Adam Hose at home with the Kookaburra ball for Worcestershire

Times

a day ago

For a batsman short of runs, this mid-summer introduction of the Kookaburra ball is a boon. As it was for Adam Hose, who scored the first double century of his career, and Jake Libby, who made an unbeaten 137, against a Hampshire attack unable to gain any movement off this unpronounced seam.
The upshot was that Worcestershire, who had amassed only three batting points in their eight previous County Championship matches, finished with the healthiest of totals.
Hose would have relished scoring so many runs on this ground, for he is from Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, which in cricketing parlance is a part of Hampshire. He was on the county's junior books until under-17 level, once playing against a Cardiff MCCU side that ­included Libby, whereupon he was released. He went to Somerset, then to Warwickshire, and on to New Road. His runs here were a reward for perseverance and recognition, not just because he is 32, of maturity as a cricketer.
He made 266 off 253 balls with 31 fours and seven sixes. Last week he became a father for the first time and now he and Libby put on 395 for the third wicket.
Nothing Hampshire tried on a sweltering day came off, including at one stage Kyle Abbott bowling with all nine fielders on the leg side, five of them in an arc close to the bat. In addition, they chose not to play a second spinner, Felix Organ being relegated to 12th man.
Hampshire are awash with promising young fast bowlers. Sonny Baker, however, is still injured and John Turner appears out of favour. This was not the best day for Dominic Kelly, of Millfield School, Hampshire Hogs and England Under-19, to make his championship debut but he did dismiss Hose, whose innings was the highest by a visiting batsman on this ground, beating Phil Jaques's 243 for Yorkshire in 2004.
Taunton (first day of four; Somerset won toss): Somerset have scored 275 for six against Nottinghamshire
It was a day of hard toil for Nottinghamshire, the Division One leaders, after they lost what could prove an important toss. Somerset, pleased to bat first on a used pitch that should turn later in the match, lost three wickets in the first hour but only three more in the rest of the day as they clearly set out to occupy the crease for as long as possible in their first innings (Geoffrey Dean writes).
White-ball swashbucklers Tom Abell and Tom Banton were accordingly obliged to accumulate rather than dominate against an admittedly disciplined Nottinghamshire attack. Abell grafted his way to 64, which took him 166 balls, before Banton compiled a painstaking unbeaten 57 off 128 balls that featured only six fours. After Abell had been fifth out with the score at 179 — a soft dismissal when he tickled one down the leg side to the wicketkeeper — Banton and the composed Archie Vaughan shared a valuable sixth-wicket stand of 71 until the latter fell to a sharp slip catch off the second new ball.
Notwithstanding the smaller seam of the Kookaburra ball, in use for the second of four successive rounds of championship matches, Nottinghamshire's opening pair of Mohammad ­Abbas and Brett Hutton found movement until it got older. Hutton beat ­Sean Dickson with a straight one that he played across, and then persuaded Tom Lammonby to prod fatally at one that left him.
Abbas, seldom to be denied, produced a fine leg cutter to have Tom Kohler-Cadmore caught behind. That represented a blow for Somerset as he looked in prime form, hitting three majestic back-foot forcing shots for four in his polished 31.
James Rew likewise played very convincingly to reach an 86-ball fifty, adding 99 with Abell in 34 overs. A big score appeared within his grasp until he fell tamely, driving a length ball straight back to the bowler, Lyndon James.
For Nottinghamshire, Liam Patterson-White performed a good holding job with his accurate left-arm spin, bowling 32 overs for 67 runs from the river end and picking up Abell's wicket. That allowed his captain to rotate the seamers from the other end on a day that started under cloud before becoming hot after lunch.
Conditions cooled in the final hour when Kasey Aldridge (6 off 36 balls) and Banton eked out 24 from the final 13 overs.