As someone once said: "It's deja vu. All over again"! For the last two seasons, Somerset have been set improbable final day targets by misguided Yorkshire captains only to find the one-day kings more than up to the task. Today, the Taunton crowd witnessed another 4th day smash and grab by the home side although this time it was their bowlers rather than Messrs McGrath or Gale who laid the foundation. Yorkshire's wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow returned from Lions duty to resume where he left off, scoring 136 and 80, mostly in crisp boundaries. However, even he was upstaged by two vintage innings from Marcus Trescothick. Following his 189 on Wednesday, he plundered 151 in 131 balls to secure a ten-wicket win and push his Championship run tally to almost 1000 for the season. Poor Adil Rashid bore the brunt, as he had earlier in the match.
While Somerset edged up to third, Lancashire put Hampshire to the sword, their fifth victory in six keeping them at the top of the First Division table. Kyle Hogg claimed match figures of 11-59, winning the game almost on his own. Durham go second after wrapping up an innings defeat of Warwickshire. Keith Barker's maiden century merely delayed the inevitable after following on 416 behind Durham's mammoth 602-6 declared. Poor Mohammad Yousuf. The Warwickshire batsman and Pakistani superstar suffered the ignominy of a 'golden pair'. Quack, quack!
In the Second Division, all four fixtures ended as draws. Missing three key players, Glamorgan nevertheless had the upper hand over Surrey, thanks largely to Alviro Petersen's first innings of 210. However, a Jason Roy century ensured the Welshmen didn't win and go top of the table. This meant Northamptonshire retained that position after a rain-hit game at home to Leicestershire, for whom Andrew MacDonald produced a great all-round performance.
Middlesex are third but came close to bowling out Essex on the final day. Only a 95-run sixth wicket partnership between Alex Wheater and James Foster denied them a triumph which would have carried them to the summit of Division Two. Batsmen were in charge of the other game at Canterbury. Derbyshire's Wayne Madsen and Usman Khawaja, at last showing his Australian form, scored almost 400 runs between them but the weather prevented a result, and so Kent remain bottom. Surely they won't be there at the end of the season. They must really be looking forward to the Twenty20 break next month although they can start a recovery by beating Leicestershire next week. Top fixture must be the meeting of Northants and Glamorgan. The top two in Division One also battle it out over the Bank Holiday, with Durham hosting Lancashire. The weather forecast is none too promising but let's hope for a good set of first-class contests to guide us into the Championship hiatus.
