My roundup for England hopefuls begins this week at Chelmsford with the game between Essex and Somerset.
Essex were bowled out for 149 in their first innings. Matt Critchley’s fortunes quickly changed when he was caught behind by James Rew off the bowling of Tom Lammonby for a third-ball duck. Craig Overton returned figures of 2/35 off 13.2 overs as he continues as the stand-in captain.
Somerset replied with 348, James Rew made a typically classy 48 and was only undone by a good ball from Simon Harmer that had him caught at slip. He came in early again for the second successive game; it was 11/2 this time.
Somerset were 114/5 when Rew departed, and out strode Craig Overton, who made a career best 141 from 180 balls; his innings contained nineteen 4s and three 6s. Overton crucially put on 98 with Lewis Goldsworthy, and then 118 with Will Smeed. Smeed is making his first-class debut as an injury replacement for Tom Kohler-Cadmore. Smeed contributed 39 before he became one of Sam Cooks three victims. Cook returned figures of 3/94 off 24 overs as Essex toiled to keep the Somerset lead down.
Matt Critchley went wicketless in his 6 overs, costing 23 runs.
Essex’s second innings closed on 131/3. Critchley is 53* overnight, his innings containing nine 4s. He’ll hope to push on when play resumes.
Notts vs Glamorgan.
Nott’s first innings began in the worst possible fashion when Haseeb Hameed was bowled Timm van der Gugten from the very first ball of the match.
Ben Duckett made 25 off 27 balls before he was caught by Andy Gorvin, again off the bowling of van der Gugten.
Notts made 279 in their first innings. Glamorgan made 113 in reply, slipping from 81/4.
Asa Tribes poor start continues as he was LBW to Fergus O’Neill for 3. Dillon Pennington took 1/38 from 15 overs and Josh Tongue 1/10 off 4 overs.
Van der Gugten again got Hameed early LBW, this time for 2 in a game the Notts captain will not want to see again on a personal note.
Duckett was involved in a mix-up with Ben Slater and was run out for 1 in the second innings.
Joe Clarke in 136* overnight as Notts closed on 284/9, a lead of 450 runs.
Surrey vs Leicestershire.
Surrey batted first at the Oval, and Dom Sibley was quickly out LBW to Josh Hull for 4.
Jamie Smith and Ollie Pope then put on exactly 200 for the third wicket. Pope made a controlled 103, containing sixteen 4s, his 26th first-class century.
Smith went on to make 166, his second century in a row after last week’s efforts at Edgbaston. Again, it was a slower-paced innings than we are used to seeing him play for England, with him facing 240 balls this time. The move up to No.3 seems to be working for him and Surrey.
Ben Foakes’ good form continued as he made 63 from 87 balls at No.6. His innings contained eight 4s and a 6. The duel between Smith and Foakes is definitely going to be a good one this summer. Both are showing strong early-season form.
Tom Lawes added 36, again showing he is capable of lower-order runs.
Leicestershire’s Josh Hull returned figures of 0/121 from 20 overs, Rehan Ahmed claimed a couple of victims in his 2/58 off 13.
Leicestershire closed day 2 on 350/3, Rishi Patel making 133 and Jake Weatherald 96.
Rehan Ahmed was caught behind attempting a big drive off Matthew Fisher for only 10.
Sussex vs Warwickshire.
Warwickshire batted first at Hove, making 267. England old boy Chris Woakes made 64.
Ollie Robinson took 2/44 off 15 overs. James Coles was wicketless 0/21 off 4 overs.
Sussex replied with 204, James Coles made 11 before he aimed a big drive at Ed Barnard, only to edge to Rob Yates at slip. It seems he hasn’t adjusted to playing red ball cricket yet after a scratchy match with the bat against Leicestershire last week.
Warwickshire closed day 2 on 154/5 in their second innings, a lead of 217.
Robinson is wicketless in 11 overs costing 23 runs. James Coles has picked up the wicket of Ed Barnard though, he has 1/25 off 5 overs.
Gloucestershire vs Durham.
Durham were put into bat at Bristol, and it wasn’t the start that Gloucestershire’s skipper Cameron Bancroft imagined. Alex Lees and Ben McKinney added 305 for the first wicket as Durham pulled up 605/6 declared.
McKinney was 100* by 2pm on the first afternoon, and ended it 214*. He eventually fell on the second morning for a majestic 244, which contained thirty-six 4s and six 6s. It was McKinney’s fifth first-class century and his first double century. He also shared a 209-run partnership with David Bedingham, who made his own century; he went on to score 118.
Gloucestershire closed day 2 on 168/8 in an innings where there were stoppages for rain throughout the day.
Matt Potts currently has 1/42 from 15 overs as Durham look to push for victory on the last two days.
In other games, Northants made 684/2 declared against Kent. All of Northants top 4 made centuries. Luke Proctor having the highest of these with 261*.
Zak Crawley made 29 off 69 balls before he was bowled through the gate by Harry Conway. His struggles continue, and Ben McKinney’s runs are putting him ahead in the race for the England opening spot in my eyes.
Shoaib Bashir bounced back with figures of 4/76 in Lancashire’s first innings at Old Trafford as they were bowled out for 351. This is a good sign for Bashir after he toiled away against Worcestershire last week for very little reward.
Young Dan Lategan made 65 off 63 balls in Worcestershire’s second innings against Middlesex to go with his 31 in the first innings. His early-season form has been strong, and it seems that he has been a good find for Worcestershire.
Hampshire’s Sonny Baker took 4/45 off 12 overs against Yorkshire, bowling with pace and aggression once again. He’ll be hoping to push for Englands white ball squads once again this summer.
