This week’s England watch begins at the Utilita Bowl, where Hampshire won the toss and asked Glamorgan to bat. Asa Tribe made 45 before he fell victim to Kyle Abbott. The Hampshire bowlers toiled away as Glamorgan made 536/7 in their first innings. Sonny Baker bowled 27 tight overs, taking 1/83 in Glamorgan’s huge total. Zain Ul-Hassan made 143, and Kiran Carlson 209. The pair added 318 for the second wicket. Hampshire ended the second day 58/0 as they look to salvage a draw in this match.
Leicestershire vs Nottinghamshire.
Leicestershire won the toss and elected to bowl at Grace Road. Notts captain Haseeb Hameed made 42 before he edged Ben Green to keeper Ben Cox. Ben Duckett then added 77 before he was out sweeping Ajaz Patel. He’ll be disappointed that he missed out on another opportunity to make three figures. His innings contained eleven 4s as he added 131 with Ben Slater for the second wicket.
Ben Slater and Joe Clarke then added 150 for the third wicket to put Notts in a position of strength. Slater’s innings finally ended when he edged Green behind to keep Cox for a sparkling 178.
Joe Clarke’s excellent form continued. He made 97 before he was LBW to Scriven. His innings contained nine 4s, and he’s putting his hand up for England selection now with some very strong performances this summer. Notts were eventually bowled all out for 490. Ben Green taking 7/112 off 33 overs.
Josh Hull again went wicketless.
Ollie Stone took 5/41 bowling with pace and aggression as he removed the Leicestershire top order, further pressing his own selection for the national team. He was supported by Dillon Pennington, who claimed 2/57 as they bowled well in partnership. Leicestershire closed day 2 on 220/8. 270 runs behind Notts.
Somerset versus Yorkshire.
Somerset won the toss and elected to bowl at Taunton. Yorkshire began well, reaching 115/3 by lunch, but that’s when things began to unravel. England’s Joe Root was bowled by Lewis Gregory for 33 to spark an almighty collapse, Gregory running through the lower order to finish with figures of 6/43 as Yorkshire were dismissed for 162.
Somerset again began poorly with the bat. James Rew was again in early. But there was to be no rescue act from him this time. He was caught at third slip from a rising delivery from Jack White for only 7, leaving Somerset 35/3. Somerset found a new hero, though, in the form of 21-year-old Josh Thomas. He scored a magnificent 136 and shared a 166-run partnership with the ever-reliable Tom Abell, who made 50, to guide Somerset into what looked like a position of strength; however, they collapsed on the 2nd morning. Thomas Rews ‘ first-class career began with a second ball duck when he was when he too was caught at third slip off Jack White, and Somerset were bundled all out for 274, leading by 112 runs.
Most of the afternoon was lost to rain, and Yorkshire closed Day 2 on 13/0, 99 runs behind.
Surrey vs Sussex.
Surrey won the toss and chose to bowl on a pitch that more resembled the grass courts at Wimbledon than it did a cricket pitch.
There was seam movement and swing from the off. England hopeful Tom Haines was well caught by Ollie Pope at second slip off Sean Abbott for a second-ball duck after he played a very loose drive.
63 runs were added for the second wicket before Jordan Clark instigated a Sussex Collapse that saw them reduced to 92/7 just before lunch. He pitched the ball up further than any of the Surrey bowlers had done previously, and he was rewarded with seam movement. He had taken 5/16 by lunch.
England hopeful James Coles played a terrible shot. He was bowled, trying to whip a Clark delivery through the leg side, only to see it crash into his middle stump as he was bowled for 6. Coles is having a poor summer against the red ball, and he’s probably slipped out of the running for national selection.
Fynn Hudson-Prentice led a Sussex counterattack after lunch. He advanced down the wicket to the Surrey seamers and just looked to score whenever he could. He found a partner in Jack Carson, who played the supporting role. When Hudson-Prentice skied Fisher to Sibley at cover for 53, the game did really appear to be up for Sussex. Enter Ollie Robinson.
As the pitch began to ease and the ball got older, Carson and Robinson didn’t take any risks; they played sensibly. Carson really did play like a top-order batter, and Robinson has already shown this summer that he can add late-order runs.
The pair added a remarkable 163 for the 9th wicket as the Surrey bowlers toiled in the evening sun. The partnership was only broken when Surrey took the second new ball, and Matthew Fisher had Carson finally play a poor shot to have him caught behind by Jamie Smith for a well-made 105.
Robinson continued with number 11, Henry Crocombe, as he edged towards his own century. He took a nasty blow on the hand from Clark when he’d made 94. He then struck a mighty blow over mid-wicket to bring up his own well-deserved century. He then immediately declared the Sussex innings on 358/9 to leave Surrey 10 testing overs against the new ball that evening.
It truly was an amazing turnaround from where Sussex were just before lunch, the Oval pitch again proving to be Docile after the new ball had worn off. The Surrey openers survived the tricky period before the close to reach 19/0.
Surrey made hay on the second day. Burns and Sibley batted without alarm until Burns was bowled by Crocombe for a well-made 77. He added 148 with Sibley for the first wicket as Surrey looked to chip away at Sussex’s lead.
Sibley found another partner in Ryan Patel as they batted throughout the afternoon against a tiring Sussex attack, with the final hour lost to rain. Surrey closed on 292/2. Sibley was unbeaten on 116, his 2nd century in a row. He again showed great concentration, batting for 365 minutes to grind the Sussex bowlers down.
Ollie Pope made an enterprising 28 not out off 22 balls as he added 35 with Sibley before the close of play. He’ll be hoping to add to his score on the third day.
Ollie Robinson and James Coles went wicketless throughout the day as bat once again dominated ball at the Oval.
Middlesex vs Durham.
Matthew Potts took two for 103 as Durham bowled Middlesex out for 430.
Ben McKinney and Emilio Gay were once again in the runs for Durham. Gay struck a sublime 75 not out of 87 balls as he tucked into the Middlesex attack. McKinney was 46 not out off 81 balls, playing the supporting role in their partnership. Both will be hoping to make big scores on the third day to press their England claims.
Any other players.
Zak Crawley’s season again failed to ignite as he made scores of 44 and 15 against Derbyshire. He must now be completely out of England’s plans for this summer.
Rory Hayden claimed his first career 5-wicket haul in Kent’s first innings, finishing with 5/82 off 23 overs.
