Roundup: Durham and Sussex shine as rain hits play
Rain badly affected play at all but one of the Championship matches, spreading its fingers first north, then south and east, sparing only Chester-le-Street.
There, nearly a full day was possible and Durham finished happier, with Derbyshire still 112 runs behind. After an opening stand of 83 between Luis Reece and Billy Godleman, Derbyshire lost wickets regularly as first Ben Raine and then, in a flash of inspiration, Gareth Harte took aim. Godleman made 66 before becoming the first of Harte’s victims in a spell of three for 10. An unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 53 between Matt Critchley and Leus du Plooy added late grit to Derby’s batting.
At Aigburth, no play was possible after lunch on a good day for wading birds. The morning session was dominated by Lancashire’s vigorous lower-order against Leicestershire. Tom Bailey hit a powerful 57, going to his fifty with a six that rose over the sight screen and on to the grass tennis courts beyond. When he departed that left Josh Bohannon. But as well as he worked the singles and, as his partners ran low, hit out, he was stranded on 98 when Richard Gleeson fenced and was caught on the stroke of lunch.
Bohannon, two short of what would have been a maiden hundred for Lancashire, threw his bat in the air in frustration before pausing for breath and returning to shake his partner’s hand. As the players retired inside for cards, Lancashire could comfort themselves that with their 449 total they had achieved five batting points for the first time in two years – and as the pitch sweated nicely under layers of plastic sheeting.
Play was truncated at Lord’s but not enough for Middlesex, whose top order was picked apart by Sussex’s Ollie Robinson, moving the balls both ways to five slips under obliging skies. He finished with four for 23, including a spell of three for eight in 14 balls. At 61 for four, Middlesex need 282 more to make Sussex bat again, 51 to avoid their worst defeat since the second world war.
Glamorgan’s last pair had great fun in the morning session at the County Ground, flashing 95 from 69 balls to take the total well past 500. Michael Hogan crashed two sixes in what was only his third first-class fifty. Rain truncated Northamptonshire’s reply but Ben Curran made a sweet 48 in an unbeaten opening stand. They still trail by 270 runs.
At Headingley, Dom Bess too was left stranded in the 90s, nine runs short of what would have been the second first-class century of his career. Bess and Jonny Tattersall added 90 for Yorkshire before Tattersall fell and the tail collapsed. Essex faced six overs before the rain, time enough for Alastair Cook to edge Ben Coad to slip for two.
Warwickshire pottered to 311 for seven against Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston, with Adam Hose 84 not out; and at Guildford Surrey struggled against the Overton twins, who grabbed two wickets each. Surrey, 188 for five, trail Somerset by 156.
And thus ends the wettest day of the season so far. Every match touched by rain, except Chester-le-Street, where Durham still hold the ascendancy. Still lots to play for - though neither Leicester, nor Middlesex, nor Northants will sleep easy tonight. It’s tricksy at Guildford - will the Overtons roll over Surrey in the morning? Join me here to find out. Thanks for sticking with it through the dank, damp day. I’m off to somewhere warm. Sleep well!
Close of play scores
Division One
Somerset 344 v Surrey 188-5
Surrey trail by 156 with 5 wickets remaining
Warwickshire 311-7 v Nottinghamshire
Yorkshire 390 v Essex 18-1
Essex trail by 372 with 9 wickets standing
Division Two
Durham 293 v Derbyshire 181-6
Lancashire 449 v Leicestershire
Middlesex 138 & 61-4 v Sussex 481-9 dec (after day three)
Middlesex need another 282 to avoid innings defeat
Northamptonshire 209 & 68-0 v Glamorgan 547 (after day three)
Northants need another 270 to avoid innings defeat
Play also abandoned at Edgbaston and Lord’s.
Play will restart at 5.30 at Guildford, weather permitting.
Play called off for the day at Headingley.
A pied wagtail heads towards the tent, tiny claws sinking into the Aigburth sponge. Don’t be too upset but the round-up calls. Rain seems set in everywhere except Chester-le-Street, where Durham have the sniff of a first-innings lead.
Tea-Rain-Bad-light Updates
DIVISION ONE
HEADINGLEY: Rain. Yorkshire 390 (Lyth 95, Kohler-Cadmore 83, Bess 91 not out) v Essex 18-1.
EDGBASTON: Bad light stopped play. Warwickshire 311-7 (Sibley 87, Hose 84 not out)
GUILDFORD: Rain, inspection at 445. Somerset 344 v Surrey 123-4 (Foakes 57)
DIVISION TWO
AIGBURTH: no more play today. Lancashire 449 (Livingstone 114, Bohannon 98 not out) v Leicestershire
CHESTER-LE-STREET: Tea. Durham 293 (Lees 63, Burnham 67; Rampaul 5-77)v Derbyshire 147-6 (Harte 3-10)
THE COUNTY GROUND: Rain. Day 3: Northamptonshire 209 (Rossington 77) and 68-0 (Curran 48) v Glamorgan 547 (Billy Root 229)
LORD’S: Rain. Day 3: Middlesex 138 & 61-4 (Robinson 4-23) v Sussex 481-9 dec
Just as the tent begins to leak, play has been called off at Aigburth.
Play will resume in the World Cup match at Cardiff in ten minutes.
The match will be 41 overs per side, with a 10-minute break between innings.
Barry Harte points out that I forgot, “ table topping Hampshire!”
Good spot! In fact I meant Hampshire and their formidable attack, instead of Essex. (Sorry Porter and Siddle).My heart is still with Somerset though.
Now, as the rain sets in everywhere except the north east, is their moment of glory - Durham have the ascendancy. The mighty Rushworth, the meddlesome Harte (3-10), the reliable Raine, have Derby 133 for six, still 160 behind.
Derby 128 for four. Why isn’t it raining in Durham? What larks!
So, as we’re here for a while - who is going to win the Championship?
Somerset with their jolly band of men, Tres, Leach, Bartlett?
Essex and their formidable attack?
A weakened Surrey?
The Yorkies?
Mullaney gets a couple and Warwickshire reach 311 for seven before the rain falls again. Only Durham v Derby ploughs on. Derby 109-2, trail Durham by 184. Godleman 60 not out.
Oh the glamour! pic.twitter.com/JWcdzJdyKh
— tanya aldred (@tjaldred) June 4, 2019
Did anyone see Sky’s late night analysis-chat thing with Bob Willis last night? Tymal Mills was on and I thought he was bloody great. Intelligent, modest, knowledgeable.
His back problems and subsequent diagnosis had somehow completely passed me by when I had my fingers in other pies. For others like me, this is from cricinfo:
“his career reached a watershed in 2015 when he was diagnosed with a congenital back condition: his spinal cord and vertebrae are unusually close together and bowling fast too often can agitate his spinal cord. It threatens to consign him to a future as a white-ball bowler, and he has to tailor his training carefully even to cope with that but with Twenty20 growing in importance neither Mills nor Sussex - nor even England - have abandoned hope that he can make an impact.”
Who wants to relive Brian Lara’s 501? Go on then, as you’ve all been so good.
A second for Raine as Madsen falls for a duck. Derby 83 for 2. As Warwickshire bat on, and on, and on. 292 for five off 125 overs.
So, we have two games currently being played - at Lord’s and Chester-le-Street.
Ooooh! Derby lose a wicket - Reece for 34, off, aptly, Raine. Derby 83/1.
Smashing picture from Lord’s - five slips for Ollie Robinson.
Five slips as Ollie Robinson bowls to Sam Robson at Lord’s. He doesn’t need them though, bowling Robson for 23 and Middlesex fall into even deeper trouble at 33-2. #MIDvSUS pic.twitter.com/B8YEzN6uiQ
— Jeremy Blackmore (@Jeremy_2566) June 4, 2019
Rain crosses the Pennines, stares at Headingley, and decides to stay awhile. Play suspended, Essex 18 for one.
Bad light has stopped play at Guildford too, Surrey 123/4.
And it is raining at Cardiff, where Sri Lanka are 182 for 8 off 33 overs.
Updated
Derby batting soundly after lunch at Chester-le-Street, 72/0. Middlesex, ahem. 51-4. Ollie Robinson 4-18.
Ben Foakes falls at Guildford, just after passing fifty. Surrey 119/4. Joverton 2-16, and I’ve just clocked that he has been recalled from his loan spell at Northants which was supposed to last till June 13. Injuries forced Somerset’s hand.
Alastair Cook gone! Coaded in the third over of Essex’s reply. Essex 3/1.
Updated
Sorry we’ve had a few technical issues. All fine now - I hope. The rain is pretty set in here at Liverpool, no play also at Birmingham and Northants. But elsewhere, we play on...
Updated
The rain turns steady. Groundstaff pull the sheets on to the middle, one, two, three, four, five, unfolding like never-ending plastic duvets. Round the ground brown tip up plastic seats sit damp and empty while drizzle plops into unfinished pints of beer with a sigh. Men in late middle age zip up and settle in for a stoical hour sitting in the rain. Why?
Updated
We’ve no chance now:
I wish all participants of the Cricket #WorldCup2019 good luck & thrilling matches. Especially I cross my fingers for @imVkohli, the captain of the Indian team. He`s a fan of @DFB_Team and supported it multiple times in the past 🏏✊😃 #Cricket #GermanyCheersForIndia #esmuellert pic.twitter.com/hwS4apAlIE
— Thomas Müller (@esmuellert_) June 3, 2019
LUNCH-TIME SCORES
DIVISION ONE
Somerset 344 v Surrey 101-3 (Foakes 49)
Warwickshire 291-5 (Sibley 87, Hose 77 not out) v Nottinghamshire
Yorkshire 390 (Lyth 95, Kohler-Cadmore 83, Bess 91 not out) v Essex
Division Two
Durham 293 (Lees 63, Burnham 67; Rampaul 5-77)v Derbyshire 54-0
Lancashire 449 (Livingstone 114, Bohannon 98 not out) v Leicestershire
Day 3: Middlesex 138 & 24-1 v Sussex 481-9 dec
Day 3: Northamptonshire 209 (Rossington 77) and 68-0 (Curran 48) v Glamorgan 547 (Billy Root 229)
Lunchtime scores to follow.
And sweet god, Gleeson flails at Klein and is caught behind. Bohannon whirls his bat in the air, and walks off , before thinking better of it and walking back to his partner and shaking hands. Not out 98 - and that, my friends, is the way it goes. Lancashire 449 all out; Klein 3-89.
When you’re, say, in the south of France, fall asleep with your sunglasses on, wake up and wonder why everything is so gloomy? That’s what it is like at Aigburth right now - except with no big reveal when you lift the specs to be dazzled by the sky.
Bohannan has it in for Parkinson. Four. Six over his head. 98 not out - a waft of declaration passes in front of the tent.
Sri Lanka and Afghanistan slow-cooking up a storm at Cardiff. Sri Lanka 175 for six off 29 overs, K Perera 75 not out. Nabi’s 4-28 from eight has turned it from flat to curious to intriguing.
Updated
They’ve taken an early lunch at Lord’s - Middlesex 24 for one, trail by 319. Northants 35 without loss in the wake of Glamorgan’s ridiculousness. Fingers crossed for wee Ben Curran.
Derby’s openers make a smart start - 47/0.
Bess loses Tattersall, but plugs away. Now 75 not out, can he be the yorkshireman (of sorts) who makes the magic three figures? Yorks 371 for seven.
At Warwickshire, the sloth has escaped. Adam Hose has fifty, and Warwicks do a one-handed chin up with an unbuttoned shirt - 253 for five you say?
Foakes and Borthwick rebuilding at Guildford - 39 runs to rescue Surrey from 38/3.
Good to see Northamptonshire make short work of Glamorgan's tail. From 207 for 6, they limited them to 547.
— Lawrence Booth (@the_topspin) June 4, 2019
England women’s squad to face West Indies on Thursday - Sarah Taylor returns from injury.
England squad: Heather Knight (Berkshire, captain), Tammy Beaumont (Kent), Katherine Brunt (Yorkshire), Kate Cross (Lancashire), Sophie Ecclestone (Lancashire), Alex Hartley (Lancashire), Jenny Gunn (Nottinghamshire), Amy Jones (Warwickshire), Laura Marsh (Kent), Nat Sciver (Surrey), Anya Shrubsole (Berkshire), Sarah Taylor (Sussex, wicketkeeper), Fran Wilson (Kent), Lauren Winfield (Yorkshire), Danni Wyatt (Sussex).
And a thunder-footed Graham Onions is out for two. Lancs 418 for nine.
Bailey, who must have been under instruction to get on with it, cuts once too many times, and is caught by Wright off Dexter for 57. With the unreliable forecast, Lancs presumably relying on not having to bat again. Josh Bohannon 77 not out though... Lancs 415 for eight. It’s overcast and Leicestershire’s openers are feeling twitchy.
And in World Cup news, South Africa’s Dale Steyn is out because of his shoulder injury, to be replaced by Beuran Hendricks.
Wow and big Tom Bailey steps, heaves and lofts hugely - six! - up and over the sightscreen at the Mersey end, and on to the grass tennis courts beyond. That’s his fifty and Lancashire galloping away here, 410 for seven.
News on Joe Burns, Lancashire’s overseas player who had to return back home to Australia early. He has been diagnosed with a protracted post-virus fatigue disorder dating back to an October 2018 viral infection and is recovering with rest and recuperation. He hopes to play cricket again in the near future.
Updated
Fifty for Dom Bess! Who wouldn’t be happy for him? Fortune can be a bastard as well as a fickle friend, but he’s got the character to (literally) bounce back. Yorkshire 325 for six.
They’re off for bad light at Lord’s with Middlesex 24 for 1 (Holden out for five). And the ball has gone out of shape at Headingley.
Glamorgan’s No.11 Michael Hogan has fifty! Seven fours and two sixes as his side keep an eye on 450.
Surrey 36 for 2, as big hands Trescothick holds on at slip and Rory Burns goes for a Warwickshire-esque 2, off 39 balls.
Leicestershire, home of Simon de Montfort, the father of parliaments (and other rather less savoury things), has elected a female chairperson to work alongside a female CEO. The first female double-act in county cricket.
And, with a smart straight drive, Josh Bohannon has fifty! Lancashire 371 for seven.
Very very pleased to see Leicestershire have elected a female chairperson. And they have a woman CEO too. Can’t quite believe it’s taken so long for any county to have a double female leadership team in county cricket but there we go
— Elizabeth Ammon (@legsidelizzy) June 4, 2019
Dom Sibley falls for 87, adding just six more runs to his overnight score. Would it be wrong to hope, for the benefit of any spectators, that his replacement gets his skates on? Warwickshire 202 for four.
Er, just what is happening to Glamorgan? Timm van der Gugten and Paul Hogan knock up fifty in less than six overs and Glamorgan waltz past 500 towards...six?
At Guildford, Stoneman has gone for 21, a wicket for birthday boy Jack Brooks.
It’s raining, again. But the men in white play through. A hardy band of supporters round the boundary put up their brollies and fold their papers small and smaller again.
Abhijato Sensarma has been thinking about Durham.
“At the moment I start to type out this email, EJH Eckersley is 6* off 55 deliveries in a classical attempt at making useful first-inning slower order runs. His partner-in-crime, MJ Potts is 3* (25) too. As they try to survive out in the middle as long as possible for Durham in the Second Division, I do have to send some love their way.
“After all, seeing people who aren’t meant to do much with the willow deadbat their way to underrated glory is surprisingly refreshing in a mad era where England scores above 300 in an ODI and still loses!”
Hmmm, Eoin Morgan escapes censure for a slow over rate, but Archer and Roy aren’t so lucky.
Archer and Roy fined 15% of their match fees for breaching code of conduct. Archer for showing dissent at a wide decision and Roy for shouting an obscenity after a misfield in 14th over
— Nick Hoult (@NHoultCricket) June 4, 2019
Updated
Mohammad Abbas has the ball and we get underway here at a cloudy Aigburgh! Play all round the country - life is good.
Mark Stoneman starting like Marcus Trescothick did yesterday - with a six! Surrey 18/0.
💥 That's one way to get off the mark!@mark23stone gets his innings underway with a six over square-leg. pic.twitter.com/ouvBIJ0XJu
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) June 4, 2019
Updated
Paul Horton being greeted happily by lots of Lancashire fans, he was captain of Sefton Park for many years, and played for them this weekend.
And, I should have said, a very jolly Eid Mubarak to all readers celebrating today!
Eid Mubarak to everyone around the world ❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/pdehxNQaCb
— Rashid Khan (@rashidkhan_19) June 4, 2019
It has stopped raining at Headingley, play will strike up, but you’ve time for a coffee. And the pitter patter restarts on the canvas roof.
Arrived at Aigburth station, to find a sun and the birds tweeting (is there a more technical term?) in the Triffid-sized horse-chestnuts frowning over the rose-filled front gardens. The teams are warming up on the outfield, Leicester disconcertingly all in black, and after an inspection, play will start at a civilised 11.15.
Vic’s report from yesterday:
Updated
Updated
START OF PLAY SCORES
Division One
Somerset 344 v Surrey 0-0
Warwickshire 181-3 v Nottinghamshire
Yorkshire 289-6 v Essex
Division Two
Durham 254-8 v Derbyshire
Lancashire 347-7 v Leicestershire
Middlesex 138 & 9-0 v Sussex 481-9 dec (after day two)
Middlesex trail by 334 with 10 wickets remaining
Northamptonshire 209 v Glamorgan 452-9 (after day two)
Glamorgan lead by 243 with one wicket remaining
Preamble
Good morning! A confession: it is wet and ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-chilly so I’m writing this in the relative warmth of Liverpool Lime Street before dragging anorak et al to the canvas confines of the Aigburth tent.
The forecast round the grounds today is fair-to-miserable, so expect stop-start-stop with a sprinkling of stardust.
Lots of intriguing cricket to keep an eye on - can Somerset’s bowlers stick it to Surrey at Guildford (where Jack Leach was concussed by Morne Morkel last year)? Can Warwickshire’s batsmen move into first gear? Yorkshire v Essex is in the balance, as is Durham v Derby. I think Lancs are on top at Aigburth, while Middlesex and Northants can expect to pack their bags tonight with a sad face and a lesson learnt.
If you’re still tingling from Pakistan’s take-that-and-party yesterday, don’t forget to keep an eye on Afghanistan v Sri Lanka at Cardiff, OBO here with your two crackers Tom Davies and Rob Smyth.
And finally, how can it be 26 years since this?
#OnThisDay in 1993, @ShaneWarne did this at Old Trafford...
— Lancashire Cricket (@lancscricket) June 4, 2019
The ball of the century. 👊
Limited Ashes tickets remain ➡️ https://t.co/vAwSfM6JnG pic.twitter.com/i5b3KYBwBM
