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Updated
Richard Gibson
News on the wicket front: there has been one, but only one, since lunch. The interval shower delayed the afternoon session by 15 minutes and Samit Patel lasted another half-hour before succumbing to Saeed Ajmal.
Lulled into a false sense of security by Saeed’s new ball - a round-arm sling that shot down the leg side for four byes - he fell to an awkward prod at the Pakistani spinner’s next delivery. But captain Chris Read and Brett Hutton have settled in. There is not much life left in the pitch but there is the contest - Notts 279-6, 236 runs to the good.
Richard Gibson
News on the Notts injury list: Luke Fletcher’s hamstring will keep him out for a month, Andy Carter will continue to play here, strapped to the nines, before having his abdominal strain assessed and his brother Matthew Carter is awaiting results of yesterday’s scan on the hip jarred substitute fielding in Leeds last week. James Taylor appears set for a spell on the sidelines too. The Outlaws limited-overs captain will toddle off to have his hamstring pull screened tomorrow as he will play no further part in this match.
Richard Gibson
James Taylor + runner + Samit Patel = DISASTER. Yep, the accident waiting to happen just happened. Taylor cut Saeed Ajmal hard square of the wicket and watched in horror as Patel jogged towards him for a third with Hales (said runner) having settled for two. So even though Ajmal did not gather cleanly, the ball rebounded onto the stumps to make a late lunge for the line futile. Notts effectively 158-5.
Graham Hardcastle
Yorkshire have won by an innings and 47 runs to go eleven points clear of Durham at the top of the Championship table after eight matches and with a game in hand over the hosts. Durham, bowled out for 302, lost their last five wickets in 32 balls, including their last three in a seven-ball spell bowled by Jack Brooks. The two meet again at Scarborough in August.
Richard Gibson
Wow. What a catch! Joe Clarke produced a pearler - running back from point to haul down a steepler over his head - to give Worcestershire a first success on day three. Riki Wessels’ thick edge, when aiming to go aerial over extra cover, ended a 105-run stand for Nottinghamshire’s fourth wicket and provided just reward for Jack Shantry, whose first seven overs cost just five runs this morning. Notts 174-4, with Stuart Broad one of those looking on.
Graham Hardcastle
Yorkshire are closing in. They have taken four more wickets, two each to Ryan Sidebottom and Jack Brooks with the second new ball. Sidebottom trapped Mark Stoneman lbw for 131 in the 86th over and got the big Australian John Hastings the same way in the 88th, leaving the score at 289-7, a deficit of 60. Then, in the next over following successive boundaries, Ryan Pringle fell into the trap and top-edged Brooks to long-leg with 299 on the board before Jamie Harrison was trapped lbw next ball.
If Durham were going to save this, I was thinking Stoneman would have to get a double hundred and Hastings may have to get a quick-fire to build the lead this afternoon. They aren’t going to save it.
Richard Gibson
More than half an hour played and not an injury in sight, this match is a changing. Not only in its theme but in its balance of power as Nottinghamshire have swelled their advantage to 102 for the loss of three second-innings wickets.
How Worcestershire could do with a Steve Patterson, whose knack for striking in the first over of a spell is priceless for Yorkshire. When he fails to do so, he usually gets one in his second. It is not for lack of effort on Worcestershire’s part, mind. Just that the pitch has gone to sleep in the sun and Riki Wessels and James Taylor have acquitted themselves impressively on it; Taylor’s efforts being coupled with some comedy moments from his runner Alex Hales.
Chatting last night, Mick Newell ruled out the possibility of a draw here. On the basis that he ruled out the possibility of Andy Carter bowling again in the match 24 hours earlier, I think we have to now rule it back in.
Graham Hardcastle
Steve Patterson’s first ball of the morning has accounted for the wicket of Gordon Muchall, who was bamboozled by a hooping in-swinger which he didn’t really want to play at. When he decided to jab down on it, it was too late and off-stump was rocked back. Durham are 252-5, still trailing by 96. Patterson was introduced into the attack after a couple of Jack Brooks overs. There are four overs left until the new ball. Adil Rashid continues from the Lumley End.
Graham Hardcastle
The sun is shining and the cricket is hotting up too as a handful of matches head towards a conclusion around the country. We will bring you all the news of wickets, runs and, in Richard Gibson’s case at Trent Bridge, injuries.
Here at Chester-le-Street, Yorkshire are on course for a fifth win from eight Championship matches and with it an eleven-point lead at the top of Division One. They would also have a game in hand on Durham, who would be second. Durham are 244-4 in their second innings having been asked to follow-on. They are 105 runs behind ahead of day four, so a draw is not out of the question just yet. You feel it would take Mark Stoneman to convert his 116 not out overnight into a double century if they are to have any chance of achieving that, however. A draw and Durham would retain top spot and advance with a five-point advantage.
Never mind being a Cricket Reporter, Gibbo must feel like Health Correspondent this week given the spate of injuries that have hit his match between Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire during the first couple of days. Notts will start day three at 115-3 in their second innings leading by 72 in a match they desperately need to win to ease their relegation fears.
Vithushan Ehantharajah is at Lord’s, where Middlesex are on the cusp of victory over Hampshire, one which would put them right back in the title mix alongside Durham and Yorkshire. Hampshire lead by 41 with only three second-innings wickets in hand ahead of day four.
Warwickshire and Sussex are involved in a high-scoring affair at Edgbaston, a match which has already seen five hundreds scored. The hosts, replying to 601-6 declared, are 367-5 in their first innings.
The only Division Two match taking place is an intriguingly poised affair at Old Trafford between leaders Lancashire and Northamptonshire. On a turning track, Lancashire are 257-4 replying to 438 with two days left.
Summary
Our writers will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s Richard Gibson’s report from Trent Bridge on Tuesday with the news that Peter Moores has been charged with salvaging Nottinghamshire’s season.
Peter Moores has been tasked with saving Nottinghamshire from relegation nearly eight weeks after being sacked as the England coach.
The genesis of the eye-catching move for 52-year-old Moores, planned by Mick Newell and Lisa Pursehouse, the club’s director of cricket and chief executive respectively, came during the innings defeat by Yorkshire at Headingley last week that plunged the east Midlands county to the bottom of Division One halfway through the campaign. His arrival as a coaching consultant on a three-month deal was announced in the home dressing room at stumps on the second evening.
Newell, who served under Moores and remains an England selector, has arguably put his own position under scrutiny by drafting in the first coach to win the Championship with two different counties. The pair begin working together on Friday, with Newell retaining his hands-on duties rather than relinquishing them to sit upstairs.
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