Both Surrey and Warwickshire could have supplanted Essex at the top with a win, but it was the champions who brushed aside their potential rivals by nine wickets at The Oval. Surrey-born Jamie Smith lashed 155 to establish a handsome first-innings lead. It could have been greater were it not for Craig Miles, whose 5-43 gave little sign of the carnage being inflicted around him. Ed Barnard had reached three figures for the visitors first time out but Surrey paceman Kemar Roach ensured there would be no late-order recovery on Sunday afternoon, taking 6-46. Burns, Sibley and Pope finished the job the next morning.
At Trent Bridge, Nottinghamshire beat Lancashire by the same margin. It could have been an innings defeat had it not been for 20-year-old wicketkeeper Matt Hurst’s maiden hundred and century partnership with Tom Hartley. However, the game’s outstanding performer was Notts opener and skipper Haseeb Hameed. It feels like forever since, as a promising Lancashire teenager, he was thrown into the England side where he struggled in ten Tests. This summer, too, he failed to make fifty in his first four fixtures, which makes his unbeaten 247 so extraordinary. His score became the highest ever by a Notts player to carry his bat in a completed innings. Hameed was also not out at the conclusion of the match, every minute of which he was on the field.
Bad light deprived Worcestershire of a likely victory against Kent at Canterbury in a game overshadowed by the sad death last week of young Josh Baker. The Pears occupied the opening five sessions amassing 618-7, including three centurions. Gareth Roderick set the ball rolling with 117 but the daunting total was ultimately extended by the eighth-wicket pair of Jason Holder and Matthew Waite. Mixing patience with pyrotechnics, each reached three figures, the declaration following Waite’s single to take him to 100. Jack Leaning responded with a magnificent 179 which at least ensured Kent survived to earn a draw.
It was the same outcome at Southampton, where fourth-day rain ensured neither Hampshire nor Durham claimed the sixteen points. Had there been more sparking sunshine, I doubt the result would have been any different because batsmen were in charge. Orr and Prest helped Hampshire to 503, then Bedingham’s 144 shone for Durham, whilst spinners Dawson and Organ wheeled away for a combined 109 overs.
On Friday, Hampshire travel to Trent Bridge in search of that elusive first victory, whilst Surrey hope to make it a fourth consecutive success at home to Worcestershire. Essex host Warwickshire, both keen to prevent Surrey running away with the Championship.
Division Two leaders Sussex suffered a surprise loss against Glamorgan. With heavy rain forecast (correctly, it transpired) in Cardiff for Monday, it was imperative to round things off early, but it was the Welsh side who dominated. It’s not often that Glamorgan take twenty wickets but Mir Hamza and Andy Gorvin claimed thirteen between them. The home side’s batting success rested on the shoulders of Kiran Carlsen and Coin Ingram, whose fifth-wicket stand of 315 broke the county record.
In the only other fixture, Gloucestershire also celebrate a sizeable winning margin, 256 runs. Miles Hammond’s 112 and Marchant de Lange’s 5-42 had already floored Northamptonshire, only for them to rub their hosts’ noses in the dirt by extending the lead to an imposing 557, thanks in part to Cameron Bancroft’s 130 not out. Gay, Procter and Nazir did their best but could not last until close of play.
Only Derbyshire sit below Northants on the table and next they meet each other at Derby. Glamorgan host Middlesex, Leicestershire welcome Gloucestershire while Sussex look to get their promotion ambitions back on track at home to winless Yorkshire.
Team of the Week:- Hameed (Not), Roderick (Wor +), Smith (Sur),
Leaning (Ken), Carlson (Gla), Ingram (Gla), Roach (Sur), Waite (Wor), de Lange
(Glo), Gorvin (Gla), Miles (War)
