Yorkshire fans travelling to the Rose Bowl must have been drooling at a rare opportunity to see their England stars Root and Bairstow appearing with the white rose badge. However, the internationals managed a mere 18 runs between them as Hampshire made them follow on. Instead, it was the Test reject Gary Ballance who shone with the bat. The new captain followed his first innings 108 with a match-saving 203 not out in a game where his opposite number James Vince (147) also reminded us what he is capable of.
The only First Division county to win was Lancashire. For the second successive week, their opponents Somerset threw away an early lead, as Alex Davies and captain Liam Livingstone set up a 164-run victory. Unfortunately, the good form enjoyed by team leaders did not extend to Somerset’s young Tom Abell. His first four Championship innings in charge have yielded a pathetic two runs, and I don’t know how many more chances he can be afforded by Mathew Maynard.
Surrey remain top of the table despite failing to beat struggling Warwickshire at Edgbaston. The home team had Ian Westwood largely to thank for grinding out a draw, after his 205 run aggregate, after first innings centuries by Mark Stoneman and Kumar Sangakkara.
There were plenty of runs from Middlesex’s top three, too. Stewart Robson, Ed Gubbins and Stevie Eskinazi each scored hundreds in the first innings and fifties in the second. However, helped by bad light, Essex kept Finn, Roland-Jones et al at bay throughout the fourth day as the champions failed to capture the final two wickets.
In Division Two, Nottinghamshire and Kent made it three wins out of three. The former side lead the way courtesy of their maximum points at Trent Bridge, where they crushed Sussex by an innings inside two days. The home side must have had a prior engagement on Sunday because they blazed to 447 before day one was completed. Unsurprisingly, it was Riki Wessels who led the assault, slamming seven sixes and 22 fours in a maiden double-century. James Pattinson and Stuart Broad did much of the damage with the ball on the Saturday.
At Canterbury it was that man Darren Stevens who stole the honours yet again, with a peerless all-round performance, featuring 107 runs and nine wickets. It was a good, too, for stand-in ‘keeper Adam Rouse who narrowly missed out on his first Championship hundred and took five catches. It was another very short match at Worcester, too, in which the home team eked out a tight 20-run winning margin against Derbyshire. Moeen Ali’s first-day 50 proved to be the highest score of the game, while captain Joe Leach picked up a couple of five-fors.
There was little to choose between the counties at Grace Road, either, but runs flowed fluently on all four days. Both Leicestershire and Glamorgan reached 420 in their first innings, then a Mark Pettini century set up a pointless declaration on the last afternoon. After an early scare, Aneurin Donald’s 66 not out ensured there was to be no repeat of last week’s batting collapses for the Welsh.
In the other fixture, Paul Collingwood contributed 101 runs, two wickets and five catches for Durham at Bristol. However, Gloucestershire opener Chris Dent’s patient six-hour 101 meant there was insufficient time for the visitors to ram home their advantage, and a draw ensued.
We now have a four-week break in the Championship to allow the sadly-unloved Royal London Cup a run in what I hope will be the late Spring sunshine.
Team of the Week:
Robson (Mid), Westwood (War), Vince (Ham), Ballance (Yor), Wessels (Not), Livingstone (Lan), Stevens (Ken), Leach (Wor), Rouse (Ken +), Broad (Not), Pattinson (Not)
