After Warwickshire were dismissed for 544, it was back over to the Surrey batters to secure a draw in this match.
Dom Sibley made 27 before he was out LBW. He again made a start but couldn’t push on; it was a quiet game to start his season.
A fantastic innings from England wicket-keeper Jamie Smith in the second innings as the pitch flattened out. Smith made 132 from 261 balls, an innings of patience and skill to secure a draw for his side. This will definitely be a nod towards the selectors.
Ollie Pope fell for 16, out LBW for the second time in the match. A disappointing start for the former England man.
Ben Foakes made an unbeaten 36 late in the day to help secure the draw after Jamie Smith was dismissed; a quiet match with the gloves but a very good start to the season.
Thirteen wicketless overs from Nathan Gilchrist in the second innings as the pitch flattened out; a tough day for the young seamer.
Kent vs Durham.
After the loss of the 3rd day to Storm Dave, a draw was the most likely result in this match.
Ben McKinney took his score from 27 to 38 before he was bowled by Matt Milnes. His innings contained seven 4s, but this may be a missed opportunity for the young Durham opener.
Emilio Gay fell late on the 2nd evening, turning a ball to leg slip; a dismissal he’ll be very disappointed with, as it was an obvious trap. But he still has his first innings 128 in the bank.
Matthew Potts struck an entertaining 33* of 37 balls to help set up the declaration.
Potts also took 2/42 off 16 overs as Durham pushed for a win in the second innings, although Kent finished 234/5 to secure a draw.
Zac Crawley was LBW to Potts for the second time in the match. He made 20 this time around; a poor match from the England player.
Somerset vs Notts.
After Notts were bowled out for 338, Somerset’s second innings began with a lead of 9 runs.
James Rew made a sparkling 122, coming in at 7/1. He struck fourteen 4s and two 6s, further pushing his England claim; another innings of maturity and great temperament.
Olly Stone returned figures of 0/71 off 18 overs, and Dillon Pennington took 1/47 off 15 as Notts failed to break through. The declaration came, leaving Notts 417 in 60 overs.
Haseeb Hameed made 27 in 109 minutes to nullify any chance of an unlikely Somerset victory.
Jack Leach did claim 2 wickets eventually, removing Hameed and bowling Joe Clarke through the gate to finish with 2/26 off 19 economical overs.
Sussex vs Leicestershire.
Sussex beat Leicestershire by 222 runs at Grace Road.
James Coles moved from 23 to 26 before he was bowled by Ben Green, a disappointing start to the season with the bat for Coles.
Coles also returned figures of 18-4-58-2 as Sussex secured victory on the 4th day.
Rehan Ahmed claimed 3/61 off 17.5 before scoring a very scratchy 34 from 40 balls; he was stumped by John Simpson off the bowling of Coles, and Leicestershire attempted to chase 480.
Ollie Robinson went wicketless this time around, finishing with 0/20, and did not bowl on the 4th day.
Essex vs Hampshire.
Essex beat Hampshire inside 3 days after they enforced the follow-on.
Sam Cook took 3/37 off 11 overs in the first innings and 1/23 off 9 in the second. But the match truly belonged to Matt Critchley, who took an astonishing 5/9 off 4.3 overs to run through Hampshire in the second innings. He took 6 wickets in the match to go with his 173 in the first innings.
Liam Dawson made 1 and 14 as his poor game continued.
In other games:
Asa Tribe made 19 in the second innings against Yorkshire as his match ended earlier than he would have liked.
Shoaib Bashir’s Derbyshire career began with an underwhelming performance at the county ground. He took 1/27 off 7 overs in the Worcestershire first innings as they were bowled out for 312in response to Derbyshire’s 625/8 declared.
He then returned 1/55 off 27 overs as Derbyshire could not convert their winning position in the second innings.
These are the types of games you expect your spinner to propel you to victory in the final innings. Yes, he was economical but rarely threatened.
Sir James Anderson took 3/45 off 16 overs as Lancashire could not claim the last Northamptonshire wicket in the second innings. Anderson finished with 8 wickets in the match.
