Rain and a Spring chill prevented a result in all bar one of this week's County Championship fixtures. The exception came in the shape of Yorkshire's emphatic dismantling of Division One new boys Northamptonshire at Headingley. Much fancied as title contenders, a major barrier to success for Andrew Gale's men seemed to be the likely loss to international duty of Root, Ballance, Bresnan and Bairstow. Gary Ballance did indeed continue his excellent form with a first-innings 174. However, Alex Lees' 90 showed that Yorkshire could face some awkward decisions on who to leave out when the England batsmen become available in the next two weeks. England will no doubt pull rank and insist their centrally-contracted players get a run-out but that means leaving Lees, Lyth or even Gale himself in the pavilion. Nevertheless it was the bowling attack which really caught the eye. Veteran Ryan Sidebottom and the late-developing Jack Brooks claimed fifteen wickets between them, ably assisted by Plunkett and Pattinson, and the visitors simply had no answer. Northants' bowlers did achieve something; their eight LBWs in Yorkshire's innings equalled the world record for first-class cricket!
Another England discard, Nick Compton, reminded selectors of his credentials with an unbeaten century to save a game that had been ebbing away from Somerset from day two. Durham's Onions and Rushworth had restricted Somerset to under 200 in the first innings but the visitors will have been encouraged by Luke Gregory's eight wickets and the extremely welcome return of all-rounder Peter Trego.
While the world's media focussed on David Moyes's departure from Manchester United, there was some attention on events at the other Old Trafford a short walk away. Lancashire's Peter Moores' return to his old England job meant the game against Warwickshire was his last in charge. Despite Paul Horton's two scores of 80+, Warwickshire came closest to victory but bad light halted proceedings with Chopra and Javid just 25 runs short and five wickets remaining. The Red Roses now have to find a new leader just as the season is beginning. Glen Chapple is apparently soldiering on as skipper, although his time as coach will surely come.
In Division Two, Hampshire went top by virtue of having played more games than anyone else. After all the showers, a draw with Derbyshire was inevitable but there was some useful batting practice for Stephen Moore (128), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (82) and Jimmy Adams (84). It was a similar situation at The Oval, where Essex reaped the benefit of another Alastair Cook century as the game petered out into a draw. Graeme Smith top-scored for Surrey with 62 and their 21 year-old seamer Matt Dunn claimed his second five-for of his young career.
Bowlers dominated at Cardiff, where Dean Cosker's 5-46 for Glamorgan and Will Gidman's 6-50 for Gloucestershire shone brightly. Pity the visitors' David Payne who was left stranded on a hat-trick when rain curtailed play on the first day. He didn't complete it! At Canterbury, the match did at least progress to a fourth innings. Leicestershire opener Greg Smith top-scored with 118 but a day one washout ruined the game as a spectacle.
Next week, Warwickshire face a tricky trip to Nottinghamshire, while a confident Yorkshire travel to Middlesex. Sussex return to action and, weather permitting, have a good chance of extending their First Division lead. Northants need to re-group before welcoming a Moores-less Lancashire to Wantage Road. In Division Two, leaders Hampshire play for a fourth successive week against a winless Surrey. The 'Shires of Gloucester, Worcester and Leicester all have home ties but Essex will trust in Cook to serve up more runs to gain a victory at Bristol.
