Yorkshire advanced to third, having fought back after their first-week defeat to cruise to victory over Warwickshire. Their success in recent seasons has been in spite of various stars being absent on international duty. This week, their strength in depth was demonstrated still further when the inexperienced seamer Ben Coad garnered another ten wickets. That’s eighteen already for the Harrogate man, at under 14 apiece.
Edgbaston director of sport Ashley Giles is already talking nervously of “no quick fixes” and “transition period” after Warwickshire suffered their second successive innings reverse. The batsmen were woeful again, especially under floodlights when the cloud cover was particularly heavy. In the second innings, Coad and Willey had them at 7-5, and only Patel’s 49 not out prevented an even greater humiliation. Their bowling has been the county’s strength for quite a while but with Chris Woakes now an established England player, even the attack looks a bit creaky. Most of the side are aged thirty or more and, while experience counts for a lot, some new blood looks essential to achieve a better balance.
At The Oval, 42 year-old Shivnarine Chanderpaul compiled his 74th first-class century, 182, for Lancashire. However, on the fourth day the Surrey pair of Borthwick and Sangakkara put on 256 for the second wicket to save the game. It was also interesting to see Lancashire’s limited-overs spin specialists Parry and Kerrigan working well in harness in the Championship. Surrey now stand top, three points ahead of Hampshire, who had the edge in a draw against champions Middlesex. There were no hundreds, but Roussouw (99) and Carberry (98) came close!
Somerset’s traditional weak start to the season was maintained, beaten by newly-promoted Essex by eight wickets. Wickets fell regularly on the first two days, with Somerset on top after the first innings. However, Neil Wagner’s bowling and Alastair Cook’s decisive 110 combined to wrap up an eight-wicket triumph.
Essex now meet neighbours Middlesex at Lord’s, Somerset travel to Old Trafford, Hampshire host Yorkshire and Warwickshire must turn things around against high-flying Surrey.
In Division Two, it’s very tight at the top. Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Kent each made it two wins out of two, making hay while the sun shone across the land. At Derby, there was a genuine nailbiting finish. After Lancs reject Luis Reece and Billy Godleman struck a Deryshire record 333 for the first wicket, Northants set about the target of 326 in 65 overs. When Richard Levi was thumping boundaries at will, success seemed assured but when he was caught behind on 99 still 50 short, the result was in doubt. In the end, it took a Rory Kleinveldt six to clinch victory off the penultimate ball. After last year’s terrible season, this narrow loss must have been particularly galling. Hopefully they can concentrate on the positives, as they say.
Nottinghamshire rubbed Durham’s noses in the doo-doo at Chester-le-Street. Keaton Jennings (102 not out) ran out of partners in the second outing, leaving Greg Smith and Jake Libby to steer the visitors towards the inevitable win.
Kent were also good travellers, outscoring Sussex at Hove. Sam Northeast returned from injury to thump 173 not out while that man Darren Stevens scored another two 50s and a five-for. Like Chanderpaul, he proves that 40 is not the age barrier it is often made out to be.
Supporting players Worcestershire and Gloucestershire also recorded 16-point win bonuses. John Hastings and Tom Kohler-Cadmore shone in the former county’s eight-wicket defeat of Glamorgan, who looked completely out of their depth for a second consecutive week. At Bristol, Liam Norwell took ten wickets for 99 runs in the innings drubbing of Leicestershire.
Leicester’s fixture against Glamorgan next weekend is already looking like a battle of the wooden spoon contenders. Meanwhile, the Worcestershire-Northants encounter is the pick of the matches.
Team of the Week:
Reece, Godleman (both Der), Sangakkara (Sur), Northeast (Ken), Chanderpaul (Lan), Eckersley (Lei +), Stevens (Ken), Fletcher (Not) Wagner (Ess), Norwell (Glo), Coad (Yor)
