That's all folks!
Right, rain ruled today. I’m off to Manchester this evening to watch the top two sides do battle tomorrow. Hopefully the weather is better, all over the place. Somerset fought back nicely against Warwickshire here, while Duckett was brilliant at Wantage Road by all accounts. Here’s where we are.
Division One:
- Somerset 203-4 v Warwickshire
- Surrey 16-0 v Hampshire
- No play between Lancashire and Essex
- No play between Yorkshire and Middlesex
Division Two:
- Notts 188-9 v Worcestershire
- Northants 329-5 v Sussex
- Durham 61-4 v Kent
- Leicestershire 90-4 v Gloucestershire
- No play between Derbyshire and Glamorgan
Cross your fingers and your toes for more play tomorrow!
Wicket with the last ball of the day at Wantage Road.
One young-ish former England left-arm spinner, Briggs, gets another young-ish former England left-arm spinner, the loanee nightwatchman Kerrigan. Northants close on 329 for five thanks to Duckett’s brilliant 193.
Stumps at the Riverside! Durham are 61 for four. Very useful 32 overs for Kent’s hopes of promotion. Now they need the rain to stay away...
WICKET! Collingwood nicks Milne behind to Billings for 11. Durham 53-4 in 29th over: https://t.co/3jdTvYkxMQ pic.twitter.com/W5VCHJIZ4C
— Kent Cricket 🏏 (@kentcricket) September 5, 2017
Durham now 53 for four... Milne gets Colly.
Still going at the Riverside (Durham 51 for three) and Wantage Road (Northants 319 for four).
Duckett gone for 193, just shy of his second double ton against Sussex in as many seasons. Caught and bowled by Briggs, and Northants are 317 for four.
And we are going off, by the looks of things. Somerset had just brought up their first batting bonus point with a cover drive from Davies, and we are off for light. Probably right with, err, Wright bowling. 203 for four.
Drop! Davies has driven Wright straight to Jeetan close in at point and he’s dropped it! Didn’t seem to pick it up. Am surprised Wright is allowed to bowl, to be honest.
We can play til six, and the umpires are even letting a quickie bowl! Chris Wright to have a go from the Pavilion End. 199 for four.
WICKET: Dickson takes another flying catch off Claydon's next over & Steel (10) has to go. 38/3; Collingwood joins Clark (3*) #DURvKEN
— Durham CCC 🏏 (@DurhamCricket) September 5, 2017
Approaching the end of the day at Edgbaston – supsect we will play til 6 but there is just one scheduled over left – and I’d say Somerset are in a tidy position at 198 for four. Abell has 38, Davies 34.
Jennings out to Mitch Claydon at the Riverside! He battled for 90 minutes for his 17 and Kent have Durham 35 for two.
Stumps at Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 188 for nine.
Getting a wee bit dark at Edgbaston. Umpires having a chat. Would think light might come on, and we have spin from both ends again.
Just fantastic.
Big fan of this: Ollie Robinson, in the same over, is bowling seam to Luke Procter and off spin to Ben Duckett.
— Vithushan (@Vitu_E) September 5, 2017
Division 2 is lawless
50 stand up between Davies and Abell... Playing nicely.
Duckett is on the move...
Nifty few sweeps and that's his 150 from 164 balls.
— Vithushan (@Vitu_E) September 5, 2017
The third 50 has taken 36 balls 🙌🏿
Rain at Trent Bridge! 188 for nine, just had two wickets in two balls.
And now Notts are nine down! Direct hit gets Hutton. Ball and Gurney the last men standing... 188 for nine.
Serious good, this lad.
A 3rd Championship ton of the season for @BenDuckett1, choc full of Ben Duckett shots 👌 pic.twitter.com/Scjdsao1tC
— County Championship (@CountyChamp) September 5, 2017
Notts are eight down. Leach gets Taylor... 188 for eight.
WICKET! @craig_arch breaks through with the 1st delivery of his spell. Levi well caught in the deep by Robson for 44. 215-3.#GOSBTS
— Sussex CCC (@SussexCCC) September 5, 2017
Shot! Abell sweeps Sunny Singh for six behind square. Poor Big Keef is off in the Hollies looking for it. 158 for four.
An all-Kiwi wicket at Durham! Milne gets Latham. Durham 19 for one.
It’s rather nice here in Birmingham, too! Still cloudy, but light and dry.
@willis_macp is there some sort of Northamptonshire micro-climate that I was previously unaware of?
— Chris Drew (@mesnilman) September 5, 2017
That’s that at the Ageas. What a frustrating day down there! Five overs early doors, then nothing. Surrey 16 without loss and back they will come tomorrow.
Stumps at Leicester. The hosts are 90 for four against the Glosters.
Wicket! Oh dear. Hildreth has played the flakiest little innings there. Sunny Singh has tossed one up, it’s turning and he’s taken Hildreth’s edge! Troddy does the rest at slip. He made 33. Somerset 131 for four, and Steve Davies, lovely Steve Davies, joins Abell.
Tongue gets Read caught and bowled! 171 for seven are Notts. Sense that won’t be Read’s last innings at Trent Bridge....
A century for Ben Duckett! That’s his third of the season. Class act, that boy. 128 balls, and arrives with his 13th four. Northants 180 for two.
They are on their way back out here at Edgbaston. Somerset 117 for three.
Raining again at the Ageas...
Tea at Edgbaston! Somerset 117 for three with Hildreth and Abell together. 30 overs left in the day. Let’s hope it doesn’t rain again.
Paul Coughlin’s side strain is going to keep him out for the season, I’m told.
Wood playing for Durham, then. Good news.
Wicket! Lord Byrom just reverse swept Sunny Singh for four. But he tried again, got a wee top edge and is caught at slip! Somerset are 114 for three.
Durham: Latham, Jennings, Steel, Clark, Collingwood (c), Richardson (wk), Pringle, Wood, Weighell, Rushworth, Onions
Kent: Bell-Drummond, Dickson, Denly, Northeast (c), Billings (wk), Crawley, Stevens, Haggett, Milne, Qayyum, Claydon
Paul Coughlin’s side strain keeping him out, I presume.
A theoretical 4.15pm restart at the Ageas, but every time they have looked like getting on again it’s rained. So my hopes are not up.
Kent sack off the toss, and bowl first. Start in 20.
The man who hit it over the Lord’s Pav!
Campaign for Blue Plaque in Willesden to honour cricketer Albert Trott https://t.co/8dEKEWZGZm
— Brent&Kilburn Times (@bktimes) September 5, 2017
4pm start at Durham! Toss soon.
100 up for Somerset in a hurry. Spin from both ends. Bell under the lid at leg slip.
Rain at Leicester...
Tea at Wantage Road, where Northants are 144 for two. Duckett has 84.
The Woosters have Notts on the rack. They are 135 for six as Read strides out after Tongue gets Hales...
Wessels gone for a duck! Notts 121 for five. Barnard has four. Good thing Taylor is coming in at No7...
So George Bartlett, batting No3 on first-class debut, got off the mark with a reverse-swept four off Jeetan. You’ll do, son...
But now he’s gone! The Other Ryan Sidebottom straight through him with a quicker ball! 72 for two...
Barnard has Samit and Notts are 117 for four... Hales 24 off 22, joined by his mate Wessels.
Duckett has raced to 75. When he’s hot he’s really hot...
The Other Ryan Sidebottom coming on here. My first look at him.
Here come cricketers!
Rain has stopped. Covers coming up. Play starting in a couple of minutes and, I believe, 46 overs left in the day.
Really light rain and the covers are going back on. Mop up continues.
Destroys! Steady on, lads.
🎥Wiese destroys the stumps via Newton's inside edge 🎥
— Sussex CCC (@SussexCCC) September 5, 2017
💿DVD Extra: @LukeWells shadow batting! 💿#GOSBTS #SussexFamily pic.twitter.com/mmX7gvJNF0
Two in an over at Trent Bridge! Barnard gets Pujara now! 82 for three. Hales in.
Samit’s in at Trent Bridge. Ed Barnard - the Worcester Woakes - gets Jake Libby for 34. Notts 82 for two.
Two titans of the world game meet. Stalemate, unsurprisingly. pic.twitter.com/1KIFJ2QVPV
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) September 5, 2017
A wicket at Wantage Road, as Wiese gets Newton. IVA Wakely in and Northants are 51 for one.
Play at the Ageas at 2.45!
Play at Edgbaston at 2.50!
50 for Ben Duckett! He loves playing Sussex. 282 not out against them at Wantage Road last year. Took 70 balls, with six fours. Northants 86 without loss.
Play abandoned for the day at Headingley! If that’s a draw, a result here would suddenly be massive...
Covers coming off! Inspection completed. More as I get it...
Off for rain at Trent Bridge with Somerset 70 for one.
Clear up already underway here!
Updated
Looks like the rain has stopped, thankfully...
Here he comes...
Shantry for Tongue (7-3-13-0). Rain clouds are threatening
— Worcestershire CCC (@WorcsCCC) September 5, 2017
2.15 inspection at the Ageas.
Here at Edgbaston, it’s already much brighter but the rain is still falling. Half an hour of this and we might be done for the day.
All of a sudden it’s absolutely belting it down here at Edgbaston. Full covers on. This wasn’t forecast.
Dave Fulton is one of the great men.
Some awful conditions at Old Trafford, but that's not stopping the fun for @DaveTavFulton! 🏊😂 https://t.co/Zu4cEzuGtU
— Sky Sports Cricket🏏 (@SkyCricket) September 5, 2017
Rain stops play. Bit too much of the wet stuff about, and we are off after 45 mins of play. Somerset 51 for one. Hopefully just a passing shower.
George Bartlett in for the first time in the Championship. Turn for Jeetan...
This is effectively a second day pitch after there were 120 overs on it on Saturday.
Play abandoned at Derby between Derbyshire and Glamorgan. Too much rain.
Wicket! Patel strikes! Tres looks to cut and edges through to Ambrose. Bit close, bit full for it. Gone for 28, and Somerset are 51 for one in the 10th.
Bit of rain in the air, as Tres gets his second boundary of the Barker over to bring up Somerset’s 50...
Eighth over of the match, and Jeetan Patel is on...
Somerset 38 for none.
Good news!
Things looking much brighter at Headingley now. Covers are off. No more rain and we'll play.
— Graham Hardcastle (@tykestravels) September 5, 2017
Now Norwell gets Carberry! Leics 20 for two.
Lord Byrom is a lovely straight driver. His second, both just on the offside, takes him to 13. Somerset 30 for none, with Tres on 17 and looking good.
They are off for rain already at Trent Bridge, where Notts are 24 for one.
Norwell got Dearden early at Grace Road. Leics 11 for one.
Worcestershire immediately among the wickets. Mullaney gone to Leach - 10 for one.
Updated
Here come cricketers at Edgbaston!
Same pitch as finals day. Tres and Lord Byrom opening for Somerset, Big Keef Barker with the ball.
Cricket underway at both Trent Bridge and Wantage Road, and we are nearly there here too...
Inspection at 2pm at Edinglee.
Stumps at Old Trafford! Everyone loves an early call-off. I will go there tomorrow to see what happens, I think.
Teams from Wantage Road.
Northants: Duckett, Newton, Wakely*, Levi, Cobb, Proctor, Murphy+, Kleinveldt, Kerrigan, Gleeson, Azharullah
Sussex: Robson, Wells, van Zyl, Nash, Wright, Brown*+, Jordan, Wiese, Robinson, Archer, Briggs
The sun is out in Birmingham!
Here’s the Worcestershire XI, with the most important name last.
Mitchell, D’Oliveira, Fell, Clarke, Rhodes, Ashwin, Cox, Barnard, Leach, Tongue, Shantry.
Here’s the Notts team they are playing. Read’s last game at Trent Bridge. *weeps*. Samit one of just four bowlers! That’s a lot of batting.
Mullaney, Libby, Pujara, Patel, Hales, Wessels, Taylor, Read, Hutton, Ball, Gurney
Play at Leicestershire at 1.10pm.
Confirmation that Somerset won the toss and are batting first. George Bartlett debuts for them. 24 overs lost.
Warwickshire: Umeed, Sibley, Trott (c), Bell, Lamb, Ambrose (wk), Barker, Patel, Wright, Sidebottom, Singh.
Somerset: Trescothick, Byrom, Bartlett, Hildreth, Abell (c), Davies (wk), Coverton, Bess, Leach, Groenewald, van Meekeren.
So, two spinners each, and a bowler at No7.
ALL HAIL KING SHANTRY
Shantry playing first Championship match since Glamorgan at New Road in early June
— Worcestershire CCC (@WorcsCCC) September 5, 2017
Sounds like they tried to start again at the Ageas... and then it rained again.
Play starting at 1pm at Trent Bridge and Wantage Road.
Both have had no toss. Sussex opted to field first against Northants, and Worcestershire opted to do the same against Notts.
We’ve just had a toss here so reckon we could even start at 1pm. Think Warwickshire are having a bowl.
Play due to start at 1.10pm at Edgbaston! Toss at 12.40, then...
Lunch! The one score on the one door!
Just one game, and five overs possible. Sad face.
- Surrey 16-0 v Hampshire
Lunch now being taken at the Ageas. So we have had a grand total of five overs bowled all morning!
Anyone?
We have some old bowling machine stands that we are looking to donate to any local clubs in the area. Please DM if interested! pic.twitter.com/FHTE6Hpdqx
— MCC Cricket Academy (@MCC_Academy) September 5, 2017
Good news from all over the place! Suspect a similar situation here.
@willis_macp update! Covers off at Trent Bridge - lunch at 12 inspection at 12.30 so hopefully play at 12.40 if no more rain
— YummyBear (@Beardo7) September 5, 2017
Ah, lovely! A 1pm start at Northampton...
It’s the Spin!
From the Ageas.
Better news..starting again at 12...lunch at 1 #bbccricket
— Mark Church (@backandacross) September 5, 2017
Well, the sun is almost out. And the covers are being taken off!
I don’t think it is. But I would want to keep up the five-match winning streak!
@willis_macp To borrow a phrase from the 2005 Ashes OBO and subsequent book. Is it cowardly for Essex fans to pray for rain?
— Paul Frame 🏏 👨💻 (@PaulFrame85) September 5, 2017
Inspection at noon at Grace Road...
Steven Finn signed a new deal with Middlesex, by the way. Lanky fans, stand down!
And now the covers are going back on at the Ageas... Tease.
Updated
Restart at 11.20 at the Ageas!
Updated
Look at this!
The rain has stopped, the groundstaff are beginning a long mopping up operation & lunch will be taken early at midday #DURvKEN
— Durham CCC 🏏 (@DurhamCricket) September 5, 2017
No play before lunch here. Will be taken at 12, and I reckon should the rain stay away we have a decent chance of getting on 12.40 or 1pm.
Second teams getting rained off too.
Meanwhile at Kidderminster CC, there will be no play before lunch between Surrey and @WorcsCCC 2nds. 😔🌧
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) September 5, 2017
Oh for pete’s sake. We now officially have no action anywhere.
BAD LIGHT: The floodlights are on, but it is deemed too dark for any action so the players make their way off the field. 🌹& 👑
— Hampshire Cricket (@hantscricket) September 5, 2017
Jon Short emails with a question! It’s a good one.
By foregoing the right to bowl first Surrey has clearly indicated their choice is to bat. If Hampshire is electing to field the toss is a foregone conclusion so why bother with it?
Should the toss only take place when both teams intend to bat first?
I suppose there’s space for a touch of totally pointless bluffery. When Surrey choose to toss it’s just going through the motions. Sounds like a day when both batting – good deck, being the Ageas – and bowling – overcast – have their merit. Might as well still chuck the coin up.
Surrey are 13 without loss.
No play before lunch at Headingley.
Mop up well underway at Edgbaston, and Trotty is ambling out to have a look.
So Surrey are 3 without loss against Hampshire in the one game that is happening.
Worse ways to spend a rain delay.
@willis_macp full covers on at Trent Bridge it's still drizzling so we are sat under Sir Richard Hadlee in the TBI pic.twitter.com/9ceJhHPHq3
— YummyBear (@Beardo7) September 5, 2017
Looks like the rain has stopped in Birmingham and there’s a wee bit of a mop-up operation taking place. Puddles on the outfield but as, cricinfo’s George Dobell (the uncrowned king of Edgbaston) will tell you, the drainage here really is spectacular.
Teams at the Ageas!
Hampshire: Adams, Weatherley, Alsop+, Vince, Bailey*, Ervine, Dawson, Holland, Berg, Abbott, Edwards
Surrey: Burns, Patel, Borthwick, Roy, Foakes+, Pope, CurranT, Clarke, Batty*, Meaker, Dernbach.
They’ve given Scurran a well-earned rest, then.
Think that toss at the Ageas is the only one we’ve had! Rain everywhere else.
Looking like an early lunch here at Edgbaston.
The Glosters are in action Stuie! They are in Leicester, but it’s raining.
@willis_macp morning will glosters in action? or will i have to pick a team
— Stuie Neale (@MrNeale92) September 5, 2017
Well, there’s been a toss at the Ageas. Hampshire won it and will field.
No toss here.
Well I came to Edgbaston to get away from the rain and ... it’s raining here too. Puddles on the outfield, but the rain not heavy. Hopefully get some cricket.
Somerset, Warwickshire’s opponents, have confirmed that Jim Allenby, Ryan Davies and Michael Leask are leaving the club. Warwickshire have lost Will Porterfield and Cash in the Ateeq Javid too. Javid is going to Leicestershire.
Morning all it's the morning call!
Good morning and welcome to another week of county cricket – live! With Finals Day done (that was fun, wasn’t it?), there are just 16 more days of Championship this summer. Cherish each and every one of them, even when the weather is pants. I think the weather is pants today, sadly.
I’m Will Macpherson and I’ve faithfully chugged my way back to Edgbaston. Why Edgbaston, I hear you say? Well, that pants weather I mentioned, is hovering low over Manchester, where I was supposed to be. The forecast for Birmingham is not perfect, but it’s a damned sight better than Manchester today. The nascent plan is to pop up to Manchester tonight and stay there for the rest of the week. But I’ll have my eye on the forecast and the state of this game, don’t you worry. It’s September now, so don’t forget we have earlier starts! Toss at 10, tee off at 10.30.
This is an odd and special week in the Champo, because the top 10 ranked teams are playing each other, in order. In Division One it’s Lancashire (2nd) v Essex (1st), Hampshire (3rd) v Surrey (4th), Yorkshire (6th) v Middlesex (5th), and Warwickshire (8th) v Somerset (7th). The top two Division Two sides face off at Trent Bridge, too: Nottinghamshire v Worcestershire.
There are at least two other tasty games in that Division. Northants (5th) host Sussex (3rd), while Kent (4th) travel to Durham, who would be sixth, were it not for you-know-what. Leicestershire, having pied off Pierre de Bruyn, host Gloucestershire, and Glamorgan are at Derby. What fun! Team and toss news ASAP.
Some reading for you! Don McRae meets Chris Lewis. Unsurprisingly excellent.
You can contact me! Here are the three ways you can do that.
- Below The Line (play nicely)
- in my inbox at will.macpherson.freelance@theguardian.com
- on the twitters @willis_macp
I greatly look forward to hearing from you! Do not hold back. All that leaves me to say, as ever, is enjoy the cricket. And keep a brolly close at hand.
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