In weather more familiar in June, the County Championship got off to a sun-baked start, yet spinners made a lot of the headlines. Yorkshire made Worcestershire look very ordinary indeed, and much of that was down to Adil Rashid's eleven wickets. Normally his leg-spin is most effective later in the season but he wasted no time in reminding England selectors what he is capable of whether bowling at openers or tailenders. South African-Irishman Gerard Brophy also struck a Championship-best 177 not out, while Ryan Sidebottom's debut for his native county yielded four wickets and a 61.
The Red Roses also blossomed against Sussex, winning by an innings, also in three days. Young Karl Brown's maiden hundred, plus four other half-centuries, gave Lancashire a big first innings lead before skipper Glen Chapple added four wickets to his five from the first innings and spinner Gary Keedy took 5-41. Sussex were all out still 55 from making Lancs bat again.
It was a more high-scoring affair at Southampton. Durham's Dale Benkenstein hit more runs in total but teen team-mate Ben Stokes caught the eye when he struck Dawson for five successive sixes in an over. A better directed final ball prevented Garry Sobers' record from being equalled! Stokes had already achieved a record 6-68 with the ball and Mustard declared leaving Hampshire an improbable 490 to win. A Jimmy Adams century gave the reply a solid foundation and his side batted through to safety.
In Division Two, the Gidman brothers top-scored for a new-look Gloucestershire, while debutants Liam Norwell and David Payne each claimed 'five-fers' as they beat Derbyshire by seven wickets. Not even Greg Smith could save last season's bottom club. At Chelmsford, Kent got the better of a tight contest against Essex. Cook and Bopara made little impression for the home side, but Kent bowlers Darren Stevens and Robbie Joseph took 15 of the 20 wickets to fall. It was another low-scoring affair at Leicester. Alviro Petersen and the admirable Dean Cosker did their best for Glamorgan, but an excellent all-round performance by Charl Henderson and Jagir Naik's 5-36 secured an 88-run victory. In the other game, Surrey's safety-first declaration was met by a safety-first run chase by Northants for whom James Middlebrook scored 103 batting at nine. Zander de Bruyn's first game for Surrey brought him 126 runs in aggregate but no wickets in the drawn match.
No storming Malinga yorkers or Shane Watson six-athons but it all produced an interesting opening round of Championship games. Notts and Somerset will be looking to match the Roses teams when they open their accounts this week.
