I believe the Surrey vs Warwickshire game is as good a place to start as any, with Surrey’s international pedigree top order struggling against a very useful Warwickshire seam attack.
Rory Burns’ early run-out brought England wicket-keeper Jamie Smith to the crease for an early outing. He didn’t last long; lessons have not been learnt since the Ashes. He edged a drive on the up, without any proper footwork, and was caught behind the wicket. Not the best start to the season for Smith.
Ollie Pope made 20 hard-fought runs before he was removed by a good ball from Ethan Bamber, which nipped back and got him LBW. Pope batted carefully for his 20, which shows he can apply himself at the start of his innings, a problem he had when representing England.
Dom Sibley made a typically gritty 25, showing patience and the ability to bat for long periods of time, before Woakes got him with a beauty that left him, and he was well caught by Yates at 2nd slip.
Ben Foakes made that magnificent 128, which I wrote about yesterday; he had a quiet day with the gloves today, with only two Warwickshire wickets going down.
Young Tom Lawes – who could be a replacement for Chris Woakes – eventually scored a great 83 off 121 balls, which contained twelve 4s and two 6s. He rebuilt the innings superbly with Foakes in their partnership of 155. Not much joy with the ball though, nine wicketless overs for 50 runs.
Warwickshire and England Lions bowler Nathan Gilchrist picked up the two wickets of Foakes and Lawes, and returned decent figures of 17.1-3-50-2 in good support of Woakes and Bamber; he may be someone to keep an eye on this summer.
Durham vs Kent.
England hopeful Ben McKinney did not fare too well on the opening morning when he was trapped LBW by Stuurman from a ball bowled around the wicket. He appeared to fall over and was absolutely plumb.
Emilio Gay scored a wonderful 128, which contained twenty-two 4s, to potentially put himself forward for an England spot this summer. An opener by trade but currently operating at No. 3 for Durham.
McKinney did finish the second day unbeaten on 27, which included five 4s; hopefully, he can push on and show selectors he is worthy of a place too.
Zac Crawley’s poor form from the Ashes continued as Matt Potts had him trapped LBW with a nip-backer for only 9. Potts returned figures of 3/45 on a day when he probably deserved more. This must not please him after his disastrous performance in Sydney.
Somerset vs Notts.
James Rew made an eye-catching 64 after coming in at 14/2. He batted with patience and maturity and was unlucky to be caught brilliantly by Kyle Verryne. Craig Overton added 60* as Somerset pushed for more batting points, but eventually ran out of partners.
Olly Stones’ return from injury looked promising as he returned figures of 2/74 from 24 overs, but it was Dillon Pennington who stole the show with 5/65 from 26.5 overs, taking the bowling honours and possibly putting himself back on England’s radar.
Haseeb Hameed made 33 before being caught at cover, something he no doubt will be very disappointed with. His innings contained six 4s and was typically watchful.
Overton bowled seventeen wicketless overs for 43 and didn’t really threaten. Leach was also wicketless in his nine overs, going for 30 runs.
Leicestershire vs Sussex.
James Coles got his season started with 28 at Grace Road, then chopped one on to his stumps playing a loose drive to end what was quite a scratchy innings. He was 23* overnight in the second innings.
Ollie Robinson took 5/42 to firmly put himself back into the England frame. He bowled with pace and accuracy, and has potentially bowled his side into a winning position.
Rehan Ahmed made 11 before he nicked one through to the keeper. He’ll be hoping for more in the second innings. He returned figures of 1/41 off eleven overs in Sussex’s first innings and 0/26 off eight overs currently in the second innings on a pitch not showing much sign of turn, as you would expect in April.
Essex vs Hampshire.
Liam Dawson bowled 38 wicketless overs for 98. Sonny Baker claimed 2/68 off twenty-two overs as Essex made 461/7 declared. Sam Cook currently has 2/15 off 6 in the reply. Matt Critchley made 173 in Essex’s first innings. If he can score consistent runs and maybe improve his leg breaks, he could push for selection this summer.
Glamorgan vs Yorkshire.
Asa Tribe made 11 before he edged a good ball through to Bairstow behind the stumps.
