Key events
Roundup: mixed fortunes for England hopefuls
Tanya Aldred
Big Ben McKinney tucked into the Gloucestershire bowlers at Bristol, not even pausing to dab his chin as he forked them all over the ground. Straight as a corn cob at the crease, he showed the threadbare attack no mercy, flaming fours through the covers, on the leg side, pausing only to pancake three sixes on his way to 214 not out.
McKinney and Alex Lees (129) added 305 for the first wicket in just 58 overs. At 21, McKinney is the youngest double centurion for Durham in history – not a bad advert for any England selectors looking for an opener. The home captain, Cameron Bancroft may have regrets after winning the toss and fielding first.
Dom Sibley’s audition for the same spot didn’t go so well against Leicestershire, lbw to Josh Hull for four, but Surrey duo Jamie Smith and Ollie Pope put on their Friday best in an entertaining partnership of 200. Pope nurdled 103, and Smith raced to his second century in successive innings, a grandiose 166 to wipe the winter away.
Ben Duckett, who gave up his IPL contract to prioritise the County Championship, cameoed 25 before being caught to leave Nottinghamshire wobbling at 38 for three against Glamorgan, but a hundred from Jack Haynes straightened things out.
Kent picked up a solitary wicket on a chastening day at Canterbury. The Northamptonshire top three – Ricardo Vasconcelos, Luke Procter and Calvin Harrison – all crunched hundreds.
Derbyshire’s Shoaib Bashir, long arms and longer legs, collected his best Championship haul with four for 76 in front of a good Old Trafford crowd. Marcus Harris, fresh from the Sheffield Shield final, rescued Lancashire from 11 for two with 125.
Rob Key was at Hove, and had three wickets from Sussex’s Henry Crocombe to write in his big black book. He also had the pleasure of a Chris Woakes half-century for Warwickshire. At Southampton, Hampshire’s Sonny Baker whipped the heart out of Yorkshire with three wickets in a high-speed over.
Essex were whistled out for 149, with Somerset soon in similar trouble but for Craig Overton and James Rew. Will Smeed, fresh from 200 for Somerset’s 2nd XI, drove to Chelmsford from Wales to replace Tom Kohler-Cadmore as an injury sub. Sixteen wickets fell at Lord’s in the Middlesex v Worcestershire fixture.
Time to shut up shop at the end of day one. A very busy day of centuries for Ben McKinney, Jamie Smith, Ollie Pope, Marcus Harris and more and a three-wicket over from Sonny Baker. Thanks for reading today, see you tomorrow!
Close of play scores
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 149 v Somerset 179-5
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 279 v Glamorgan 81-4
The Oval: Surrey 412-6 v Leicestershire
Hove: Sussex 17-0 v Warwickshire 267
Headingley: Yorkshire 48-4 v Hampshire 251
DIVISION TWO
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Durham 456-2
Canterbury: Kent v Northamptonshire 409-1
Old Trafford: Lancashire 351 v Derbyshire 0-1
Lord’s: Middlesex 91-6 v Worcestershire 191
Time for me to write up for second edition. But BTL will remain open, for a while at least.
200 for Ben McKinney!
Big Ben powers on, now 202 not out, off 233 balls, 33 fours, three sixes and he becomes the youngest double centurion in Durham’s history.
At OT, Paul Coughlin slaps Abbas to the rope and snaps his bat in the process. The blade flies very close to an oblivious Mitch Stanley’s ear.
Sussex news
Three wickets from Henry Crocombe for Rob Key to write in his big black book. Warwicks 267 all out, Chris Woakes 64. Earlier at Hove, Guardian favourites, journalists Paul Weaver and Bruce Talbot, opened the Sussex museum for the new season.
They are the masterminds behind Hove and Away, one of 17 county sites recently set up by CounterPress. Subscribers pay £5 a month to read the site and in five weeks Bruce and Paul have already published more than 50 articles.
Shoaib Bashir’s four for 69 is his best return in county cricket. And now he takes the new ball with Muhammad Abbas. Two new feathers for his Derbyshire cap.
This might be the moment to remind CCLive! readers that if a Championship team’s pitch is rated below average, poor or unfit, the home side will get zero points from the fixture, regardless of the match result.
Playing condition 16.2.6 reads. “In the event of a match being abandoned due to a pitch that has been rated unfit, or if the pitch is rated poor or below average, in accordance with the ECB’s pitch regulations, the home team shall be awarded zero points and any first innings points already achieved shall be rescinded,”
“The home team shall be credited with a loss and the away team a draw for tiebreaker purposes.”
A fourth wicket for Shoaib Bashir
A beauty from Bashir, as Bailey is bowled for one, the ball creeping past excellent defence and into his stumps. Lancs 314-8. Bashir has four.
Five wickets for George Hill
As Yorkshire roll out Hampshire for 251. JAck Lehmann the top scorer with 76 and a handy 17 at the close from Eddy Jack. Lyth and Bean settle at the crease.
And a couple more wickets at OT as Derbyshire fight back. Matty Hurst gives a dolly to Montgomery for 32 and Bashir bowls a half-advancing Tom Hartley for 17. Hartley turns his bat upside down and bangs the handle on the grass in disappointment. Lancs 306-7, Bashir 3-66.
James Price, Lancashire’s Easter bunny, head of marketing and communications has just appeared in the press box with a milky bar Easter Egg for everyone. Just don’t mention the SGMs…
Rain at Bristol – McKinney 182 not out
Rain has never been more welcome at Bristol, as the players are forced in with the score 348-2 after 67.2 overs. McKinney 182 not out.
A cracking caught and bowled by Shoaib Bashir, sliding onto his tummy rhythm and slurping it up. Michael Jones wasn’t too happy, but it looked legit to me. Lancs 283-5, Marcus Harris out for 125 just before tea.
And with the sun out, Marcus Harris close to his hundred and Shoaib Bashir bowling well at OT, time for me to write up for early Friday first edition. Do keep chatting BTL.
And Brett D’Oliveira (67 not out) is standing tall as the rest of the Worcestershire batting crumbles around him. Worcs 167-8 against new improved Middlesex. Two wickets to Naavya Sharma and Ryan Higgins. Worcs 171-8.
A hundred for Ricardo Vasconcelos!
And he’s just gone, a wicket for Jas Singh, after 127 from 170 balls. Kent breathe a sigh of relief. Northants 229-1.
A century for Alex Lees
Durham continue their unrelenting pummelling of Glos – as Alex Lees joins the three figures club. McKinney is still flying along – 141 from 140 balls. Durham 261-0.
Compared to what’s happening elsewhere, Hampshire are plodding along at Headingley. Ben Maynes and Jake Lehmann have put on an unbeaten 50 for the fifth wickets. Two wickets for George Hill. Hants 161-4.
A wicket for Bashir!
But no century for Josh Bohannon, who chops Bashir onto his stumps for 73, done by a ball that spins and bounces. Bashir, half a (luxuriant) head taller than most of the players on the field, does a little jig of happiness. A wicket in his second over. Lancs 157-3.
Apologies to all – McCullum is not at Hove. Just his lookalike. But Rob Key is. And we pause at OT while Rocky Flintoff runs out with the modern equivalent of brown paper and string to help Marcus Harris repair his bat.
Runs for Pope and Smith
Simon Burnton
Very good since lunch, though Smith (76) was nearly caught at gully off a flashing drive, for which he demonstratively chastised himself. They’ve both hit lovely cover drives. A sharp single ended with Patel’s throw hitting Pope (61) and running away to the boundary for five runs, which is always fun. Leicestershire looking a little forlorn. Surrey 172-2.
Warwickshire’s mediocre morning continues into the afternoon where they have just lost Beau Webster for 48. A second wicket for Ollie Robinson at Hove. Warwicks 116-5.
Timm Van der Gugten, enjoying his trip to Trent Bridge, has just picked up his fourth Notts wicket, Patterson-White bowled for one. Fergus O’Neill has bashed five fours to get the scoreboard moving, Jack Haynes 37 not out. Glamorgan frisky after that morale-boosting draw against Yorkshire. Notts 140-6.
At Chelmsford, Matt Critchley, Rothesay CC player of round one for his 173 and five for nine, has returned to earth with a bump. Out for a three-ball duck to Somerset secret weapon Tom Lammonby, who also dismissed Dean Elgar for 41. Essex 112 for five.
Lancashire are making hay the afternoon, Harris has fifty too, getting there with a drive past Bohanon’s feet to the deep mid-on boundary. Lancs 127-2.
Rob Key watching at Hove
Thanks to Mike Bennett and his steward spy.
“A decent effort from both Ollie and young Henry this morning but Fynn H-P probably still takes my pick for the bowling award that session.
“Robinson looks much fitter and to have regained a bit of the gas that was lacking last season, I think he was unlucky not to have picked at least one more wicket – a couple of edges falling short or squeezing through the cordon.
“Crocombe on as first change again, a couple of very tight overs from both ends with decent speed, although neither Yates nor Webster seemed particularly troubled in negotiating it.
“A steward told me that both *Baz and Rob Key are in attendance today, so you’d think this is Robinson’s best chance to get himself more firmly “into the conversation” before his last chance passes.
“The sun is breaking through a bit and both batters are looking settled but I’d still say advantage Sussex at this point.”
*this turned out to be just Rob Key, with Baz somewhere as yet unknown
A hundred for Ben McKinney!
McKinney, who was much mentioned last season but didn’t make the Ashes tour in the end, smacks two sixes and 18 fours in a brutal century against Gloucestershire. Durham 171-0.
Fifty for Josh Bohannon, in an early-season fruitful patch. A lunchtime stroll around OT revealed a little girl in fairy dress batting against her mum, and a boy in a Lancs shirt smacking his dad around the concourse. Lancashire 102-2.
Lunchtime scores
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 80-4 v Somerset
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 101-5 v Glamorgan
The Oval: Surrey 110-2 v Leicestershire
Hove: Sussex v Warwickshire 69-3
Headingley: Yorkshire v Hampshire 82-2
DIVISION TWO
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Durham 143-0
Canterbury: Kent v Northamptonshire 124-0
Old Trafford: Lancashire 88-2 v Derbyshire
Lord’s: Middlesex v Worcestershire 84-5
Time for one not very eventful over from Shoaib Bashir before they trundle in for lunch at OT. Lunch scores around the grounds to follow.
Fifty for Ricardo Vasconcelos
Kent’s bowlers also proving tasty fare – and Northants tucking in. Vasconcelos 73 not out from 94 balls.
Fifty for Ben McKinney
Big Ben McKinney doing exactly what the selectors are asking with 82 off 84 balls – though runs against Gloucestershire are some of the easiest. Apologies Glos supporters, I feel cruel typing that. Durham 141-0.
A wave to Will Unwin, who is sometimes watching from the stands at OT with his daughter, but is stuck behind a laptop today.
“I am intrigued by the lineup. After missing last season, for Lancashire at least, I am surprised Rocky Flintoff is not getting a chance. I can’t imagine Paul Coughlin is the long term answer either. Flintoff needs to develop and will not do it watching from the stands.
“I appreciate without Jennings, a Plan B is required but Singh has rarely convinced with the bat. Marcus Harris is an opener by trade and his experience could be significant there, taking the pressure off Singh, who could be allowed to move down the order.”
I should have said that Jennings is out with a calf injury – though Lancs hope he’ll be back for the next round.
I’d like to see Harris opening too but he bats five for Victoria, coming in after Leicestershire’s Peter Handscomb. This is his first game since the cracking Sheffield Shield final which Victoria lost by 56 runs to South Australia.
Lancashire SGMs
Reports from Lancashire’s two Special General Meetings at The Point here at OT last night are suitably chaotic. The first SGM, the one organised by the club, was adjourned before any of the seven resolutions were passed as there wasn’t a legal advisor in the room.
The second meeting, held by the “dissidents,”wanted to raise the number of former employees who could sit on the Board from two to four. It was won by 672-401 votes, but that wasn’t a big enough percentage to pass.
Josh Bohannon is dropped in the slips on 28. Chappell prowls back to his mark near the Old Trafford pavilion where hundreds of people are gathered in zipped-up fleece excitement. A good turn-out all the way round the stands for the first home game of the season.
At The Oval, Surrey are 52-2 against Leicestershire, both openers gone.One of those wicket-takers was Josh Hull who sent Sibley on his way for four. Gary Naylor is keeping an eye on things.
“Josh Hull is back at The Oval bowling from the same end as he did in his one Test. There’s no speedgun here (as far as I can see), but he looks very sharp, pushing 90mph I suspect, delivering a heavy ball. At 21, he has lost a bit of that teenage gawkiness, though he’s a big unit and will need to manage his body carefully.”
He’s huge isn’t he? I watched him go through his paces at Grace Road. Like an oak tree in a forest of saplings.
Glamorgan’s van der Gugten and Ryan Hadley have reduced Nottinghamshire to 50 for three, though not before Ben Duckett, who turned down his IPL gig for the CC, had knocked out 25 at about a run a ball. Joe Clarke is not out for a nippy 18 from 20 balls.
Round the grounds Northamptonshire’s Ricardo Vasconcelos and Luke Procter are having fun against Kent (58-0); Durham’s Ben McKinney and Alex Lees similar japes against Gloucestershire (59-0) but elsewhere the bowlers are taking early-season prizes.
The first email of the day drops into the CCLive postbag. Hello Mike Bennett!
“Good morning from Hove, where the glorious weather of the last few days has given way to slightly overcast conditions, although the sun is doing it’s best to break through.
“Living in Scotland means I very rarely get the chance to watch the CC in person, so despite being a Yorkie, staying just around the corner from the County Ground this week meant this was too good an opportunity to pass up.
“Fynn Hudson-Prentice opening the bowling with Robinson has bowled a couple of very sharp overs and Robinson has just whistled one past Alex Davies’ nose, so it looks like we’re shaping up for a decent first session.
“Thanks for the ever-great work with the live blog, it’s a lifeline for those of us stranded in cricket wildernesses! (Although a dedicated reader, this is the first time I’ve written in).”
It’s lovely to hear from you Mike and I’m glad the Guardian can help keep you connected. I’d be interested in what you think about Robinson and Henry Crocombe, both who are on the ECB scouts’ radar. And I see Warwicks have lost two early wickets – one each to Robinson and Hudson-Prentice. Sussex 12-2.
And an early wicket for Abbas, as ever liquid gold. Singh with an elaborate prod, edging to Guest. Harris strolls out to resume his usual relaying of the foundations role. Lancashire 13 for two.
An early wicket here at OT, though we were too distracted in the press box by a frozen telly to notice. Luke Wells well caught, diving to his left at third slip off Ben Aitchison, for four. It brings in Josh Bohannon’s for his 100th first-class match.
Haseeb Hameed will have the rest of the day to admire the ball by Timm van der Gugten that, in bright sunshine, sent him on his way first ball. HH cocked his leg to dink the ball into the leg side but instead lost his leg stump.
Out come the Derbyshire players, hands firmly stuck around handwarmers, deep in pockets. Lancs have three changes from the side that drew with Worcestershire – adding Mitch Stanley, Marcus Harris and Paul Coughlin. Muhammad Abbas has the new ball from the Statham End.
Domestic Journalism Awards
Congratulations to all the winners of the ECB’s Domestic Journalism awards – jobs well done.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins Young Journalist of the Year: Cameron Ponsonby
Christopher Martin-Jenkins Broadcaster of the Year: Aaron Viles
Outstanding Online Coverage: BBC Sport Online
Highly Commended: The Cricketer Online
Regional Newspaper of the Year: Yorkshire Post
Highly Commended: Liverpool Echo
Podcast of the Year: The Final Word
Highly Commended: Wisden Cricket Weekly, 150 Not Out: Somerset County Cricket Club
Video Content Creator of the Year: Cricket District
Photo of the Year: David Griffin
Highly Commended: Nathan Stirk
I love the elongated figures in the winning photo Groundstaff from above by David Griffin, who is here at Old Trafford today to cover Derbyshire. You can find it here if you scroll down the page.
Ajaz Patel makes his debut for Leicestershire today. The Foxes will have to crank up their match skills from their defeat by Sussex in the last round, to hold off Surrey at The Oval.
To Old Trafford, where the outfield is busy with slip catching practise and bowling run ins. Derbyshire have won the toss and have sent Lancashire in to have a bat.
Division Two table
Middlesex 22
Derbyshire 16
Lancashire 14
Durham 13
Northamptonshire 12
Kent 11
Worcestershire 11
Gloucestershire -1
Division one table
Essex 22
Warwickshire 16
Nottinghamshire 13
Somerset 13
Glamorgan 12
Surrey 11
Sussex 10
Yorkshire 10
Leicestershire 3
Hampshire 2
Fixtures
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex v Somerset
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire v Glamorgan
The Oval: Surrey v Leicestershire
Hove: Sussex v Warwickshire
Headingley: Yorkshire v Hampshire
DIVISION TWO
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Durham
Canterbury: Kent v Northamptonshire
Old Trafford: Lancashire v Derbyshire
Lord’s: Middlesex v Worcestershire
Preamble
Good morning! Welcome to round two of this Championship summer – all cherry blossom and leftover hot cross buns . We have another full set of matches and can start to divine whether last week’s wins for Sussex, Essex and Middlesex were anything more than early season luck. Play starts around the grounds at 11am, do join us.