Graham Hardcastle's county roundup
Dom Sibley would be viewed by most England followers as a left field selection for an opening berth in this summer’s Ashes, but Warwickshire’s tall right-hander is building a strong case nonetheless, highlighted by a polished 67 during an enthralling day two at Clifton Park.
Sibley was underpinning a healthy response to Yorkshire’s first-innings 259, with a second-wicket stand of 101 with teenager Rob Yates from early afternoon to mid-evening threatening the home side’s unbeaten start to the summer during a week they will remember fondly whatever the outcome given it is the first county fixture in York since 1890.
However, Sibley, particularly confident off his legs, was the first of three quick evening wickets for the highly valuable White Rose captain Steve Patterson, who had earlier completed a fine 60 – his fourth first-class fifty.
Sibley, 23, has scored 640 first-class runs this season, including three centuries – all against county opposition. His first was for the MCC against Surrey in Dubai in March. But he feathered an inside-edge onto middle stump off Patterson to spark an evening collapse of four for 27 inside eleven overs as the visitors fell from 139 for one to 166 for five. Industrious Patterson, a Yorkshireman for all seasons, claimed three and David Willey the other in front of a 3,021 crowd. Warwickshire closed on 192 for five from 76 overs.
Lancashire’s former England fast bowler Graham Onions claimed his 700th first-class wicket, Wayne Madsen bowled, as the Division Two leaders took control against Derbyshire at the County Ground. Lancashire, replying to a first-innings 153, reached 236. Onions then claimed three wickets as Derby responded with 19 for four.
Division One strugglers Nottinghamshire, chasing their first win of 2019, are handily placed (208 for four) in reply to Kent’s 309 at Tunbridge Wells.
Back in Division Two, day three rain at Radlett has significantly threatened Middlesex’s chances of beating Glamorgan, who narrowly avoided having to follow-on at 274 for nine in reply to 410. The wicketkeeper Tom Cullen hit a crucial 50. Leicestershire are on top at the halfway stage against Gloucestershire at Grace Road, while Worcestershire’s South African seamer Wayne Parnell claimed four wickets on day one at Kidderminster to leave Sussex at 185 for six.
Sibley has gone for 67. It seems like he might have played on, just a feather of an inside edge against Patterson. Warwickshire are 139 for 2, with a 101-run stand between him and Yates (43) ended. Sibley has now scored 640 first-class runs this season.
And that’s 700 for Onions. He’s bowled Wayne Madsen. Jimmy Anderson has also struck. Derbyshire are 17 for 3.
Graham Onions on 699 career first-class wickets. Derbyshire are 13 for 1 in the fifth over of their second innings, trailing by 70. Tom Lace has been caught behind.
Lancashire are all out for 236 at Derby, a lead of 83. Luis Reece finished with 6 for 83, taking the new ball against his former county, while Gloucestershire have lost three early ones (28 for 3) in reply to Leicestershire’s 487. Muhammad Abbas has taken all three. Here at York, Dom Sibley has just passed 50. A late Ashes contender? Warwickshire 116 for 1.
A strange old session here at York. First things first, Warwickshire will be delighted with their position at 109 for 1 in reply to 259, with Sibley (48) and Yates (32) sharing an unbroken 71. So in that sense it was a dominant session, with the Bears losing only one wicket. But Yorkshire did manage to keep things in check, conceding only 13 runs in the last 10 overs of the session. Left-arm spinner James Logan has looked dangerous in his first eight overs, playing only his second match. But the bare facts are that Yorkshire need a wicket.
Important lower order resistance from Glamorgan at Radlett, as they avoid the follow-on. Considering their game against Middlesex is halfway through day three, the hosts have it all to do to claim victory. Tom Cullen posted 50 and Graham Wagg 37 not out. At 274 for 9, they trail by 136.
Yorkshire really need a wicket. Warwickshire are 74 for 1 replying to 259. Batting has looked much easier today, and Dom Sibley is strengthening that theory with the help of Rob Yates. They have taken the score from 38 for 1 and have 27 and 19 respectively. It’s interesting that both camps were thinking Yorkshire’s 259 was a bit over par. It doesn’t look it at the moment. The left-arm spinner James Logan is currently operating from the Shipton End of this ground. His run-up is more of a creep in to the crease.
There’s a bit of rain around, with play delayed at Radlett (Glamorgan 233 for 7 in reply to Middleesex’s 410), although they are due to restart in 10 minutes or so. They are also off at Grace Road, where Gloucestershire have finally wrapped up the Leicestershire first innings on 487.
Logan chips in. Oh Logan van Beek, you spoil sport! I jest. Luis Reece wasn’t that close to all 10 wickets, was he. Anyway Van Beek, the former under-19s NZ Basketball international, has removed Liam Livingstone at Derby. Lancashire 126 for 5, trailing by 27.
New Zealand Basketball, for me, has the best sports team nickname in the world. The Tall Blacks. If this was a post-watershed blog, I wouldn’t have to let you do your own research on the former nickname of the Kiwi Badminton team.
Where there’s a Will... Not a bad way to start the afternoon for Warwickshire, who have moved to 38 without loss. Will Rhodes has just flicked former teammate Ben Coad over backward square leg, perhaps more wide long leg. He has 28. Or rather, had 28. He’s gone. Caught at third slip by Jack Leaning off Coad. It’s 38 for 1.
Lunchtime update
Division One
Notts 104-2 at Tunbridge Wells v Kent (309) – morning wickets for Milnes and Mulder, a combination which sounds like a classic detective series to me.
Warwickshire 23-0 in reply to Yorkshire’s 259 - Will Rhodes unbeaten on 16 against his former county. He’s played much of his league cricket up the road at Stamford Bridge.
Division Two
Glamorgan 214-6 against Middlesex (410) on day three at Radlett - Steven Finn has four-for.
It’s a similar tale at Derby (back to day two starts now) where Lancashire are 94-4 in reply to Derbyshire’s 153. Luis Reece has four wickets against his former county.
Leicestershire are still going strong against Gloucestershire at Grace Road – 441-7. Colin Ackermann, the South African Dutchman, is 38 not out.
At Kidderminster, on day one, Sussex are 89-5 – three wickets for Wayne Parnell.
Reece on a roll. Luis Reece is on course for all 10 at Derby against his former county. He has four-for, Haseeb Hameed his latest victim, caught at second slip for nine. Lancashire 93 for 4.
Updated
Yorkshire are all out for 259. Oliver Hannon-Dalby bowls Ben Coad to finish with 5 for 76 against his home county – he’s a Halifax lad. James Logan is unbeaten on 20. Warwickshire’s openers are going to have an awkward 20 minutes of batting to do before lunch.
Fair play to Derbyshire, who are sticking with the runaway Division Two leaders Lancashire at Derby. They have struck twice this morning through Luis Reece, the former Red Rose all-rounder, to restrict their visitors to 74 for 3 in reply to 153. Yesterday Derby were 91 for 8 before recovering. Given the strength of Lancashire’s team this season, especially their bowling attack, I would slate them as the second strongest in county cricket this season behind Somerset.
Steve Patterson chops Oliver Hannon-Dalby onto his stumps for 60 and gets a rapturous reception from the York faithful following a super knock. Yorkshire 253 for 9. A fourth wicket for the former Yorkshire seamer.
It’s been a pretty miserable season so far for Notts, but there is encouragement in the start to their first-innings reply to Kent’s 309. They are currently 71 for 1 at Tunbridge Wells. Ben Slater (31 not out) and Ben Duckett, the latter out for 33, have been the main protagonists. Early success for Worcester at Kidderminster – Sussex are 43 for 2.
Steve Patterson has just reached his fourth career first-class fifty, his first in almost three years and his second against Warwickshire. This one comes off 77 balls with six fours. Yorkshire have made a very useful start to day two, advancing from 208 for 8 overnight to 234 for 8. Batting does look easier today, which neither side were expecting.
Steve Finn has taken a couple of early poles at Radlett, bowling Billy Root – a huge wicket given his current form – and getting Owen Morgan caught behind. That game is into its third day, but Glamorgan have work to do at 126-5 replying to 410.
The Clifton Park venue here is a massive site, including four or five Rugby pitches and another cricket ground, which is used by the Clifton Alliance club, who once fielded Aaron Finch as a young overseas pup learning his game. The boundaries would be too short for him now. On the main oval, Yorkshire are 218 for 8.
Ah, the weird and wonderful nature of the ECB’s toss rule in Championship cricket. Sussex opt for a toss obviously wanting to bat at Kidderminster, only for Worcestershire to win it and choose to bowl. Everyone gets what they want. Mind you, had it been at New Road, it would have been win the toss and swim. Sussex 7 for 0 in the third over.
Some early news from York, and it is good news for Yorkshire. They are reporting no significant damage to the hip injury suffered by Duanne Olivier against Surrey at Guildford last week. He is sitting out this game, but the big South African quick is expected to play in the return match with Surrey at Scarborough, which starts a week on Sunday.
We are just about to get underway at York – 104.2 overs to be bowled in the day.
Preamble
Good morning from Clifton Park.
Monday proved to be a historic day for York CC as county cricket returned to the Minster City for the first time in 129 years and, despite rain costing us 29 overs, it proved to be an intriguing opening day’s play as Yorkshire reached 208 for 8 from 66.4 overs. Craig Miles and Oliver Hannon-Dalby were particularly impressive in sharing seven wickets in seamer-friendly; swing, seam, pace and carry. But there is no doubt that Yorkshire, despite losing five wickets for eight runs at one stage to slip from 93 for 1 to 101 for 6, are still very much in this game.
That is largely thanks to Gary Ballance’s fifth score of 50-plus in Championship cricket this season – 54 – and a 60-run stand between Steve Patterson and David Willey for the eighth wicket, recovering from 145 for 7.
Elsewhere, wickets fell like nine pins. At Chelmsford, Essex, who posted only 214, won by an innings against Hampshire, with Simon Harmer taking 12 wickets in the match. That result is particularly good news for leaders Somerset, who now lead the table by 23 points from second-placed Hampshire with a game in hand. They are 30 clear of Essex, both having played six. The two meet at Chelmsford next week, with Dom Bess likely to play as a second spinner after returning from his loan spell at Yorkshire.
There are now only two Division One fixtures in play, with Kent posting 309 against Nottinghamshire at Tunbridge Wells, recovering superbly from 81 fpr 4 and 100 for 5 through the opener Zak Crawley’s 111. Cliche alert: James Pattinson fired an Ashes warning with six wickets in his last outing for Notts before linking up with the Australia A squad. Notts closed on 30 for 0.
In Division Two, Jimmy Anderson’s excellent pre-Ashes form continued with 5 for 18 from 17 overs against Derbyshire at Derby. The hosts were bowled out for 153, with Graham Onions claiming three to move to 698 career first-class wickets. The leaders, Lancashire, closed on 8 for 1 in reply, with only 59 overs of play possible there. Amazingly, Anderson’s record this season stands at 24 Championship wickets in his fifth match at an average of 8.87 with an economy rate of 1.69. He has taken two five-wicket hauls.
At the halfway stage of the match between Middlesex and Glamorgan at Radlett, Dawid Malan’s side hold sway having posted 410 and restricted Glammy to 112-3. Sam Robson and Paul Stirling posted centuries, and Glamorgan will hope Billy Root continues his excellent recent form (16 not out). Leicestershire, after one day at Grace Road, have the early advantage over Gloucestershire at 343-5 - hundreds for Hassan Azad and Neil Dexter.
