitter.com/YRLKV7fQLf
— Bill McKibben (@billmckibben) April 28, 2022
Thursday's round-up
On a suitably overcast Leeds day, Yorkshire stepped back on to the Headingley turf for the first time since the turbulent events of the winter. After the ECB-choreographed moment of reflection, the 2000-strong crowd burst into a fair rattle of applause as the players ran on to the field. Haris Rauf, who on his last appearance at Headingley was kerpowed over the top of the Howard Stand and into the rugby ground by Liam Livingstone, harried in from the same end and decimated Kent’s top order.
First the immovable Ben Compton, then the flighty Zak Crawley, yet to sing for his supper this season, and finally the former Yorkshire player Jack Leaning. But from the depths of 20 for three, Daniel Bell-Drummond and Jordan Cox built a foundation, judiciously sending the loose balls for four. Cox was lbw in Dom Bess’s first over, but Bell-Drummond eased to his second consecutive hundred, an innings full of handsome strokes.
In the north-east stand, groups of friends in thermal hiking trousers and warm coats sat together, happy to be back. One was Deirdre, a member, who voted through the reforms. “I’m optimistic for the future,” she said, “it is critical that people embrace the change.”
Surrey too recovered from a dreadful start, with their stacked middle order making glorious runs – an unbeaten 111 for Jamie Smith, 84 for Ollie Pope, and more boundary-laden runs for Sam Curran. Mohammad Amir’s Gloucestershire debut went wicketless, though a couple of catches were fumbled. At the Rose Bowl, Hassan Ali continued his scintillating form, skittling his way through Hampshire to take five for 45. Jimmy Anderson was at his erudite best, taking three for 24.
Somerset enjoyed a remarkably perky day at Taunton against the county champions, Warwickshire, inspired by a century from Matthew Renshaw, and half-centuries from Tom Abell and Tom Lammonby. While on a friendly Chelmsford pitch, Northamptonshire painstakingly picked a path towards respectability against Essex, thanks to sixties from Will Young and Luke Procter.
In Division Two, 17 wickets fell at Trent Bridge as Stuart Broad’s return was overshadowed by Dane Patterson who clattered through Worcestershire, with career-best figures of eight for 52. Haseeb Hameed top-scored for Nottinghamshire with 53.
Showman Shaheen Shah Afridi thrilled a large group of watching schoolchildren at Lord’s, reducing Leicestershire to 32 for three, fizzing out Hassan Azad and Colin Ackermann in successive balls. Tom Helm then led the rest of Middlesex’s attack to dismiss Leicestershire for 149. Mark Stoneman was 80 not out at stumps.
Shan Masood was cut off in his prime, for 60, his fifth consecutive half century (or more), but Derbyshire powered on against Glamorgan with a hundred from Brooke Guest. Sussex had Durham in an unexpected mess at 128 for seven, until Liam Trevaskis bashed 88 to take them to respectability. Tom Haines then shimmied to his third fifty of the season.
Start of play scores
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex v Northants 233-7
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Surrey 294-4
The Rose Bowl: Hampshire 246 v Lancashire 37-1
Taunton: Somerset 361-4v Warwickshire
Headingley: Yorkshire v Kent 270-6
DIVISION TWO
The County Ground: Derbyshire 282-5 v Glamorgan
Lord’s: Middlesex 142-2 v Leicestershire 149 all out
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 203-9 v Worcestershire 159 all out
Hove: Sussex 82-1 v Durham 223
Preamble
Good morning! It’s day two, the sun is out, in Manchester at least, let’s see if bowlers still have the scent of blood in their nostrils. 69 wickets fell yesterday, which after a calming few weeks for the batters, felt like a return to April service.
While Northants v Essex, Yorkshire v Kent, Gloucestershire v Surrey and Derby v Glamorgan unfurled at walking pace, things got rather out of hand at Trent Bridge, Hove, Lord’s and, to a lesser extent, at the Rosebowl.
Somerset’s score should perhaps be taken with a pinch of salt - apparently there is a very short boundary on the town side of the ground and the pitch has only the barest hint of green.
Time for coffee, back shortly!
