The final report of the day, from Richard Gibson
Sidebottom made a dramatic return to allow Yorkshire to close on 298-9. Bresnan is on 78 not out and the visitors are tantalisingly a couple of runs short of a third batting point.
Ali Martin reports from Lord’s
Nottinghamshire heaping further misery on Middlesex here at Lord’s, with openers Brendan Taylor and Steven Mullaney putting on 53 for the first wicket in just under an hour - 48 of which have come from boundaries - as the lead extends to 170. Taylor, fresh from his first-innings century, has been particularly aggressive, twice sticking Tim Murtagh back over his head for fours.
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Richard Gibson writes
A poor day for champions Yorkshire has taken a turn for the worse after Ryan Sidebottom was forced to retire hurt with what appeared to be a calf injury. The former England international turned the ball to leg for a single and hobbled through for a single before collapsing at the non-striker’s end. After treatment he left the field with Yorkshire looking set for a hefty deficit on first innings - they are 217-7 with Tm Bresnan the most likely candidate of those remaining to narrow Worcestershire’s 94-run lead.
Ali Martin reports
Nottinghamshire in full control at Lord’s as Middlesex are bowled out for 181. They lost their eighth wicket after tea with 167 runs on the board - John Simpson edging Harry Gurney to Riki Wessels at first slip for 35 from 80 balls. That left very Middling Saxons effectively nine down with Dawid Malan unlikely to bat after the broken finger suffered on day one and Samit Patel, who struck twice before the interval, wrapped up proceedings with Brendan Taylor taking a smart running catch to remove Tim Murtagh.
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Vic Marks, from Taunton at tea
This is turning into Collingwood’s match. Five wickets yesterday and at tea today like the good shepherd tending his flock he is 86 not out. Durham are prospering 347-6, a lead of 48. The second new ball is due and Somerset require some fireworks.
The only bowler to disturb Collingwood was Jamie Overton at the start of his innings. A couple of bouncers had the man with 38 year old reflexes jerking out of the way at the last minute. But when the ball was pitched up Collingwood still had time to play it. That is always reassuring for a man of his years.
Macleod and Paul Coughlin have leant sterling support and in true Taunton fashion the pitch is changing colour under the sun. Green is giving way to brown but as yet there is no turn for Abdur Rehman. Somerset will have to bat deeper in their second innings.
Ali Martin reports
Samit Patel is the man for Nottinghamshire, eschewing any thoughts about the upcoming tea break with two wickets in the space of three balls. The first of which broke a resilient stand of 40 runs in 17.4 overs between John Simpson and James Harris, removing the latter lbw for 16 before then repeating the trick to his replacement Tom Helm second ball. No obvious turn, just two right-handers playing down the wrong line. Middlesex are now 147-7, trailing by 151 runs.
Richard Gibson reports from New Road
Moeen Ali has had his first bowl since returning to action from a World Cup-induced side strain, sending down the 46th over of Yorkshire’s innings at New Road.
England all-rounder Ali, expected to fly out to the Caribbean after this match fitness permitting, was being watched by national selector James Whitaker. He was picked off for five runs in that first over and it preceded a significant breakthrough for newly-promoted Worcestershire. That came when Yorkshire’s stand-in captain Alex Lees was pinned lbw by Gareth Andrew for 87 on the eve of tea.
At 172-5 the match is evenly poised with Worcestershire’s lead 139 runs on a pitch devoid of grass and expected to take spin later in the contest. Earlier in the afternoon session, Jack Shantry followed up his 10-wicket haul against Oxford University by prising out Richard Pyrah - snaffled at second slip - and Jack Leaning leg before.
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Ali Martin reports from Lord’s
Two wickets since lunch here at Lord’s, where Middlesex have stumbled to 103-4 in reply to Nottinghamshire’s 298. The first strike came from Jake Ball, who persuaded Sam Robson to leave one on 35 and for the second time today the Tippex-white off stump has gone flying out of the ground. And just as I was about to write how solid Aussie overseas man Adam Voges was looking, he’s been trapped lbw by Harry Gurney for 29. Incredulous look from the right-hander as the finger went up. Paul Stirling, nine, is joined by John Simpson at the crease.
Question posed below the line as to why Ball opened the bowling for Notts ahead of Gidman. Has certainly appeared to be the right call thus far, with the right-armer looking to have added a yard to his pace (this is not to say he is express).
... And now, as if to underline the point, Jake Ball has his second as a he gets one to climb on Paul Stirling, find the shoulder of the bat and fly at head-height to second slip Samit Patel. Middlesex 107-5 here and in a spot of bother...
Vic Marks send his lunchtime report
There is a good game bubbling long here and at the moment Durham have the upper hand.
The visitors lost two wickets in the morning. Michael Richardson was caught behind off Lewis Gregory for 59; Scott Borthwick was lbw to Jamie Overton for 94. At lunch the scoreboard, operating perfectly, tells us that Durham are 224-4 from just 50 overs, which means that the Somerset bowlers are leaking runs a little too easily.
Borthwick’s innings was brimful of sweet drives down the pitch and contained 17 boundaries, an indication of his good form and the number of “four-balls”, propelled by the Somerset pace bowlers. It now seems very odd that Borthwick has played a Test for England – in Sydney - as a spin bowler. It is not so fanciful that he might resurface one day as a batsman, who bowls occasional leg-breaks. After all that route to the top was good enough for Australia’s Steve Smith.
Somerset’s most likely bowlers have been Gregory and Overton even though the former has been a bit wayward (so far his 13 overs have yielded 70 runs as well as three wickets). Overton is rehabilitating after a disappointing 2014 but there is no question that batsmen are on their guard against him.
Calum Macleod is 39 not out and batting far better than he did for Scotland in the World Cup.
Ali Martin sends some breaking news (sorry)
Lunch and libation at Lord’s with Middlesex going into the interval two wickets down for 70 in reply to Nottinghamshire’s 298 all out, with Vernon Philander getting one to tickle the top of Nick Compton’s off stump just after my last update. And delivered to the press box by the Sky cameraman Anthony Hagen - aka @spineyTV - is the bail itself, neatly split in two. Regardez...
Vernon Philander bowls Nick Compton for three at Lord's. Kissed the off bail & split it in two... evidence below pic.twitter.com/Mr9Ifqi8cL
— Ali Martin (@Cricket_Ali) April 13, 2015
Ali Martin sends another update
Nick Gubbins is no more at Lord’s. A nerve-settling opening stand of 51 with Sam Robson was ended with Harry Gurney getting one to move up the slope at Lord’s, sending the left-hander’s off stump cart-wheeling out of the ground for 23. At the other end Will Gidman is having his first championship bowl for his new club, with Nick Compton is the new man in and the score has moved to 57 for one.
Apologies if mentioned on here yesterday when I was watching the KP show, but only just clocked that stumps are bright white this season. Awaiting the cast-iron official answer on why but appears a rebrand for title-sponsors LV= has led to this change. Traditionalists may not take to them, but they certainly stood out flying across the grass just now.
Richard Gibson reports from Worcestershire
Fantastic stuff at New Road. The champions have been rocked with the loss of two early wickets.
Will Rhodes’ maiden innings in Championship cricket did not get past its second over as he injudiciously drove at Charlie Morris and was well held by home captain Daryl Mitchell at second slip. Then, in the following over, Gareth Andrew found sufficient away movement to take the edge of Cheteshwar Pujara’s bat and Tom Fell took an equally accomplished catch, at knee height to his left, to leave Yorkshire 3-2.
Ali Martin reports
An hour into play here and Middlesex are 38 for no loss. Sam Robson has had a couple of near misses - Vernon Philander was convinced he had him caught behind on two and then Harry Gurney, who replaced Vern at the Pavilion End, saw the right-hander inside edge one past leg stump. Jake Ball has been operating from the Nursery End and looks lively, getting good carry from this pitch. Just about hit send and Robson spanks a glorious drive through mid-off to move to 28 not out, with Nick Gubbins on 10. And David Hopps, formerly of this parish, has just turned up in the press box. It’s all happening...
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Richard Gibson reports from Worcestershire v Yorkshire
Jack Brooks, whose contribution to last year’s title win was 68 wickets at 28 runs apiece, has begun the new season with a five-wicket haul. He dismissed overnight pair Gareth Andrew, who edged low to slip after being turned around, and Sachithra Senanayake, who flicked straight to deep midwicket, to finish with five for 56.
New-look opening pair Alex Lees and Will Rhodes, the former England Under-19 captain, have just begun the response to Worcestershire’s 311. Cheteshwar Pujara, the high-profile Indian batsman not participating in the Indian Premier League, is in at number three.
From Vic Marks in the sun
Sun shining again, runs flowing and the scoreboard is working. Which was not always the case yesterday.
Last year Somerset invested in a swish, modern scoreboard. And it’s brilliant. When it works. Yesterday it packed up much to the exasperation of chief executive, Guy Lavender, who spent most of his evening getting it fixed. Now he looks nervously in that direction.
Lavender is a resourceful man. He has overnight dug out a very old fashioned board, a little manual one with tins to be hung on nails and it is currently stationed next to the modern one – in readiness. He may even undertake to go out and work the damn thing if there is another technical hitch.
Even though the scoreboard is working it does make for pleasant reading for the locals. Durham are progressing very smoothly with Scott Borthwick and Michael Richardson dealing with Lewis Gregory and Tim Groenewald opening spells with some aplomb. It won’t be long before Abdur Rehman starts a long spell.
James Whitaker has shunned the Parks for a second day in a row. He must be impressed with Borthwick - the batsman.
Ali Martin writes from Lord’s
Hello from Lord’s and two balls in, that is the end of the Nottinghamshire innings as Harry Gurney skews Steven Finn to point. 298 all out with Chris Read unbeaten on 62. Bit of chatter with the Middlesex press man Fletch this morning about the overseas replacement for Adam Voges, who at 35 years of age has been called by the Aussies for their winter tours. Been told, elsewhere, they will be signing a young thruster but this is all I know so far. Fletch keeping schtum but announcement this week they hope, with replacement captain possibly named too.
Richard Gibson reports from Worcestershire v Yorkshire
A belated happy new season everyone. I am arriving fashionably late (my punctuality is the only fashionable thing about me these days, sadly) due to a prior family commitment.
Yorkshire have tended to be late starters too in recent seasons, not that it has hampered them particularly. Their players are the first to concede that it was not until the latter half of their title-winning campaign last year that they functioned at the kind of capacity befitting a champion team and two years ago they began sluggishly with home defeat to Sussex, one of only three defeats in their last 50 County Championship contests. So perhaps a slightly off-colour start in the field against newly-promoted Worcestershire was to be expected.
For their part, Worcestershire will be satisfied at getting their feet under the main table again. Despite missing half a dozen players to England and their captain Andrew Gale to suspension, the nucleus of their bowling attack remains, so a score of 300 - they are 264 for eight currently - would represent a decent effort in an early-season contest.
Naturally, there will be a KP link thrown up at some juncture today. Only last week I was joking with a colleague that the six degrees of separation theory was redundant with Kevin Pietersen because he is always much closer than you think. The next thing I did was pick up the new Wisden Almanack. I thumbed through and settled on reading Benj Moorehead’s lovely little piece on the 2014 Village Cup. About 500 words in it hit me - the tale of Milford Hall’s Guy Bulpitt, a left-arm spinner, being banned for contravening the competition rules (he had played List A matches for Staffordshire a decade or so earlier). Bulpitt, 44, is a former team-mate of Pietersen at Cannock. Point proved...
Preamble
Morning all and welcome to the Guardian’s county blog, a haven from a world in which Frenchmen attach false mouths to dogs and enter British talent contests (OK, one Frenchman).
I’m pleased to report I am heading to watch the Middle Saxons, as Lord Selve would say, on day two of their Division One opener with Nottinghamshire. I won’t lie, as much as I enjoyed Kevin Pietersen’s car-smashing, pensioner-knobbling 170 in The Parks yesterday, I wouldn’t have minded being there for Brendan Taylor’s century on his championship debut for the visitors at Lord’s. For my money, and putting the Kolpak issue to one side, the Zimbabwean is one of the signings of the winter. Anyway, Notts resume on 298 for nine with Chris Read 62 not out.
Vic Marks will be at Taunton, after a day one in which Somerset suffered a dose of the Colly-wobbles, crumbling from 224 for two to 299 all out thanks to the Durham captain Paul Collingwood’s 5-57. The visitors resume on 98 for two with Scott Borthwick (Scoddy, as he was known during his brief time in the England set-up) unbeaten on 52.
At New Road, Richard Gibson takes the baton from Graham Hardcastle for day two of Worcestershire v Yorkshire. The Pears are 264 for eight against the champions after Tom Fell’s third championship century and 62 from Moeen Ali. Gareth Andrew is unbeaten on 42.
Elsewhere, Sussex are 300 for six against at the Ageas Bowl after Luke Wright’s 96 helped them recover from 22 for three, Gloucestershire are 18 for none in reply to Northants’ 333 all out and Glamorgan are 294 for two against Leicestershire. Did I really tip the Foxes for sixth this season? It’s amazing what a 15-minute interview with their new chief executive Wasim Khan at the championship launch does to the brain. Now that’s a talent...
Have a great Monday, everyone.
