Root's run chase and seamers doubling up – Old Trafford talking points
Hardly a match goes by these days where Joe Root is not setting a new statistical milestone – and he is on the verge of a huge one this week. If he adds 120 runs to his current haul of 13,259, the Yorkshireman will move up to second on the all-time Test run-scorers list. Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting are in his sights and then only the great Sachin Tendulkar, who has 15,921 runs, will be ahead of him. After his gritty 104 at Lord's in the first innings, the 34-year-old could add to his tally and reach a historic milestone. As Ben Stokes said in his pre-match press conference, Root is 'the absolute GOAT'.
In the squad. In the team.
Let's do this, LD 👊 pic.twitter.com/KXkhhzFQ6v
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 22, 2025
Shoaib Bashir's Test summer is over because of a broken finger he suffered at Lord's, which has opened the door for fellow spinner Liam Dawson's return to the Test side. The slow left-armer's last red-ball outing for England was all the way back in July 2017 but he has lit up the domestic scene for Hampshire with more than 100 wickets in the past couple of seasons. He was in electric form with the bat as well last year with 956 County Championship runs at an average just below 60. Dawson bats at number six for his county, so for England to have that quality batting at eight adds great depth to the side.
England naming the same frontline fast bowling attack as they did at Lord's means Jofra Archer keeps his place. In his first Test appearance after a four-and-a-half-year absence, he cracked the game wide open in India's doomed pursuit of 193 with three crucial wickets including dangerman Rishabh Pant. Being able to call upon Archer's pace and hostility is vital for England. India, meanwhile, are set to retain Jasprit Bumrah for the third of three scheduled appearances this summer. Despite only playing twice so far, he is second on the wicket-taking charts with 12 at an average of 21. His impact is astronomical, and he is set to play a huge part in a must-win Test for India.
India will be without all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy for the remainder of the series due to a knee injury. One option India have is to bring left-arm leg spinner Kuldeep Yadav into the side. That would leave them with three spinners at a ground that has been known to turn, and a trio of Kuldeep, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja is a potent attack. But playing one less seamer with doubts around the notoriously unpredictable weather forecast in Manchester could leave India vulnerable.
One of the biggest talking points after the Lord's Test last week was the slow over-rate and constant ball changes from both sides. However, a time-wasting row late on the third evening lit the touchpaper for a fiery last couple of days. Shubman Gill reopened old wounds by insisting Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett acted against the fabled 'spirit of the game'. Harry Brook, meanwhile, revealed England head coach Brendon McCullum told them they were 'too nice' and that the flashpoint with Crawley and Duckett was an 'opportunity that arose for us to not be the nice guys'. With the series on the line in Manchester, do not be surprised if the needle continues this week.
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Ben Stokes insists he has no regrets after 'giving everything' for England led to him withdrawing injured from decisive final Test against India
Ben Stokes insisted there were no regrets after 'playing to win and giving everything I've got for England' led to his withdrawal from the decisive final Test against India at The Oval. Stokes, 34, has bowled more overs in this series than any across his 12-year Test career but the final 11 of 140 came after he experienced discomfort in his right shoulder on the final morning of the draw in Manchester last Sunday. 'When I'm out on the field, I play to win and give everything I possibly can. If I feel there's a moment in a game where I need to put everything I'm feeling aside I'll do that - because it's how much this team means to me, how much playing for England means to me, how much winning means to me,' he said. 'Being a professional sportsman, injuries are part of this game and I can't do anything about that.' He considered playing as a specialist batsman after scans showed he had incurred a grade three muscle tear during the final throes of the bore draw at Emirates Old Trafford, but opted to step down and begin what is expected to be a minimum of six weeks recovery immediately in a bid not to jeopardise his Ashes prospects. After announcing four changes, England's talismanic captain revealed '20 minutes to myself' clarified his thoughts, explaining: 'Decisions like this are not straightforward, you have to let the emotion and all of that really settle in before you make a clear, firm decision. 'I did turn up to training to try to give it a run to see if I could go as a batter, but when I was out there watching, the reality of the extent of the injury, risk and reward, it's not something I think would be a sensible call to make considering how much worse it could be by going out there.' Fatigue has clearly taken its toll on an England team - being captained by Ollie Pope on his home ground this week - leading a five-match series played over just seven weeks 2-1. 'Could the gaps between the games be done a little better? You've had two eight and nine-day turnarounds and two three days, maybe you could look at making it all fives for every game so there's consistency,' Stokes questioned, after England gave their bowling attack a drastic makeover: fast bowlers Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse miss out to protect their long-term fitness while spinner Liam Dawson was omitted following a first Test appearance in eight years last week. In come three fresh seamers in Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton and Josh Tongue while spin bowling all rounder Jacob Bethell is also recalled. Bethell's Warwickshire teammate Chris Woakes retains his ever-present status, however. His series wickets have come at 52 runs apiece, better than Carse, and as a traditional seam bowling he will be encouraged by the grass covering here. Stokes will remain in London to support his teammates but leaves the series from a playing perspective as its leading wicket-taker with 17. As Mail Sport reported last week, he was already skipping next month's Hundred, and is unlikely to play a competitive match now until England take on Australia in Perth on November 21. India, meanwhile, will make a decision on whether they select their attack spearhead Jasprit Bumrah after one final look at the Oval pitch on Thursday morning. India have consistently said Bumrah would only play three of the five matches, but with the series remaining live, his inclusion is something they are considering. Ironically, it was a pre-match inspection of the playing surface that triggered the latest ruck in a spicy series, when Surrey groundsman Lee Fortis was the target of a finger-wagging India coach Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday. Fortis had warned England's support staff to carry and not drag their bags across the square, concerned about potential damage caused by boots and the bags' wheels given that the Oval has already hosted 60 days of cricket this summer. The latest ruck in a spicy series saw Surrey groundsman Lee Fortis (pictured) become the target of a finger-wagging India coach Gautam Gambhir over the playing surface But Gill insisted there was 'no such instruction,' to the tourists and 'as long as you are wearing rubber spikes or you are barefoot, I think you can see the wicket closely.' He added: 'I thought it just absolutely unnecessary. A coach has every right to be able to go close quarters and have a look at the wicket. I didn't think that there was anything wrong with that.' Gambhir did not take kindly to the request to move away, with Indian media reporting that he told Fortis: 'You don't tell me what to do.' Disruption for England, meanwhile, centres on the absence of Stokes. Since taking over as permanent Test captain, three of the four Tests he has missed have ended in victory. The anomaly? Here at the Oval, against Sri Lanka, last September. England will hope Stokes' preservation for the Australian challenge ahead does not represent the portents for another defeat.
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Durham v Surrey, Yorkshire v Sussex, and more: county cricket day two
Update: Date: 2025-07-30T18:12:30.000Z Title: Three late finishes, but no two-day wrap ups Content: Day two updates from around the grounds Sign up to get The Spin newsletter | Mail Tanya Tanya Aldred at Scarborough Wed 30 Jul 2025 14.12 EDT First published on Wed 30 Jul 2025 05.18 EDT 2.12pm EDT 14:12 . Thanks for the rhubarb cake and the company, happy birthday to a no doubt disgruntled Jimmy Anderson, and have a lovely evening all. Good night! 2.10pm EDT 14:10 DIVISION ONE Chester-le-Street: Durham 153 and 222-5 v Surrey 322 Chelmsford: Essex 602-6dec v Warwickshire 140-2 Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 189-2 v Somerset 438 New Road: Worcestershire 187-2 v Hampshire 293 Scarborough: Yorkshire 292-4 v Sussex 222 DIVISION TWO Cheltenham: Gloucestershire 54-1 v Middlesex 445 Canterbury: Kent 203-3 v Leicestershire 471 Old Trafford: Lancashire 137 v Glamorgan 261 and 95-2 Northamptonshire: Northants 265-5 v Derbyshire 377 12.21pm EDT 12:21 Lancs all out for a measly 137, giving Glamorgan a first innings lead of 124. Mason Crane gobbling greedily at the red rose. Right, time for me to write up for the paper, BTL remains open for all. 12.17pm EDT 12:17 Ali chews over the Oval Test, walking wounded and all. 12.14pm EDT 12:14 A Hoppsagram has landed: Here is a curious thing. For some reason, Sam Curran appears on the scorecard on the ECB app as S Curran and SM Curran, both at the same time. It is an oddity not seen elsewhere. He is only a little fella and doesn't need two names, but he did need a wicket and Emilio Gay provided, his luscious 99 ended with a flick to midwicket against a delivery that had 'century' written all over it. Three down, and parity barely achieved, leaves Durham in a parlous position. They looked like Championship challengers at the start of the season (a view I shared with a certain IT Botham) but defeat here would leave them in danger of an unexpected relegation. With Yorkshire and Essex confident of at least a draw, Durham could slip into the bottom two. Pitches here tend to flatten out, and we are still in Kookaburra country after all, but it is a big ask from here. Updated at 12.15pm EDT 12.08pm EDT 12:08 And no hundred for Wharton either, bowled by Coles for 85. He shuffles away, long limbs hanging loose in disappointment. Yorks 255 for four. 11.59am EDT 11:59 A rousing standing ovation for Adam Lyth, who reluctantly pushes one foot in front of the other to leave his favourite ground, stumped for 115 off Jack Carson. Wharton is 16 short of his first hundred for the season. But there was to be no hundred for Emilio Gay, caught off Sam Curran for 99. Durham 177 for three. 11.50am EDT 11:50 A couple of wickets down the drain at New Road, but Libby still there on 27, Worcs 61 for two. 11.44am EDT 11:44 Just as Notts have passed 100, and HH 50, a lapse in concentration from Freddie McCann, who airily dabs behind. Notts two down, Somerset working hard 👊 Watch LIVE ➡️ But Durham are helping them out and have drawn level at CLS, with Emilio Gay in touching distance of his hundred… Updated at 11.51am EDT 11.29am EDT 11:29 With a cover drive and with his Pa watching. Then an upper cut for four. more. Yorks have a lead and will stick boot on accelerator and be dammned. 11.23am EDT 11:23 And a last-week-of-July Lancs-up special – from 107 for three, tumbling to 132 for eight. The heroes of Cheltenham out in the same over. 10.58am EDT 10:58 DIVISION ONE Chester-le-Street: Durham 153 and 143-2 v Surrey 322 Chelmsford: Essex 602-6dec v Warwickshire 19-0 Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 78-1 v Somerset 438 New Road: Worcestershire 36-0 v Hampshire 293 Scarborough: Yorkshire 199-2 v Sussex 222 DIVISION TWO Cheltenham: Gloucestershire v Middlesex 391-7 Canterbury: Kent 117-1 v Leicestershire 471 Old Trafford: Lancashire 128-5 v Glamorgan 261 Northamptonshire: Northants 154-5 v Derbyshire 377 10.49am EDT 10:49 And at the same ground where Dom Sibley did it last week. Already across the line are: Sibley, Saif Zaib, Lyth and Ben Compton, with Haseeb Hameed – 933 – next in line. Off they go for tea, with Lyth four short of his century, and Wharton on his seventh half-century of the year, but yet to reach three figures. Tea scores to follow. 10.36am EDT 10:36 Hopps muses on CLS. During an intemperate [shurely not, ed] assessment earlier this summer of Zak Crawley's right to an England batting place, I might have opined in the pub that there were three better players in Durham's top order alone. Two of these, Alex Lees and Ben McKinney, have been dismissed by Surrey just before the 100 mark, at a point when Durham still trailed by 73. All three imaginary candidates for Crawley's England spot are left-handed, which does not help them claim an opening birth alongside Ben Duckett, even in my Fantasy XI - and it doesn't help Durham's balance either. McKinney, impressive at England under-19 level, in truth still has much to learn. He is a tall, domineering batter, powerful down the ground but he looked cumbersome against Surrey's spinners, Sai Kishore and Dan Lawrence, and eventually clubbed Kishore to long on. The elegance has come from Emilio Gay, a stately half century now secured. His England chance will surely come one day. Lawrence's leg spin is turning but he dropped a diving return catch when Gay was 50 and Dan Worrall has also dropped a sitter at short leg. Lawrence's staccato run up almost makes you think the TV feed is playing up, but he should have added to his 49 first class wickets here. 10.27am EDT 10:27 Divine cake and even better company, all while James Wharton whalloped two huge sixes into the crowd. Yorkshire 187 for two, with Adam Lyth 11 away from a century. 9.51am EDT 09:51 There has been an offer of home-made rhubarb cake so I'm going in search of Misanthropesarewe and company. Back shortly. 9.49am EDT 09:49 With an hour gone since lunch, a whistle round the grounds: Oh dear, not a dream start for Notts. Craig Overton castles Ben Slater in his first over. Notts 6-1. Ben (this would be a good time to make a hundred) McKinney and Emilio Gay rebuild for Durham: 71-1. Prest is 54 not out, but Worcs have picked away at Hampshire: 271-7. Rain at Chelmsford, where Essex are a hefty 557-5, 111 for young Charlie Allison. And in Division Two: At Cheltenham, Kane Williamson has moved onto 151, Middx 323-5. Kent are still one down, 61-1. Fernanado and Kellaway have skittled out Lancashire's top three, Lancs 77-3. And fifty for the skipper, Luke Procter, as Northants make steady progress against Derbyshire. Northants 111-2. 9.33am EDT 09:33 Somerset are all out for 438. With Surrey already well on their way at CLS – Alex Lees out for 20, a lead of 121 – Notts need to match them and more, and at quite the lick. Here, Adam Lyth has collected 52, Yorkshire 113-2, while at Canterbury, Kent were sailing along smoothly, but have just lost Jaydn Denly for 20, 52-1. Updated at 9.53am EDT 9.22am EDT 09:22 The lesser-spotted Mark Wood has been spotted bowling on the outfield at CLS at lunch. England will want to take him to Australia if his poor put upon body can endure one last wrestle Down Under. 9.15am EDT 09:15 Six of the eight megabuck deals in the Hundred sell-off have been completed, with two – The Reliance Group's 49 per cent stake in the Oval Invincibles, and Cain International and Ares Management's 49 per cent stake in Trent Rockets – 'on track' and to be completed at a later date. The six deals formally completed are: •London Spirit – Tech Titans (49%) •Birmingham Phoenix – Knighthead Capital Management, LLC, on behalf of its investors ('Knighthead') (49%) •Manchester Originals – RPSG Group (70%) •Northern Superchargers – Sun TV Network Limited (100%) •Southern Brave – GMR Group (49%) •Welsh Fire – Washington Freedom (50%) A The Hundred Board will be set up, featuring representatives of the ECB and the teams (both investors and host clubs), which will have authority over things like strategic direction and commercial growth, sponsorship and licensing deals, player salaries and player draft and retention mechanics. There are lots of quotes from the various owners saying things like 'flexible capital', 'unrivalled environment' and 'deep infrastructure expertise.' But in the words of Richard Thompson: 'Crucially, this investment will not only fuel the competition's growth but also channel transformative levels of funding into our professional counties and grassroots game.' We cross our fingers and hope for the best. 9.00am EDT 09:00 Hoppsy's rhapsody in a B nest: 'What a dreadful slower ball,' was the first impression as Ben Raine sought the final Surrey wicket. But a filthy full toss did the trick as Jordan Clark was last out, at long off, for a muscular 82 from 76 balls, leaving Surrey with an imposing first innings lead of 169. It feels like a match-winning advantage for the Championship leaders and they will anticipate considerable inroads into Durham's second innings in the last two sessions. Raine sneaked in for a five-fer, but it was Clark who dominated the morning. Talk of Surrey conveniently brings us to their head of groundstaff, Lee Fortis, and his spat at the Kia Oval yesterday with the India coach, Gautam Gambhir. Both men are not exactly averse to picking a fight. Indeed, Gambhir's political career as a BJP MP in Delhi came to grief last year soon after a public altercation with an influential party member. 'Keep your tanks off my lawn' was essentially the message to Gambhir on both occasions. In other news, the aforementioned bee man has just arrived. I might have nightmares about what is to follow. So, too, could Durham. 8.08am EDT 08:08 DIVISION ONE Chester-le-Street: Durham 153 v Surrey 322 Chelmsford: Essex 465-5 v Warwickshire Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire v Somerset 396-8 New Road: Worcestershire v Hampshire 213-6 Scarborough: Yorkshire 80-2 v Sussex 222 DIVISION TWO Cheltenham: Gloucestershire v Middlesex 273-4 Canterbury: Kent 18-0 v Leicestershire 471 Old Trafford: Lancashire 29-1 v Glamorgan 261 Northamptonshire: Northants 48-1 v Derbyshire 377 8.04am EDT 08:04 And just as the sandwiches arrive in the press box, Imam-ul-Haq nudges Carson to first slip for a pretty 19. That's lunch here and around the grounds, scores to follow. Updated at 10.33am EDT 8.00am EDT 08:00 This is year five of the Greenest Ground competition – please do enter if your club is making strides to a greener and more nature-friendly future. The closing date is August 31 – please spread the word. And £500 from Ortus Energy for the winner. 📢 One month to go! 🚨 🏏 Cricket clubs! There's still time to get in your entry for this year's Greenest Ground Award from @TheCricketerMag and @OrtusEnergy 🌍💚 💥 Win £500 for your club! 👇 7.49am EDT 07:49 In Division Two: At Old Trafford, Glamorgan were prised out for 261, Green six for 82. Lancs are now nine for one, after Wells was sent on his way by Fernanado for two. Happy-Sad Tom Scriven was lbw for 99 in Leicestershire's 471, Parky seven for 137. Kent are, at this second of typing, an anything-is-possible 0-0. Northants are 41 for one, after Chahal finished with six wickets and Derbyshire 377 all out. And no play yet at Cheltenham, which is bad news for the festival after a small crowd yesterday. 7.35am EDT 07:35 7.30am EDT 07:30 Off goes Finlay Bean, in comes Imam-ul-Haq, for his first match for Yorkshire. Uncle Inzamam also made his Yorkshire debut here, in 2007, during a disastrous spell at the club – three matches, four innings, 89 runs. It was, I'm told, a freezing day in August, so cold that the Yorkshire Post's Chris Waters had to buy a fleece from the on-ground shop. Inzamam was standing at slip wearing four jumpers, wondering what on earth he'd signed up for. Updated at 7.37am EDT 7.22am EDT 07:22 Jim with a flamboyant flourish. 7.16am EDT 07:16 Hampshire are chugging along at New Road, though Gubbins and Tilak went cheaply to Allison and Taylor, Hants 186 for four. And a huge cheer here at Scarborough as a young boy perched on the front row of the wooden benches catches a huge six off Bean, with no fuss at all. 7.10am EDT 07:10 The end of two centurions – James Rew, rather marooned this morning, caught for 166 – Somerset 361 for seven – and Tom Westley who gives leg slip catching practice for 148 – Essex 416 for five. Updated at 7.51am EDT 7.03am EDT 07:03 Gary Naylor's eagle-eyed overview, for those who missed it yesterday. 6.53am EDT 06:53 In fact here is Hoppsy live from CLS his front room: Bumble is on comms on the Durham feed which makes up for the fact that I can't sit in the sun at Banks Home Riverside. And Durham have taken their first wicket after half an hour. Codi Yusuf, with his second ball of the morning, swung one back and Dan Lawrence, falling over a little, picked out one of two short midwickets: a trap well laid by Durham's skipper Alex Lees. Lawrence, out for 88, had looked in mint form again. Six down, Surrey lead by 56 on a pitch that remains lively and is producing some compelling cricket. 6.51am EDT 06:51 Surrey, hoping to build up a hearty points lead at the top of the table after this match at Chester le Street, have lost Dan Lawrence for 88, a second wicket for Codi Yusuf. The lead is already threatening - 70, with plenty of firepower to come. 6.47am EDT 06:47 Detained by the lovely people from St Catherine's hospice, based two miles above Scarborough, up in the hills with a view of the sea. It costs £6.2 million a year to run, only a third of which comes from the government. They are also gold awarded for their care of veterans – Scarborough is home to a fair few, those who retire here and those who find themselves here after their service has ended. A possible bat-grass-boot chance at slip, but survived, and Yorkshire are 11-0. Let's look around the grounds. Updated at 6.54am EDT 6.21am EDT 06:21 And Yorkshire get their man at last, a smart sliding catch by Duke to send Lamb on his way for a team face-saving 48. Sussex 222 all out, a last wicket stand of 72. Updated at 6.22am EDT 6.11am EDT 06:11 Out go Stokes (shoulder injury), Archer, Dawson and Carse – in come Bethell, Atkinson, Overton, Tongue. Ollie Pope will captain. 1. Zak Crawley 2. Ben Duckett 3. Ollie Pope (c) 4. Joe Root 5. Harry Brook 6. Jacob Bethell 7. Jamie Smith (wk) 8. Chris Woakes 9. Gus Atkinson 10. Jamie Overton 11. Josh Tongue Updated at 6.18am EDT 6.07am EDT 06:07 Somerset start as they did yesterday, by losing an early wicket – Jack Leach heaving lustily at Dillon Pennington. 6.01am EDT 06:01 On go the players – with particularly energetic galloping by Yorkshire wicketkeeper Harry Duke, whose long blond hair swings past his shoulders. Yorkshire will not be keen for this tenth-wicket partnership to become a bigger irritation than it already is. 5.38am EDT 05:38 Thanks to Romeo BTL for this nudge – Harry Swindells, hero of Leicestershire's one-day cup victory in 2023, has been forced to retire with a finger injury Speaking to the club's website, he said 'I've been immensely proud to represent the club I've loved since I was five years old over the past eight seasons. 'I want to thank the Foxes fans for their unwavering support across my career. I've always felt their love, and hearing them sing 'Harry Swindells, he's one of our own' was always an amazing feeling. Their passion that day at Trent Bridge was truly unforgettable, a shared memory I will treasure forever.' Wishing him joy in whatever the future holds. 5.30am EDT 05:30 I think we've been here before: Updated at 5.30am EDT 5.26am EDT 05:26 And from our not-so-roving correspondent, David Hopps. Whiling away the hours watching Championship cricket in your dotage sounds so easy. In principle. It isn't. Stuff happens. Today I've fallen foul of a somewhat inflexible Bee's Nest remover who works on the emphatic Yorkshire principle that 'someone will be at home all afternoon' means any time from noon sharp, rather than any of your soft-headed Southern-influenced ideas that the afternoon actually starts around 1pm, the time when my wife will be back home from a dog-walking social in some local gardens where the hours of attendance appear to be equally non-negotiable. Sod's Law will now invariably apply and he will pitch up around 3pm, if he pitches up at all, to reassert well-honed arguments about why Guardian-style ideas about saving the bees are thoroughly impractical and how the honeycomb is now so large that the ceiling could collapse by close of play. While all this is going on, I'm going to pass the time watching a bit of Durham vs Surrey where Surrey, 29 ahead with five wickets left and Dan Lawrence in inspired mood, look well positioned to take another step towards the title. Unless, of course, as befits my day, there is a sting in the tail... Updated at 5.31am EDT 5.21am EDT 05:21 North Marine Road shimmies up between Scarborough's terraces, a sloping patch of green overlooked on two sides. If the crowds do not flock like they once did, there were still plenty of bums on the salt-burned wooden benches. Yorkshire won the toss and duly ran through Sussex, courtesy of disciplined bowling and some nifty slip catching, as well as a sprinting over-the-shoulder swallow dive by James Wharton to catch a top edge off Tom Haines. But then came 30 overs of frustration as the last-wicket pair of Danny Lamb and Gurinder Sandhu added an unbeaten 60. After a high-class partnership with Rishi Patel (85), Rehan Ahmed ticked off hundred No 5 for the summer. It was the highlight of the day for Leicestershire, who then crumbled to Matt Parkinson. His seven for 104 temporarily cooled the brows of Kent members, whose last place in the table was made worse by news that their club had been docked eight points for disciplinary breaches. Fifteen wickets fell at Chester-le-Streetwith Durham all out for 153 at tea to the Division One leaders, Surrey, who finished 29 ahead. At Trent Bridge, Somerset's calamitous start – 25 for three, all to Nottinghamshire's Mohammad Abbas – improved as James Rew (162no) and Tom Abell (156) added 313, overtaking Peter Denning and Ian Botham's 310 to become their club's biggest fourth-wicket stand. At Old Trafford, Australia spinner Chris Green found the devil in the dirt for Lancashire, winkling out six Glamorgan wickets. Dropped on 29, Kane Williamson duly advanced to century No 2 in two innings for Middlesex, against his old side Gloucestershire. Tom Westley added a third hundred in five innings to give Essex another good day. From 89 for five, Martin Andersson's 105 escorted Derbyshire to 348 for eight and tamed the Yuzvendra Chahal wicket-munching machine. 5.19am EDT 05:19 DIVISION ONE Chester-le-Street: Durham 153 v Surrey 182-5 Chelmsford: Essex 350-4 v Warwickshire Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire v Somerset 338-4 New Road: Worcestershire v Hampshire 146-2 Scarborough: Yorkshire v Sussex 210-9 DIVISION TWO Cheltenham: Gloucestershire v Middlesex 232-3 Canterbury: Kent v Leicestershire 386-9 Old Trafford: Lancashire v Glamorgan 260-8 Northamptonshire: Northants v Derbyshire 348-8 5.18am EDT 05:18 Good morning from Scarborough, where the waves tumble onto North Beach and I saw a weasel skittling around Anne Bronte's grave. Play looks set fair for an 11am start as the players stretch and lurch and bat around the outfield. Do join us for day two of this final mid-summer round.
BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Hameed hits hundred for Notts against Somerset
Rothesay County Championship Division One, Trent Bridge, Nottingham (day two)Somerset 438: Rew 166, Abell 156; Abbas 3-60, Pennington 3-71Nottinghamshire 189-2: Hameed 103*, McCann 48Notts (2 pts) trail Somerset (3 pts) by 249 runsMatch scorecard Captain Haseeb Hameed's third century of the season helped title-chasing Nottinghamshire build a solid foundation in reply to Somerset's 438 on day two of their County Championship clash at Trent who struck 15 fours and two sixes, also passed 1,000 first-class runs for the season with the same shot that completed his hundred. He had earlier shared a stand of 101 for the second wicket with Freddie McCann (48).At 189-2, though, Nottinghamshire, who began this round one point behind Division One leaders and defending champions Surrey, still have much work to do, trailing by 249 runs even after third-placed Somerset lost their last seven wickets for 100, Mohammad Abbas (3-60) and Dillon Pennington (3-71) sharing the bowling honours for the home 438 all out - while a total not to be sniffed at after being asked to bat first - perversely still felt like fewer than they probably should have got on a pitch with little in it for the bowling side, given that they had been 338-3 before Tom Abell's demise shortly before Tuesday's excepted, Notts had not been at their best with the ball on the opening day. They looked better for a night's reflection, yet most of the damage suffered by Somerset was to some degree the four wickets to fall in adding 58 before lunch, nightwatchman Jack Leach cut the first ball of the day straight to backward point, after which James Rew fell into a trap set on the leg side as his impressive 166 ended with him athletically caught behind Banton, chasing a wide one, and Archie Vaughan, nibbling outside off stump, gave Joe Clarke two much easier catches in his latest tour of duty keeping wicket, this time because Kyle Verreynne is back home in South Africa for an awards ceremony. Migael Pretorius popped back a tame return catch for Calvin Harrison soon after Overton's 31 not out was the third highest score in an innings dominated by Rew's 313-run fourth-wicket stand with Abell (156). Jake Ball, the former Notts quick, made 24 against his old mates before chipping back a catch to Liam Patterson-White after 41 were added for the last a Notts innings for the 100th time together, Haseeb and Ben Slater were quickly parted, Slater falling to the eighth ball of the innings, shouldering arms to a ball from Craig Overton that clipped his off it took another 28 overs for the Somerset attack to make a second incision. McCann was looking to match Hameed, who had just completed an 87-ball half-century, when Ball offered him a delivery wide of off stump. It was a boundary for the taking to the short side of the square but he flashed at the ball and it took the edge, Rew having no problem taking the this represented a potential opening for Somerset, though, it was not one that offered any more than a glimpse of light, as Hameed and Clarke negotiated a safe passage through the 25 overs that survived a chance on 91, albeit a difficult one, when he drove a ball back hard at Pretorius, who instinctively flung out a hand but could only prevent runs. The Notts skipper celebrated his reprieve by lofting Vaughan's off spin down the ground, not cleanly but with enough power to beat the fielder and the boundary for his second six, then patiently waiting on 99 to drive the same bowler to the long-on boundary for his 15th four and his 18th first-class century. ECB Reporters' Network, supported by Rothesay
