County cricket: Surrey v Warwickshire, Nottingham v Lancashire, and more – live | County Championship
Key events
“Best morning to you Tanya!” Hi Tim Maitland!
“I’m trying to decide if it’s my imagination or if there really has been a bit of a shortage of Bazballesque biff in this round of matches and if so why?
“Apart from Jamie Smith’s match-winning 155 (18 fours, 3 sixes at a strike rate of 86.59) for Surrey, there seemed to be a noticeable lack of runs driving the game forward.
“I’m not counting but in no way discounting Worcestershire’s unbeaten 8th wicket (Jason Holder’s 123, 7 fours 6 sixes at 111.82 and Matthew Waite’s 100 at 79.37) as they reached 393 for 7, which it’s clearly a case of 225 runs in a late innings how is your father.
“Even Durham is relatively docile by today’s standards.
“It probably doesn’t mean much, but it seems unusual to me – given the high totals being raised and the correspondingly high probability of a draw – that so few people have adopted McCullum’s mantra, with the Test selection looming.
“BTW, as I believe the kids are saying, does Smith have any chance of a Test call up this summer?”
I asked Ali who says “He’s definitely the guy they’re very keen on, very Bazball; the question is where would he fit in, with brook at 5, stokes 6… the goalkeeper’s place is one zone, but he’s not doing it for Surrey in the Championship. Jonny B in the mix too.”
As for the lack of Bazball, I wonder if it has to do with the pitches. The ground staff couldn’t get the bounce they were looking for due to the weather. So less easy to play attacking shots?
Super stats from Dave Bracegirdle: Notts took 11 shots plus two from the keeper. Some brilliant efforts here.
And here we are!
Weather clock
The weather service is optimistic: A band of rain gradually spread across southern and western parts of the UK, with a few showers in northern Scotland. Elsewhere it will be mostly dry with sunny spells. Cooler in the rain but stays warm in the sun.
It seems to be gloomy at the moment Hampshire and London, sunny in Canterbury and Nottingham and cloudy in Northants. Let me know if I’m way off!
Door scores
Division one
Southampton: Hampshire 503 v Durham 410-8
Canterbury: Kent 262-8 v Worcestershire 618-7 Dec
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 503 v Lancashire 331 and 100-6
The Oval: Surrey 464 and 31-0 v Warwickshire 343 and 209 Surrey need 58
Second division
Sofia Gardens: Glamorgan 411 and 58-2 BEAT Sussex 278 and 188 BY NINE WICKETS
County Grounds: Northants 171 and 144-2 v Gloucestershire 409 and 319-5dec
The recap on Sunday
Lancashire‘s batters endured another bad day at the office, but not before their former wunderkind took a spin in the swivel chair and smoked some roots. NottinghamshireHaseeb Hameed cruised to the first double century of his career, carrying his bat for 247.
Ollie Stone assisted on a career-best 90. Lancashire then it went quiet as Dylan Pennington, who should be in England’s notebooks, cut through the top order and Dane Patterson and Lydon James did the rest. Tom Hartley and Matty Hurst twirled the bat at the end, but six wickets down Lancashire still needed 72 more to avoid an innings defeat.
Glamorgan handed over the table Sussex a three-day knock of nine wickets in Cardiff. Andy Gorwin grabbed a career-best five for 40 and, with the help of Mir Hamza and Mason Crane, Sussex were bowled out for 188 in their second innings, leaving Glamorgan 56 to win. They achieved this in less than eight overs for their first Championship win since May last year.
Kemar Roach’s six for 46 Surrey in sight of a third championship victory on the bounce against Warwickshire in the Oval. With Rory Burns and Dom Sibley at the top, Surrey needed just 58 more. Jamie Smith’s magical 155 and a partnership of 115 with big hitter Sean Abbott lifted Surrey to maximum points.
A high-scoring tie looks on the cards on the docile pitch Hampshire‘s Rose Bowl, where David Bedingham went Durham past the next target and safely on 140, his second century of the summer. Liam Dawson managed to clear a personal best of 62 over and was awarded five-fair
Cameron Bancroft scored an unbeaten 130 Gloucestershire in an excellent position against Northamptonshire. Set 558 to win, Emilio Gay went on the offensive, his 74 a thrilling combination of luck and finesse.
At Canterbury, Jack Leaning batted all day for a tenacious 152 not out, giving Kent the specter of a chance of survival vs Worcestershire. Kent are still 256 behind but the pitch is welcoming. Beyers Swanepoel hit 54 on debut
Preamble
Good beautiful May morning! And best of luck to anyone doing SATS or starting GCSEs or A levels this week – may the force be with you (or your offspring). In the Championship, we’re entering day four of round six – at the end of today we’ll be a third of the way through the season.
Around the grounds Glamorgan have already polished off Sussex and Warwickshire and Lancashire are fading fast. It looks a tie in the Rose Bowl, so the main interest may lie in whether Northants and Kent can get themselves out of trouble.
