It was a strange week for County Championship results. As if the record Spring temperatures, sunshine levels and dried-up riverbeds and canals weren’t enough, both the top two counties in Division One came a cropper and the bottom team actually won by a country mile. The batsmen striking the highest individual scores by far did so in a losing cause and a host of wicketkeepers also reaped a harvest of runs.
Nottinghamshire had been looking good at the top but, at Chester-le-Street, after Haseeb Hameed caried his bat for 206, their attack struggled to make headway against Durham. Gay, Clark and Ollie Robinson each reached three figures as the side lodged a new record high of 664 all out. Were it not for Joe Clarke’s sparkling 119, Notts would have lost by an innings and Durham still needed Colin Ackermann to deliver a quick fifty to achieve victory.
There were no centuries at Edgbaston, but Warwickshire succumbed to Hampshire by 89 runs. Five-fors from Kyle Abbott and James Fuller were the decisive performances. Warwickshire’s loss was Surrey’s gain, as the reigning champs whacked Yorkshire by an innings to close the gap behind Notts to just three points. Jonny Bairstow crashed 89 and 77 for the White Roses but his opposite number Ben Foakes also chipped in with 86 and some fine catches. Jordan Clark was the pick of Surrey’s bowlers, taking a combined 7-76.
By the River Severn, Worcestershire earned not only their first batting bonus points of the season, but also their maiden triumph, defeating Essex with remarkable ease inside three days. Apart from day one, bowlers on both sides were dominant, but it was the victors’ Matthew Waite who stole the headlines with a first-innings 73 and a career-best 6-19 to complete Essex’s misery. Garth Roderick also deserves an honourable mention. The opener failed with the bat but contributed nine catches behind the stumps.
Somerset made it back-to-back wins, but Sussex didn’t make it easy
for them at Taunton. Following recent top-order batting woes, the home county
gambled by promoting captain Luke Gregory and fast bowler Josh Davey to open.
It seemed to work. Dropped to seven, Archie Vaughan duly scored 80 and, when
three wickets tumbled in the hunt for a 150-run target, Gregory led from the
front with an unbeaten 89, including the winning single.
The next round of fixtures includes a tricky outing to a
Bairstow-less Yorkshire for Nottinghamshire, Surrey hosting a wounded Essex and
the West Midlands derby in Worcester.
Leicestershire cemented the position at the head of Division Two
by seeing off Middlesex by seven wickets. It was a low-scoring affair, Peter
Handscomb’s 87 the sole half-century, and all Leicester’s bowlers chipped in
with wickets. Ian Holland’s 5-35 got them off to a great start and they kept
their noses on front thereafter.
Derbyshire remain in second place, but they had to fight hard to cling on for a draw against Lancashire at Old Trafford. Luke Wells put the home team firmly in the driving seat with scores of 141 and 50 then, with 42-year-old Jimmy Anderson his old mean self, Lancs had Derby on the rack at 216-8 with around ten overs remaining. However, new ball in hand, not even the former England star could break the ninth-wicket partnership of Anuj Dal and Jack Morley. The latter padded away the off-spin of Tom Hartley, surviving 36 balls for no runs, while Dal was similarly resilient under pressure.
It was a tense finish at Bristol too, where Gloucestershire kept their heads to beat Kent by three wickets. Batting at eight, Kent’s Grant Stewart blasted a barely credible 182 to lift his side’s total to a decent 424 before Cameron Green (128) and James Bracey (127) shared a fifth-wicket stand of 222 out of 516. A draw was the most likely outcome but three quick wickets by Ben Charlesworth left Gloucester with a gettable target of 162. It was Green again who skilfully held the fort with an unbeaten 67b to seal the success.
Meanwhile, Glamorgan’s second consecutive win has elevated them from bottom to third. Marnus Labuschagne’s arrival was not the greatest (marked by a seven-ball duck) but Ben Kellaway’ fine form with the bat continued, top-scoring in the first innings with 93. The Glammie seamers provided solid support and Northamptonshire were despatched by eight wickets, consigning them to the dreaded basement slot.
However, it is all very tight from second to eighth, and positions can change in a week. For the Bank Holiday weekend, Glamorgan welcome Middlesex, Kent travel to Derby and Leicestershire hope to continue their winning ways at home to Lancashire.
Team of the Week:- L Wells (Lan), Hameed (Not), Clarke (Not),
Robinson (Dur +), Green (Glo), Bairstow (Yor), Holland (Lei), Stewart (Ken), J
Clark (Sur), Waite (Wor), Abbott (Ham)
