Roundup
At 27 minutes past three on a sun-soaked and soporific afternoon at Headingley, Matt Parkinson hopped and skipped to the crease to send down another fizzing delivery. Joe Root, on 99, effortlessly clipped the ball away off his pads and scampered the single he needed to bring up his first century of the summer.
With all the comings and goings, firings and hirings of the past few weeks it was a timely reminder from Root, as if anyone really needed one, that he is still around, still in great form and still the best red-ball batter in the country.
Root lifted his helmet to reveal that beaming, mischievous smile and raised his arms to the blue skies. It was a poignant moment for the batter formerly known as the England Men’s Test Captain and an innings that will have pleased the newly formed axis of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum with the first Test of the summer looming a matter of weeks away. Yorkshire, just like England of late, needed Root’s runs, he fell to Parkinson eventually for 147 and the home side still trail Lancashire by 210 runs with first innings wickets remaining.
The sun was not just shining in God’s own county but up and down the shires. In Beckenham, despite the favourable batting conditions, Kent were put under the pump by Division One leaders Surrey.
Jamie Overton, bowling fast and nasty, hit Ben Compton with a short ball that clonked the opener on the head, dislodging Compton’s helmet which plopped down onto the stumps. Celebrations soon turned to confusion, not for the stricken Compton but the Surrey fielders as the umpires informed them that the batter wasn’t out due to an ECB amendment (introduced in 2020) to Law 29 that deems a batter not out if their helmet is knocked off and breaks the wicket.
Compton looked rattled nevertheless and fell shortly after to Will Jacks’s off-spin. Jacks picked up four wickets as Surrey bowled Kent out for 230 and stuck them in for another go after tea by enforcing the follow-on. Zak Crawley cutting a frustrated figure as he chopped on to Jacks before the close leaving Kent on 82 for one and 359 runs adrift.
Jack Leach twirled his way to eight wickets in the match as Somerset registered their second largest win in 147 years of first-class cricket, thumping Gloucestershire by an innings and 246 runs.
Runs kept on flowing at Edgbaston where Warwickshire trail Northamptonshire by 203 runs, Sam Hain playing an obdurate innings to still be there at stumps on 140 off 337 balls.
Durham’s Matthew Potts became the first bowler to 30 wickets in this year’s Championship. Earlier Glamorgan’s Marnus Labuschagne wheeled away with glee after having Ben Stokes sharply stumped off his bowling but was less happy a few hours later as the shadows crept across Chester-le-Street, Ben Raine pocketing him for 31 to leave the visitors needing 126 more with seven wickets in hand.
Nottinghamshire’s Steven Mullaney launched a blitzkrieg at Lord’s, smearing Middlesex’s bowlers around HQ in a 58-ball hundred which allowed Notts to declare on 295 for five. Luke Fletcher then removed Mark Stoneman and Josh de Caires to leave Middlesex reeling on 2-0, a relative recovery to 69 for three leaves them facing a tough battle on day four.
Not so rosy for fellow Midlanders Leicestershire as they stare down the barrel against Sussex, following on they still trail by 45 runs and only have five second innings wickets in which to eke out a notional lead, 17 year old Archie Lenham picking up 3-47 for the south coast side.
Anuj Dal finished on 114 not out for Derbyshire as they continued to rack up the runs in this campaign. They posted 565-8, Worcestershire on the end of a lower order wagging in Derby. At 59-1 and trailing by 138 runs in their second dig the visitors will be hoping tomorrow yields yet more sunshine and runs.
Updated
That’s it from me for today. Thanks for reading and being kind, informative and funny in your comments and emails. Tanya will be back tomorrow to take the helm and show us how it’s really done/guide you through the final day of play in this round.
I’ll leave the blog open for a while and post any interesting bits and bobs I stumble across.
Goodnight!
