So this happened:
Things looking glum for Glamorgan, 75-4, still trailing Middlesex on first innings by 134.
I’m back! But so, more importantly, is Ali…
Hello from Edgbaston, where my arrival was nearly so late as to be positively posthumous but thankfully just in time to see Liam Norwell retire hurt after a nasty blow to the head, Michael Burgess bring up a second successive century and play interrupted by a number of advertising hoardings being blown onto the field by a gust of wind. No news yet on Norwell, who walked off visibly dazed from a Mark Steketee bouncer that pranged him on the side of the helmet in the 100th over. Burgess was on 88 at the time – Warwickshire 280 for eight (but effectively nine down) and leading by 116 runs – and for the second time in a fortnight was joined by the BFG that is Oliver Hannon-Dalby. While the No11 is in resolute form after his record 94-minute show of defiance to get off the mark against Surrey a fortnight ago, Burgess decided he’d best not assume repeat, carving four fours from Steketee’s next over, the third of which brought up three figures. Having arrived at 124 for five and still 40 runs in arrears, Burgess is now 111 not out and has since taken his side to 314 for eight in the 110th over for a lead of 146. Hannon-Dalby is 20 dot balls into his latest masterpiece.
Roundup: Gloucestershire put Anderson through his paces
Tanya Aldred
Even the finest racehorses need a bit of rubbing down. After spending the second half of the winter on the sidelines, omitted from England’s West Indies tour, James Anderson rolled up to Old Trafford for Lancashire’s second match of the season.
He was as lithe as ever, a 39-year-old without a sign of middle age. But for one reason or another – the unaccustomed Manchester sunshine, the brisk breeze that rustled across the ground, causing spectators to pull up their gloves – he went wicketless. His first seven overs went for 21 runs; his next nine for just nine. Perhaps he pitched a little short, a little wide at times, perhaps the toast just landed butter side down.
Gloucestershire had spent the morning spreading Lancashire’s international attack of Anderson, Hasan Ali, Saqib Mahmood and Matt Parkinson around the ground, the only batting team in the entire Championship not to lose a wicket in the morning session. They then contrived to lose six between lunch and tea as Mahmood got reward for his accuracy, and Hasan Ali, whose celebrations deserve to be immortalised on the stage, bowled superbly, finishing the day with six wickets.
Another Pakistan international cut a dash, this time Shaheen Shah Afridi on his Middlesex debut against Glamorgan, on a day when 16 wickets fell at Sophia Gardens. He finished with three for 35, bowling a bewildered Marnus Labuschagne with a humdinger. Daniel Bell-Drummond made 149 as Kent inched towards 300 against Hampshire, Zak Crawley out for seven after dancing unadvisedly towards Mohammad Abbas.
Essex collapsed from 98 for two to 168 all out on a good batting track at Edgbaston, a day made worse when Dan Lawrence limped off towards the end clutching his hamstring. Tom Westley had been the last Essex man out for 80. Warwickshire were 76 for two at the close, with Alex Davies out for an archetypal bish, bang, swish on his Warwickshire debut; Dom Sibley survived until stumps.
At the County Ground, there were more runs for Dawid Malan and Harry Brook, who together put on 131, but the Sri Lanka Test captain, Dimuth Karunaratne, was dismissed cheaply. Gareth Berg proved a tricky prospect, finishing with five for 58. Yorkshire’s Jordan Thompson then took two quick Northamptonshire wickets before stumps.
At the Riverside, Liam Patterson-White snaffled five wickets as Durham struggled to 230. Haseeb Hameed was not out on 23 for Nottinghamshire at the close. Sam Conners took four wickets for Derbyshire in the East Midlands derby against Leicestershire, who were dismissed for 213.
Brett D’Oliveira’s golden touch since being made Worcestershire captain continued with his second century in two games. Dropped on 19, he made Sussex pay, blossoming through the day. The leading wicket-taker for Sussex – whose injury list includes winter signing Steven Finn and Ollie Robinson, out with a tooth infection – was the captain and opening batsman, Tom Haines.
Surrey v Somerset: Abell finds form with bat
Simon Burnton
At the fifth attempt this season, Somerset finally scored more than 200 runs in an innings, banking their first two batting points of the campaign in the process. Their captain, Tom Abell, justified his decision to bat on a day of glorious sunshine by scoring a century and leading his team to 283 for six.
As might be expected of a side that had lost their first two games and are yet to find form with the bat, Somerset felt their way into the contest nervously, scoring 15 runs off the first 15 overs. Reece Topley did not concede a run until Matt Renshaw worked his 33rd delivery of the day for a single, by which time he had already taken the wicket of Tom Lammonby, caught by Ollie Pope at second slip.
That breakthrough brought Abell to the crease, where he put together a partnership of 66 with Renshaw who was excellently caught, also by Pope, off Jamie Overton when two short of a half-century, and then another of 103 with James Hildreth. Along the way, Abell scored his 5,000th first-class run – smartly cutting Jordan Clark for four – and ended a sequence of 14 first-class innings without reaching 50, a run during which he averaged 7.8.
Tom Abell celebrates his century. Photograph: Alex Davidson/Getty/Surrey CCC
It took Hildreth’s arrival for Somerset to significantly increase the speed of their scoring, the 37-year-old coming in after Tom Banton had been given out caught behind off Clark – to the batter’s evident surprise – and hitting his first ball for four. Intent duly demonstrated, he motored to his second half-century of the season in 75 deliveries, before cutting to Hashim Amla at backward point off Will Jacks.
Steven Davies was out four balls later and when Craig Overton soon followed and Josh Davey endured two enthusiastic lbw appeals in his first three deliveries it seemed Surrey had belatedly discovered their opponents’ soft underbelly. But there would be no further breakthroughs and as the shadows lengthened, so did Somerset’s advantage.
Updated at 19.42 BST
Close of play scores
Division One
Canterbury Kent 271-7 (Bell-Drummond 149) v Hampshire
Old Trafford Lancashire 11-1 v Gloucestershire 252 all out
Northampton Northamptonshire 26-2 v Yorkshire 296 all out
The Oval Surrey v Somerset 283-6 (Abell 121 no)
Edgbaston Warwickshire 76-2 v Essex 168 all out
Division Two
Riverside Durham 230 all out v Nottinghamshire 50-0
Sophia Gardens Glamorgan 122 all out v Middlesex 171-6
Grace Road Leicestershire 213 all out v Derbyshire 36-1
New Road Worcestershire 338-5 (D’Oliveira 106 no) v Sussex
Updated at 19.00 BST
Division Two activities:
At Chester-le-Street, Liam Trevaskis has retired hurt on 15 after being hit twice on the helmet by James Pattinson. Debutant George Drissell is the concussion sub. Durham 219-7 v Notts
Middlesex have lost 3-18 as their top order collapses. Stoneman still there on fifty. Middx 90-4, trail Glamorgan by 32.
Leicestershire on the brink – 185-9, four wickets for Sam Conners; while at New Road D’Oliveira (84) and Ed Barnard have put. on 140 for the fifth wicket, Worcs 273-4.
Right, time for me to write up, sithee later.
Al Davies has been in and out in his first innings for Warwicks – a five-boundaried 22 before being caught off Sam Cook. Warwicks 34-1 trail Essex by 134. Abell is nearing (this is NOT a jinx) three figures, as Somerset hit the unimaginable heights of 207-3 on what is presumably a batting paradise at The Oval. Yorkshire 254-7, Harry Brook out for 84.And at Canterbury DBD has moved onto 148 not out.
Bad news for Kenickie fans, but we still love you Em Jackson. “Good Afternoon Tanya, alas I’m not but I’m certainly aware of said North-East band (more of a Dubstar fan myself – Not So Manic now and all that).”
I must stretch my legs, back shortly.
Essex have been bowled out for 168 in 64.2 overs after winning the toss and electing to bat. Three wickets apiece for Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Danny Briggs, the latter getting the last to fall when Tom Westley decided he had little choice but to have a crack and picked out Matt Lamb on the mid-wicket boundary. The Essex skipper departed for 80 from 176 balls and will be a bit miffed about the lack of support from his middle order, having been 42 not out – and the visitors 98 for two – when Dan Lawrence fell after lunch. Good work from his opposite number, mind you, Will Rhodes rotating his seamers from one end while Briggs twirled away at the other. Now to see if Warwickshire can either make a mockery of that effort or my earlier assertion this is a good batting surface.
Tea-time scores
DIVISION ONE
Old Trafford: Lancashire v Gloucestershire 170-6
Canterbury: Kent 183-3 v Hampshire
The County Ground: Northamptonshire v Yorkshire 237-7
The Oval: Surrey v Somerset 163-3
Edgbaston: Warwickshire v Essex 168 all out
DIVISION TWO
The Riverside: Durham 187-6 v Notts
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 122 all out v Middlesex 75-2
Grace Road: Leicestershire 158-7 v Derbyshire
New Road: Worcestershire 254-4 v Sussex
That numbers XI in full (thanks all): Ryan Ten Doeschate, Roger TWOse, Dean JONEs, Sachin TENdulkar, Chris BalderSTONE, Geraint JONEs, Martin SpEIGHT, Craig OverTON, Jamie OverTON, BalFOUR Patrick Patterson, Simon JONEs.
Not just applause but actual whoops from the Oval audience as Tom Abell reaches 50. In 14 first-class innings since his last half-century last June he had averaged 7.8, and had reached double figures only six times, so it’s not exactly underdue (is that a thing?). He celebrated by scoring two boundaries off Reece Topley’s next over, making it the most expensive of the day and adding to a feeling of pleasingly building pace as we approach tea.
A second for Hasan, as now Hammond can’t resist a nibble. Gloucs 150-5. And that’s a third! Lace lbw for a duck. Hasan exuberantly triumphant, he’s made for musical theatres. Now on on a hat-trick! Glous 150-6.
A hundred for Daniel Bell-Drummond!
I’ve not written that for a while. A long while. His 12th in first-class cricket – huzzah! Kent 174-3.
Century man: Daniel Bell-Drummond. Photograph: James Chance/Getty Images
Updated at 17.08 BST
A second for Mahmood, his first ball back at the James Anderson end as Van Buuren feathers behind to Phi Salt. Saqib has been the pick of the bowlers today, that fluent high-armed action as smooth as ever.
To my left, the diggers are busying themselves with the demolished remnants of the Red Rose Suite. Eventually the new yet-to-be-named stand [a white box like structure] will house the shop, heritage centre and ticket office underneath.
An email floats by with the breeze. Hello Andrew Benton “When Marcus Harris was interviewed by Glos he mentioned doing and bit of teaching and a bit of learning – he seems to provide some stability for his partner batter, and if they can cool down and improve a bit with him there, then Glos should be looking at becoming more of a challenge all round. Chris Dent often seems to underperform with the bat, but not today! Still, with Bracey gone its time for a ‘new captain’s’ innings from van Buuren.” Yes, Harris looks certain to do for Gloucestershire what he did for Leicestershire last year.
It’s a collapse! The departure of Adam Wheater, caught behind off Norwell for a seven-ball duck, means Essex have lost four for 10 in 36 balls. Smidgeon of movement away for that dismissal – Wheater was defending on the back foot – but this is no horror track by any stretch. And as tradition seemingly dictates while writing an update, they’ve lost another one: Simon Harmer, bowled by Danny Briggs while trying to dance down the pitch and whip it through leg, makes it five for 11 in 53 balls and Essex are 109 for seven.
In Division Two:
Glamorgan are currently changing their socks and cursing their luck for coming up against Shaheen Shah Afridi on Middlesex debut, 122 all out. Shaheen Afridi 3-35; Roland Jones 3-34.
Durham 149-5 against Notts, Dickson the shining light, lbw for 54; Sam Evans and Wiaan Mulder have put on 43 for the fifth wicket at Derby; Leics 111-4; and a third wicket for Tom Haines at New Road, Worcs 185-4. D’Oliverira 50 not out.
Adam Rossington has just given a brilliant impression of a man who has woken up, walked downstairs into the kitchen and immediately stepped in a pile of puppy poo, having tried to larrup a half volley from Liam Norwell (who replaced OHD at the Pavilion End) and seen it fly straight into the hands of cover. Essex, who won the toss remember, are 107 for five and in danger of squandering this advantage. All eyes on Tom Westley, who is unbeaten on 45 and now has Adam Wheater for company.
Somerset, 107-2, are being uncharacteristically stoical. Abell grinding out a 93-ball 34; Banton a little more cocksure with two boundaries in his 11 not out. JOverton, bowling at his old team, had Renshaw caught for 48. Essex, meanwhile, are 108-6.
At The County Ground, more quick-fire runs for Malan (64) and Brook (63 not out). All four wickets to fall have gone to goldenarm Gareth Berg. Yorks 161-4.
Compton is out shock at Canterbury; where Kent are 120-3. He played 103 balls for his 27. Bell-Drummond still there on 81. Two wickets for Barker, one for Abbas.
Dominos time at OT as last week’s centurion James Bracey seems to play down the wrong line to George Balderson. Gloucs 133-3.
Let’s skip gently between the dandelions of Division One.
Gloucs on top 127-1: a good pitch but slightly wayward from the Div 1 bowling A-team. And as I type that, Saqib, in a headband, has Harris caught by Phil Salt for 67. Gloucs 131-2
…and Hannon-Dalby is giving it both barrels now, the second ball of his next over seeing Matt Critchley play a bit of a nothing shot outside off and edging behind for two. Essex 102 for four now
Afternoon from Edgbados, where 80-odd minutes of diligent work from Tom Westley and Dan Lawrence either side of lunch has come to an end. Lawrence is the man to go for 30, Oliver Hannon-Dalby hammering away at off stump, seeing a shout for lbw declined on height and then going slightly fuller with a ball that swung in, beat the inside edge and shivered his timbers. Essex have just ticked past three figures to reach 102 for three.
An animated action man celebration from Hassan Ali, who touches the ground and then springs up with both arms aloft, as Croft catches Chris Dent at second grab at second slip for 52. A breakthrough at last. Gloucs 119-1.
A lovely little drive takes Harris to an unbeaten 52, joining Dent on 51. Gloucestershire 113-0. Easy pickings.
This amused me
A pleasant perambulation reveals a hot sun but a squally wind, sandwiches in silver foil and lots of punters, who pottered onto the pitch and stared intently at the square.
I missed Dent being dropped on 46 by Luke Wells at first slip, at shoulder height, off Hassan Ali.
Lancs TV is showing a soft-focus interview with Paul Allot, all pastels and scatter cushions.
And with Gloucestershire the only county not to have lost a wicket against Lancy’s mighty arsenal of Anderson, Mahmood, Hasan Ali and Parky – it’s time for lunch.
Lunchtime scores
DIVISION ONE
Old Trafford: Lancashire v Gloucestershire 101-0
Canterbury: Kent 97-1 v Hampshire
The County Ground: Northamptonshire v Yorkshire 110-3
The Oval: Surrey v Somerset 62-1
Edgbaston: Warwickshire v Essex 88-2
DIVISION TWO
The Riverside: Durham 96-2 v Notts
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 71-7 v Middlesex
Grace Road: Leicestershire 68-4 v Derbyshire
New Road: Worcestershire 118-3 v Sussex
Three wickets down at New Road where Tom Haines, inking his name down as the county captain with the biggest load, has dismissed Pollock for 77 and Libby for 11. Burrows snared Haynes for 2 and it’s been good morning’s fightback by Sussex. Worcs 111-3.
At Chester-le-Street, Petersen (Keegan) is batting against Pattinson (James), Paterson (Dane) and Patterson-White (Liam). Durham 81-1.
…and Harris, quick-steps, swings, and smacks him for six.
Parky is on.
Updated at 12.44 BST
No brownies for The Oval’s peckish hacks, sadly, but we do have a full house of alternative milks at our hot drink station, with soya, oat, coconut, almond and cow available. On the pitch Matt Renshaw has started, er, milking the Surrey bowlers, scoring six runs off a single Sam Curran over, as many as he had off the previous 10 overs combined, swiftly followed by a boundary off Craig Overton, and having scored 11 off his first 60 deliveries he has since thrashed 10 from 10.
Glamorgan’s neck sinks further into its shoulders: 52-7 as Helm and Andersson join the party.
Here at OT, Dent plays a little short arm pull to the boundary off Balderson as Gloucestershire look towards lunch at a very unexpected 75-0.
Gold.
“Good Afternoon-just Tanya, Good Afternoon-just everyone.” Lovely to hear from you Em Jackson.
“Hoping to see Durham make hay whilst the North-East sun is shining (or at least is about 8 miles up the road on Tyneside).
“There was Ryan ten Doeschate (Netherlands and I seem to recall Essex (?)) now there’s Erik ten Haag at Old Trafford. . . how many “numbers” have played cricket (or indeed soccer)?”
Now there’s a challenge.
It’s a knight to remember (sorry) for Will Rhodes, who has just pinned Alastair Cook lbw for 23 to see Essex 37 for two after 15 overs. Lovely set-up from the Warwickshire captain, who after a succession of deliveries outside off got one to nip back in and beat the inside edge. Dan Lawrence joins Tom Westley out in the middle, having had something of a low key start to the season – 7, 17, 0 – since returning from the Caribbean
In Division Two: Glamorgan, dear Glamorgan, have lost four for nine. Two in two for Shaheen Shah Afridi, two for Roland Jones and, to the sound of a chirpy car horn, a run-out. Glamorgan 34-5. Sean Dickson and Michael Jones move seamlessly onwards against Nottinghamshire, Durham 57-0. Azad and Rhodes are freshly showered, Leicestershire 41-2; while Ed Pollock is scoring at a run a ball at New Road, currently 67 not out in Worcestershire’s 80-0 against the babes in the wood.
Updated at 12.18 BST
David Hopps’ long mulled over and meticulously written treatise on Yorkshire in this year’s Wisden.
Gareth Berg is ripping through Yorkshire – with Lyth, Karunaratne and Hill all gone with 28 on the board.Ben Compton is bedding himself in once more, at Canterbury, but Zak Crawley is back in the pavilion, after a gratuitous quick-step to Mohammad Abbas. Kent 40-1 v Hampshire. Alastair Cook and Westley moving along steadily at Edgbaston.
At OT Jimmy has switched ends, in search of the breakthrough.
At The Oval:
Having decided to bat Somerset have made a circumspect start at the Oval: after 10 overs only one ball had gone for more than a single, they were tiptoeing along at 1.3 an over and they’d just lost their first wicket, Tom Lammonby caught by Ollie Pope at slip off Reece Topley. Previously the chief excitement was caused by Somerset giving their hosts an incorrect team sheet, details of which were duly relayed to the crowd. Roelof van der Merwe is not in fact playing, and Jack Brooks is. Somerset 14-1.
Two tins of cake have arrived in the Old Trafford press box – brownies with caramel chunks – courtesy of Mike Birty . Beat that Birmingham and south London. All sweetness and light for Gloucestershire here: 29-0. Time for a wander round the grounds..
For your pleasure
No place for Keaton Jennings today (out with a calf injury) – the player who came out top in Tim de Lisle’s fascinating win/loss ration index – also a shout out for Parky (who plays).
Without wanting to sound like some kind of stalker, I’ve been peering through my bionoculars and JA still looks in peak physical condition, as lean as ever, even if he’s not been at his testing best – yet – this morning. At mid-on Saqib Mahmood warms up.
Greetings from Edgbaston, [Hello Ali!] where it’s typically tropical weather-wise and the Essex boys are in town. We’ve got a very short boundary to the left as I look towards the city and what looks like a good pitch out in the middle – hence the decision by the visitors to have a bat upon winning the toss. So it’s Alastair Cook and Nick Browne starting out against a new-ball pairing of Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Liam Norwell, with the latter having missed the run-fest versus Surrey due to a bad back. A squirted four for Cook during an otherwise probing st.. oh, a wicket … OHD tempts Browne with a wide one and the edge flies to a diving Michael Burgess behind the stumps. Essex six for one in the fifth over of the day.
Only Glamorgan have lost a wicket in the first 15 mins of the day, Salter giving catching practise off Toby Roland-Jones. Stream alert – you can now watch Shaheen Shah Afridi bowling to Marnus Labuschagne: 1980s quality county cricket.
For light relief, Hassan Ali starts off at the Statham end. There’s no messing about, straight to work, bustling and busy, wind ruffling his shirt.
Morning Tanya, morning everyone. [Hello Simon in south London!]. The bell has just rung out at The Oval, where the one big change I’ve spotted since last season involves the living wall outside the Vauxhall End/JM Finn Stand. Installed in 2005 amid some fanfair, by last year there were some unsightly dead sections and since then it seems drastic action has been taken, with the real plants having been replaced with plastic ones. I’m sure there’s a metaphor in there somewhere.
Updated at 11.04 BST
At the James Anderson end, Jimmy has the ball, stretches, tosses the ball from hand to hand. And bowls a wide.
Old Trafford is looking a treat. Gloucestershire won the toss and will bat. Which is endearingly bold.
And editor Lawrence Booth gets stuck into the ECB with knife, spoon and pitchfork:
Updated at 10.15 BST
Wisden 2022 is out today. So many juicy nuggets but the pillars for starters: the Five Cricketers of the Year are Jasprit Bumrah, Devon Conway, Ollie Robinson, Rohit Sharma and Dane van Niekerk. Joe Root is the leading men’s cricketer in the world for 2021, Lizelle Lee the leading women’s cricketer, Mohammad Rizwan the world’s leading T20 cricketer.
Wisden Cricketer of the Year: Dane van Niekerk Photograph: Gareth Copley – ECB/ECB/Getty Images
Updated at 10.15 BST
Round 3
DIVISION ONE
Old Trafford: Lancashire v Gloucestershire
Canterbury: Kent v Hampshire
The County Ground: Northamptonshire v Yorkshire
The Oval: Surrey v Somerset
Edgbaston: Warwickshire v Essex
DIVISION TWO
The Riverside: Durham v Notts
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan v Middlesex
Grace Road: Leicestershire v Derbyshire
New Road: Worcestershire v Sussex
Preamble
Good morning! It’s round three of the Championship, the blossom is billowing and the swallows arriving.
Swallows landing for the early cricket season. Photograph: Soumyabrata Roy/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock
All counties are playing in this round. I’m heading to Old Trafford shortly, where Gloucestershire are visiting; Simon Burnton is keeping an eye on things at The Oval between Surrey and an almost revitalised Somerset and Ali Martin is scooting along to Edgbaston for the big hitter: Warwicks v Essex. Lots to look out for at Old Trafford where Ali reported that Saqib Mahmood may be playing his last season for Lancs. That old timer Jimmy Anderson also turns out today, but still no Stuart Broad (Notts), Ollie Robinson (Sussex) or Chris Woakes (Warwicks)
At Canterbury, Ben Compton prepares to try out his new-found batting superpowers against Hampshire. In Division Two, young blades Sussex travel to New Road, fresh from batting out a draw; Durham take on Notts in the north east; there’s a midlands derby at The County Ground and Middlesex face Marnus Labushchagne’s dibbly-dobblies at Sophia Gardens.
Updated at 10.15 BST