Kookaburra season in England has left one Aussie rapt
Liam Guthrie hadn't had the best of times with Northamptonshire so far this campaign, having not taken more than three wickets in any innings for Darren Lehmann's division two outfit all season.
But that all changed at Northampton on Sunday when the Australian Kookaburra ball was introduced for the next few county games in place of the familiar English-produced Dukes ball - and Guthrie produced a six-wicket display against Middlesex, easily his best performance so far.
Taking advantage of his expertise with the cherry he's more familiar with using, the 28-year-old ripped through the visitors' top-order taking three quick wickets to reduce Middlesex to 3-33.
He also struck later in the day, getting rid of half-centurion Luke Hollman and ended with figures of 6-87 off 19 probing overs, with the battling unbeaten century from wicketkeeper-batter Joe Cracknell providing the main rearguard action as Middlesex battled back to finish on 8-397.
"I play a fair bit with the Kook back home in Australia. It is a different skill to the Dukes. Guys who play with the Dukes over here obviously have skills that are different to what Australian seamers would have when they come over," said West Australian Guthrie, who has a UK passport and isn't considered an overseas player.
"It's just about being clear with your plans and sort of hitting the deck hard, not sort of floating it when the Kookaburra's a bit softer."
One more wicket tomorrow and Guthrie will go past his career-best first-class figures of 6-60 for Queensland against Victoria a couple of years ago.
Elsewhere in the resumed county championship program, a couple of Aussie batters also seemed perfectly at home with the introduction of the Kookaburra, which is part of the English game's continued bid to give home players wider international experience.
There were half-centuries for Gloucestershire captain Cameron Bancroft, who top-scored with 58 off 127 balls as they were skittled for 187 by Derbyshire at Bristol, and Sussex's Tasmanian opener Daniel Hughes, who made 60 off 110 balls against Durham at Chester-le-Street in their 9-322.
It was a big day for debutant Ashton Turner at Blackpool as he was handed his Lancashire cap by his Australian teammate Chris Green, who took a wicket (1-63) on a rain-interrupted day as Kent finished the opening day on 3-213.
Lancashire's captain for the first time in a county match was 42-year-old James Anderson, who was also the subject of a special presentation of his own as he received a bottle of champagne to mark his 300th first-class match.
Anderson, who couldn't mark the latest landmark with a wicket (0-36), stepped in as skipper because Lancashire's Australian skipper Marcus Harris, the top-scorer in the county championship this season (825 runs), had flown home to attend the birth of his second child.
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