This week’s England watch begins at Trent Bridge, where Notts are taking on Warwickshire.
Notts won the toss and elected to bowl first. They had the better of the morning session, reducing Warwickshire to 96/3 at lunch. Dan Mousley making 49 before being caught by Haseeb Hameed off the bowling of England’s Josh Tongue.
England old boy Chris Woakes again showed his prowess with the bat, making 64 and sharing a stand of 115 with skipper Ed Barnard as Warwickshire closed day 1 on 375/8, Barnard unbeaten on 134. Josh Tongue claimed 5 wickets on the first day, he finished with 5/91 off 21 overs, showing the selectors he’s ready for the test matches this summer.
Warwickshire were eventually bowled out for 459 on the second morning, Barnard making 165 before he was finally dismissed. Tongue could not add to his 5 wickets from day 1 and ended with 5/124 off 27 overs.
Chris Woakes removed Notts captain Hameed for a 14-ball duck as his poor form with the bat continues. This brought Ben Duckett to the crease, who made 62 before he played a poor shot to the occasional spin of Rob Yates and was caught by Chris Woakes. Joe Clarke continued his good form by adding 94 as Notts closed on 264/8 – a deficit of 195 runs.
Surrey vs Essex.
Surrey won the toss and chose to bowl on an emerald green surface at the Oval. They had to wait until the 46th over before they took a wicket, though, when Jordan Clarke had Dean Elgar caught behind for 92. Paul Walter made a fine 101 before he was LBW to Sean Abbott.
Charlie Allison looked impressive for his 40 before he shuffled across and was LBW to Matt Fisher. Allison looks a fine young prospect in the Essex middle order, playing the ball late in a Joe Root-esque manner.
Matt Critchley’s poor form continued when he edged Tom Lawes to Rory Burns at 1st slip after making just 8.
Lower order runs from Noah Thain and Simon Harmer took Essex to 409 all out.
Gus Atkinson bowled well on his return from injury, constantly moving the ball around and getting through 23 overs at the cost of 76 runs whilst claiming the wicket of Matthew Pepper with the second new ball.
Surrey lost captain Burns early once again, and a rare failure from Jamie Smith left them 29/2 after he was caught by Pepper off the bowling of Shane Snater.
Ollie Pope added a gritty 69 in a 105-run stand with Dom Sibley as the afternoon session crawled along, with Surrey just happy to bat time out, it seemed. Popes 69 contained ten 4s and lasted 171 minutes as he looks to be returning to form.
Dom Sibley added a 5-hour 74* as he ground down the Essex bowlers throughout the day, the Surrey wall showing he still has a strong defence and the mental toughness required at the highest level. With the new ball due in 8 overs, Surrey will hope that Sibley can bat long again tomorrow.
Yorkshire vs Sussex.
Yorkshire won the toss and elected to bowl against Sussex at Headingly.
Tom Haines made 64 before he was trapped LBW by Dom Bess, England hopeful James Coles made 47 before George Hill to Joe Root at slip, playing another loose shot. Coles is yet to make a big score this year for Sussex, and he’s slipping away from red-ball selection.
Sussex piled up 502 all out with John Simpson making 136, Ollie Robinson added 40* at number 10; again showing he’s capable of lower-order runs.
Yorkshire reached 192/1 at the close of day 1; Ollie Robinson went wicketless, as did James Coles.
Durham vs Lancashire.
Durham won the toss and elected to bowl at Chester-Le-Street.
Keaton Jennings made 44 before he dragged Kasey Aldridge onto his stumps attempting a pull shot.
Australian Marcus Harris top-scored for Lancashire, making 146 in their total of 370 all out.
Matt Potts took 3/76 from 22 overs as his good form with the ball continued. He also made a crucial 66 with the bat as he dug Durham out of a perilous condition when they were 127/7 on the second afternoon
Ben McKinney had his off-stump removed by Sir James Anderson early on as he made only 3.
Emilio Gay made a steady 41 as wickets began to tumble around him. He’ll be disappointed he couldn’t have made more, as batting looked to get easier as the day wore on.
Sir James Anderson took 2/73 off 20 overs as Lancashire could not convert a position of strength, as Durham’s final 3 wickets added 171 to push Durham’s final total to 295 all out. Anderson now has 23 wickets this season.
In other player news, Zak Crawley’s poor form continued. He made 27 before he was out caught behind to a ball nipping back at him against Worcestershire, Crawley now has scores of 26, 5, 9, 20 and 27
Asa Tribe made 24 before he lost his off stump attempting to drive Josh Hull. Tribe has also been short of runs this season.
Josh Hull picked up figures of 2/84 off 20 overs as he continues to find his rhythm with the ball in hand.
Jacob Bethell made his IPL debut, scoring 14 off 10 balls for RCB. It’s nice to see him finally playing some cricket. I’d rather him be playing for Warwickshire in the championship, but hey ho.
Shoaib Bashir toiled his way through 31.1 overs at the county ground, as he claimed figures of 3/116. The pitches not showing any signs of turn aren’t helping Bashir, but he’s bowling plenty of overs, and he’s got a big heart.
