The match here has limped into a third day, with Warwickshire 131 for eight, with still 53 wanted. Clarke and Wright have put on 70. It’s been a top day.
It’s very tense here at Taunton, where they’ve taken the extra half an hour. Warwickshire have now lost Alex Mellor, Keith Barker and Jeetan Patel.
But a half-century partnership between Rikki Clarke and Chris Wright has frustrated the Somerset bowlers. Warwickshire, having been 61 for eight, are now 123 for eight.
Somerset look to be on the verge of a famous win here. Warwickshire, chasing 184, have slumped to 34 for five.
Ian Westwood clipped Tim Groenewald straight to square-leg, Jonathan Trott was stumped as he stretched forward, Ian Bell was surprised by one that bounced more than he thought and was well caught by Trescothick at second slip, Sam Hailn was snaffled at leg-slip and just now Matthew Lamb has been bowled by Leach for one. Leach has three for three.
Alex Wakely, his county captain, is unequivocal in his assessment of Northamptonshire talent Ben Duckett:
Ben Duckett has to play for England ASAP. He is that good
— Alex Wakely (@AlexWakely1) September 7, 2016
Context can be everything when it comes to Championship cricket, and so Nick Gubbins’ snail trail at Trent Bridge may well prove to be one of the innings of the season. A five-hour innings of 75 will hardly have had the crowd purring but from a position of 0-3 it has helped Division One leaders Middlesex back into the contest and put them in sight of Nottinghamshire’s 241. He was seventh out, two runs shy of a first batting point.
Here at Headingley, Keaton Jennings, the country’s leading run scorer, made 40 before Steven Patterson’s persistence paid off - an outside edge snaffled by wicketkeeper Andrew Hodd to his left from the final ball of the fifth consecutive maiden.
The sun is shining, a crowd in excess of 2,500 is creating a decent atmosphere, and Scott Borthwick is to 50 once more. Durham 138 for two.
The news at Taunton is that Somerset have been bowled out for 211 in the second innings, setting Warwickshire a very plausible looking 184 to win. They’re taking an early tea.
Dom Bess, the hero on the opening day, with six for 28 on his championship debut, played well again, this time with the bat, before getting a leading edge and skying to short midwicket. And last man Jack Leach had his middle stump knocked back by Patel, who finished with five for 86.
After lunch the match at Taunton has lurched in the direction of Warwickshire. And it has less to do with the suspicious looking pitch than some rather inept Somerset batting.
Trego had added one to his lunchtime score when he played around one and was lbw to Patel. Rodgers was bowled by an arm ball from Patel and it was 160 for six when Lewis Gregory, sweeping, was lbw, also to Patel.
At this point Ryan Davies hit a full toss from Poysden down the throat of Patel (there is only one Patel in the Warwickshire team despite the fact that he keeps cropping up) at deep midwicket. And when Roelof van der Merwe played a back-foot force with a crooked bat and played on Somerset were 190 for eight, still just 162 ahead. Will we be here tomorrow?
Yorkshire, and more particularly Jake Lehmann, are no doubt beginning to rue gifting Keaton Jennings, the leading run scorer in Division One, a life on nought. Brought forward by a typically challenging Ryan Sidebottom delivery that shaped away to take the outside edge, Jennings was spared when the ball flew into Lehmann’s midriff and out again.
Durham had only seven runs on the board at that stage and Ryan Sidebottom took it like he has taken every missed opportunity over 19 seasons in the first-class game - with a chunter or 10 on his way down to fine leg. Jennings is still there, unbeaten on 39, in a Durham score of 96 for one. Mark Stoneman, Surrey-bound next month, was the one to depart, brilliantly caught at second slip by a diving Adam Lyth off Jack Brooks.
Trego the Illustrated Cricketer with his collection of tatoos, is just the sort of counter-attacking player who could put Somerset in a good position at Taunton. He skipped down the wicket to loft Patel over long-on for six and he’s now just pulled Joshua Poysden for another maximum.
At the other end Rodgers has enjoyed some good fortune but shortly before lunch he hit Poysden through the off-side for four to reach his fifty. At the interval Somerset are 128 for three, with Rodgers on 53 and Trego 30. So they lead by 100.
Andrew Hodd sacrificed his wicket in Yorkshire’s quest for five batting points when he miscued off Barry McCarthy and spooned a catch to point, and despite requiring 16 runs from three overs, they fell short on 392 for seven.
Steve Patterson then followed, guiding one back into the timber via an elaborate attempted leave, but Jack Brooks and Rafiq have since ploughed on. Yorkshire are 435 for eight half an hour before lunch.
Nothing much happened at Taunton for 45 minutes. “The skippers will be shaking hands at five o’clock on Friday afternoon,” quipped someone, predicting a tame draw.
Then we had a couple of wickets. Marcus Trescothick, expecting a delivery from Jeetan Patel to turn wide of his off-stump, and playing with his bat behind his pad, was horrified to see the ball go straight on and crash into his wicket.
That was 70 for two and it was 75 for three when James Hildreth, who had scored just a single, received one from Chris Wright which jagged back into him and kept low. The lbw decision was inevitable.
The ECB liason officer (pitch inspector) Phil Whitticase is here. He hasn’t passed judgement yet but he will have noted that Peter Trego, attempting to sweep Patel, was struck in the face, while Chris Rodgers has been hit in the chest. Generally, though, the pitch has played OK today and Somerset are 95 for three.
Early breakthrough for Chris Rushworth at Headingley, where Yorkshire nevertheless remain in with a sniff of maximum batting points.
Tim Bresnan was the casualty - off-stump removed - yet Azeem Rafiq has taken to the task of upping the ante with a couple of clips for four through midwicket to leave Yorkshire 375 for six. They need 25 runs from four overs to get those five full points.
Welcome to Taunton and the remains of the Somerset versus Warwickshire game. We saw 21 wickets tumble yesterday on a pitch as green as a college freshman, while both ends of the strip showed signs of terminal mange.
The surface, we have been told, had not been used since June, but it looked more worn than that on the first day.
The scores – Somerset 95, Warwickshire 123, Somerset 41 for one – appear to belong to the distant days of uncovered pitches.
There was help for the seamers and decent assistance for the spinners from the very first ball. Having said that, this was not really a 21-wicket pitch. The ball swung under the clouds – Keith Barker, in particular, impressed – and there were some absurd strokes played. It will be interesting to hear what the ECB liason officer has to say today.
“Why didn’t the batsmen play straight?” the old Warwickshire and England biffer John Jameson – who also used to coach locally – asked me over breakfast this morning. “The straight boundaries are short, but they’re deep either side of the wicket.”
Elsewhere Yorkshire, on 341 for five, are powerfully placed against Durham, while championship rivals Middlesex are nine for three after being stunned by a Jake Ball hat-trick in their reply to Notts’ 241.
Morning all,
We are back at Headingley and Taunton today with Richard Gibson and Paul Weaver. Here are their reports from yesterday:
Enjoy the cricket today.
