The County Championship this weekend provides some England players with a final chance to play first-class cricket before the Ashes series begins in Cardiff on 8 July. A 14-man training squad, led by Alastair Cook, travels to Spain next Saturday for a four-day training camp.
First Cook will head to Bristol on Sunday with the Essex team for the second of his rare appearances for his county, having made a solid 80 in their innings victory over Derbyshire this week. That match also featured Mark Footitt, Derbyshire’s left-arm fast bowler, who was included in that training squad. That defeat for Derbyshire was a rare wicketless match for the 29-year-old, though he has an opportunity to add to his season’s tally of 32 wickets at an average of 24 as his county take on second-placed Surrey.
Moeen Ali travels to Uxbridge, where bottom-of-the-table Worcestershire take on fourth-placed Middlesex. England’s decision to leave Ali out of the one-day squad was taken with the hope that he bowled plenty of overs in the championship ahead of the Ashes to try to find some form after he had a difficult Test against New Zealand at Headingley. Worcestershire got pulverised by Warwickshire within two days in the last round and that did not give Ali much opportunity to get more overs under his belt. Uxbridge is traditionally a pitch that is good for batting but that turns on days three and four – so he may well be able to have a good long bowl in the second innings.
Three of the possible Ashes squad will be in action at Headingley starting on Monday, when Stuart Broad will play for Nottinghamshire, who find themselves in the relegation zone of Division One. Yorkshire will feature opener Adam Lyth and Gary Ballance. The latter will be feeling under some pressure after scoring just 36 runs in four innings in the recent Test series. He also made just 30 runs in his only first-class match since.
Of the other England players going to the training camp, Liam Plunkett is still injured and Ian Bell will not have a chance for any more first-class cricket, before the Ashes starts, with Warwickshire not in championship action this week. But his return to county cricket has featured a first-class century earlier this week against Worcestershire and a quickfire 90 in a T20 match.
The top two teams in Division One, Durham and Warwickshire, have a week off, as do Division Two’s runaway leaders, Lancashire. Rain prevented any play in Saturday’s match between fifth-placed Northamptonshire and bottom side Kent.
