It’s been Notts’ day in the end. They ended the opening day of this important championship match on 358 for five. In the first two sessions Sussex did well enough to restrict Notts on a fast-scoring ground but they looked a little ragged in the final two hours as the visitors took charge. At the close Taylor was 163 not out and Read on 54. They look in the mood for more tomorrow. This is the 10th time Taylor has gone past 150.
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James Taylor for England! The Nottinghamshire middle-order man has not been in the best form this season but he’s scored his first century of the campaign here, and it’s been a good one.
It took him four hours and 20 minutes and he faced 190 deliveries over it. But he held the innings together after the demise of Wessels and Patel. Sussex took the new ball at 289 for five.
Nothing , it seemed, could stop Wessels powering towards an impressive century. But on 94 he drove Robinson straight to Wells at mid-on; 174 for four.
Notts lost their fifth wicket a couple of over later. Samit Patel had only made nine when he was caught and bowled by Robinson. At tea the score is 222 for five. It’s been good stuff today, so far. But everyone has been kept in a gloomy mood because of the constant updates from Lord’s.
It’s been a superb session for Lancashire with just the one wicket going down early on in the session. Right from the minute he got to the crease there was a sense of ienvitably that Petersen would score a century against his old club which he duly did a couple of overs before tea. Lancashire have milked the bowling and moved onto 233 for two having been 97 for one at lunch. It’s going to be a whopper of a first innings score.
Wessels reached his half-century when he straight drove Luke Wells for four. At the other end the quieter Taylor has been putting together a more composed innings.
With England on the look-out for a new batsman or two, Taylor would normally be close to the front of the queue. But he came here with just 436 first-class runs at an average of 29.07. We’re halfway through the day now and Notts are 162 for three, with Wessels on 87 and Taylor 42 not out.
This is a match neither team can really afford to lose. Notts went into this match placed sixth in the first division, with 103 points, while Sussex and Worcestershire were next, both on 102. Hampshire are bottom of the table, 26 points adrift. It looks as though someone sinister has fitted them with concrete shoes and told them to sleep with the fishes; they have won just one game.
Sussex started the season with a sea breeze behind them. They won their first two games to go top of the table. But then their batsmen lost form and their bowlers got injured.
In their last two games the Sussex batsmen have discovered some form. But it’s a worry for the club that they must play table toppers Yorkshire twice.
Here in North Wales, the lunch break was a fun affair with people all over the outfield mingling with the players. Lancashire have lost the wicket of Karl Brown just after lunch. He was bowled by David Lloyd who got a bit of extra pace to undo Brown for 54.
It’s still a very good start for Lancashire though who are 109/2. The girls are circling and the sun is shining on the righteous and in the manner of club cricket all over the country, the players are having to shift the sightscreens themselves. Isn’t outground cricket glorious.
If the first hour here belonged to Sussex the second went to Notts, who went to lunch on 94 for three. James Taylor has made 24 but the fourth wicket partnership has been dominated by Riki Wessels, who is 45 not out. Those runs came from just 62 balls and he has hit six fours. He also struck off-spinner Peter Burgoyne over midwicket for six just before the break.
It feels a little quiet here. Perhaps some people have stayed at home to monitor the Test match and the golf at St Andrews.
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It’s been a good opening hour for Sussex after being asked to bowl. They took their second wicket in the seventh over when Brendan Taylor was lbw for seven, attempting to work Hobden to leg; that was 14 for two.
And then they slumped to 30 for three in the 14th when Steven Mullaney thin-edged Robinson to Ben Brown. Former coach Peter Moores must be delighted to see his old team doing so well – accept he is now working for Notts, helping out head coach Mick Newell, who said he wanted some fresh ideas given to his team.
It’s a good opportunity for Moores, but I’m sure he’d rather be at Lord’s and in charge of England. It never really worked out between Moores and England, and he did have two goes at the job. But he was unlucky to twice miss out on an Ashes campaign, first in 2009 when he was sacked for the first time, and now again this year.
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Good morning from beautiful Colwyn Bay. For those of you who haven’t been here, it’s a beautiful little cricket club with the emphasis on little. We’re right by the North Wales coast and there are very short boundaries particularly the one that’s precariously close to where I am sitting in my little broadcasting tent.
Lancashire won toss and opted to bat and there’s plenty of runs to be had on this ground. Steve James famously scored a triple century here.
The team news is interesting. James Faulkner’s appearance in court for drink driving has been moved to allow him to play cricket here this week and Glen Chapple comes in to the side for only the second time this season.
Glamorgan have picked two spinners so Dean Cosker comes in. The wifi and electricity here is erm intermittent but so far so good and we should be in for a lovely day’s cricket.
It’s a lovely day at Cricketfield Road in Horsham, where Notts have won the toss and decided to bat against Sussex.
It’s a dry looking pitch, which might explain why Notts have included their 40-year-old spinner Gary Keedy for his first championship match of the season and only his sixth since 2013.
Sussex struck a blow in only the sixth over of the morning, when Ollie Robinson found the outside edge of Alex Hales’ bat and Chris Nash, at second slip, took a juggling catch at the third attempt. Hales made only three. It’s now 14 for one after 10 overs.
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Hello! And welcome today’s county cricket action. It’s a day of out grounds today – Sussex are hosting Nottinghamshire at Horsham while Lancashire have travelled to Colwyn Bay to face Glamorgan.
Lizzie Ammon is on the ground in Wales while Paul Weaver is at Horsham where sixth faces seventh – Notts currently just a point above Sussex.
Stay tuned for updates as both matches get underway in the Sunday sun. In the meantime, cheer yourselves up by catching up with the action at Lord’s.
The England team are still – optimistically – digging deep. The tunnel for their great escape is nowhere near complete. They have not yet reached the woods, let alone started contemplating coming out of them. But there is still just a glimmer of light.
The pitch remains true; on Saturday they managed to bat long enough to dissuade Michael Clarke from enforcing the follow-on. And, on a sunny day, the England players contrived to prevent the two major Mitchells from taking a wicket until 4.35pm, when Johnson finally took the last man to fall, Stuart Broad.
