Roundup: Bartlett ton leads Somerset recovery
A century from George Bartlett started Somerset’s recovery from a precarious start against Surrey at Guildford. Marcus Trescothick started the innings with a sparkle, upper cutting Morne Morkel for four from the first ball of the day, but when he fell, swiftly followed by James Hildreth, Somerset were 35 for three.
Bartlett was then dropped on nought and never looked back, scoring his second hundred of the season, and a career best, in front of Andy Flower. Morkel, four for 64, and Rikki Clarke cleaned up the Somerset tail, all out for 344.
The game at Edgbaston between Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire, the Division One wooden spoonists, threatened to eat itself as runs disappeared in a haze of caution. Between lunch and tea, the hosts crawled their way to 39 runs from 35 overs, the evening session a positive riot of 67 in comparison. Dominic Sibley finished not out on 81; only 15 boundaries were hit all day.
Yorkshire ploughed ahead at Headingley against Essex, finishing on 289 for six. Little partnerships ran through the day, the largest 127 between Tom Kohler-Cadmore (83) and Adam Lyth (95). Essex struck in the evening session, taking four wickets after tea.
In Division Two, Lancashire finished strongly on 347 for seven against Leicestershire at Aigburth, where a brisk wind from the Mersey chilled the bones of those in its path. Liam Livingstone’s powerful hitting dominated the day as he moved to his first hundred since August 2017 . His 136-run stand with Steven Croft stabilised a fragile start – Keaton Jennings was run out off the third ball of the day.
Durham’s batsmen showed some staying power at Chester-le-Street, with fifties from Alex Lees and Liam Trevaskis; Derbyshire’s Ravi Rampaul took four for 56.
It was day two at Lord’s and Northampton. Middlesex slithered into the mire after Glamorgan declared at 481 for nine, a lead of 343. Stiaan van Zyl made a stoical 173 and Ben Brown a frisky 107, hitting 17 fours, mostly against the second new ball.
At the County Ground, Billy Root went one further than brother Joe by going Daddy with his 229 coming off 252 balls after being badly dropped on nought by Ricardo Vasconcelos at second slip, and guiding Glamorgan into the unusual position of a substantial first-innings score, a lead of 243 over Northamptonshire.
Well that has made things very interesting World Cup wise! And I love the duality with the Warwickshire v Notts less-than-two-an-over one-for-the-red-ball specialists. Ain’t cricket great? Thanks for all your comments and for sticking with us while fireworks were going on elsewhere. See thee tomorrow. And bring your brollies.
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Close of play
Division One
Somerset 344 v Surrey 0-0
Warwickshire 181-3 v Nottinghamshire
Yorkshire 289-6 v Essex
Division Two
Durham 254-8 v Derbyshire
Lancashire 347-7 v Leicestershire
Middlesex 138 & 9-0 v Sussex 481-9 dec (after day two)
Middlesex trail by 334 with 10 wickets remaining
Northamptonshire 209 v Glamorgan 452-9 (after day two)
Glamorgan lead by 243 with one wicket remaining
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Tom Bailey steps onto his huge back foot and guides Abass down to the boundary. Lancashire step on, and I step off to write the round-up. Keep an eye on things for me, and do follow Rob, who is beside himself with excitement on the OBO - the game’s a thriller.
Is Billy Root going to go Daddy? 181 not out against Northants, and the move across the border seems to be suiting him well.
Sussex pass 450, with van Zyl the man in possession, 166 not out. And Abass takes the new ball here at Aigburth, with Lancashire 294/7.
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Is George Bartlett the real thing? Hell, yeah! Go George: 129 not out at Guildford against Morkel and the rest. The game where Ollie Pope made a hundred against the watching Ed Smith last year. Somerest 276-5.
I’m not sure run-out is the correct term at Edgbaston, what with everything happening in sepia,but Hain managed it nonetheless. Warwicks 151 for 3 off 79 overs.
And that’s a breakthrough for Parky! (No not that one.) Croft b Parkinson for 51. Lancashire 283 for 7.
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Those Yorkshire batsmen, they just can’t get their fingers round that hundred. First Lyth gone for 95, then Kohler-Cadmore for 83. Yorks 249/5
And Finbar Anslow writes:
“Hi Tanya from pleasantly hot Pavia.”
Hi from windy Aigburth!
“I was wondering if your good self or anyone else knows what exactly counties get out of their players being picked for England? It certainly didn’t do Hampshire any favours in the recent final ( although of course Somerset would have won anyway ) and sad as I was to see Joss Buttler go he doesn’t seem to play for Lancashire very often.”
Finbar, I’m pretty sure there is a compensation scheme, which I’ve just googled but can’t find... so maybe I’m wrong...and by the way, I think Jos will be on his way back to Somerset - he’s out of contract at the end of the season.
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John Atherton has a guess on Liverpool cricketers
A guess at three in my lifetime:
Horton
Paddy McKeow
Ian Cockbain
Paul says good work!
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Apologies all, technical problems again. Another quick lap, add salt and vinegar to the smell sensation . Lancashire moving onward rapidly. Livingstone makes his hundred with a vigorous cut but there falls for 114, hitting into the comfortable hands of Cosgrove. Lanes 264 for 6.
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TEA-TIME SCORES
ENGLAND V PAKISTAN: PAKISTAN 348-8; ENGLAND 86-2 OFF 14
DIVISION ONE
Yorkshire v Essex: Yorks 207/2 (Lyth 85 not out, Kohler-Cadmore 68 not out)
Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire: Warwicks 114/2 (Sibley 50 not out)
Surrey v Somerset: Somerset: 214/4 (Bartlett 100 not out)
DIVISION TWO
Lancashire v Leicestershire: Lancs 238/5 (Livingstone 96 not out)
Durham v Derbyshire: Durham 172/4 (Lees 63)
day 2: Northants v Glamorgan: Northants 209 (Rossington 77; de Lange 4-64); Glamorgan 287-6 (Billy Root 146 not out; Sanderson 4-31)
day 2: Middlesex v Sussex: Middlesex 138 (Wiese 5-26); Sussex 412/7 (van Zyl 142 not out; Brown 107; Murtagh 3-64)
Here’s George Bartlett, looking whippet-like and not at all like a farmhand:
Croft plays an immaculate defensive shot into the ground and Livingstone will have to sup on 96. Tea-scores to follow
A calamitous over for Leicestershire: Colin Ackermann comes on, Livingstone skies him miles across the line, Calum Parkinson drops it. Livingstone, emboldened, then slog sweeps for six, then again, for four. He finishes the next over with a six and a four and that’s the hundred partnership between him and Croft and Livingstone wants those three figures and he wants them NOW. (beats chest) At 95 this is his highest first-class score since his 224 against Warwickshire in August 2017.
Glamorgan go into the lead at the County Ground, Billy Root 108 not out. Meanwhile Joe has just been dropped by Barbar. Oh brother. England 54/1 off eight.
Kohler-Cadmore (60) and Lyth (82) going very nicely indeed at Headingley, Yorkshire 196 for 2. Warwickshire have hitched their wagon to a sloth, 104 for 2, that’s 29 runs since lunch.
I’d forgotten about Sussex. Sorry Sussex. Basically they lead Middlesex by a gazillion with four wickets in hand. Two centurions - more runs for Ben Brown - 107, while Stiaan van Zyl is still unbeaten on 131.
And applause all around the ground for Liam Livingstone’s fifty as he raises his bat to the pavilion - that’s 106 balls, eight mighty fours.
Romeo (w)rites:
“Geoff Lemon’s observation is why I use a Willow stream rather than a Sky one ( and won’t pay for Sky on Now TV).
“On Willow, you get ads to take out credit and private health insurance, but if you aren’t in the US, you can’t do either and thus it’s safe.”
How long will they allow on-line betting ads for? I think they’ll be gone from TV in ten years.
I’ve never seen that before! The ball slipped out of Klein’s hand, went looping into the air, Livingstone scampers out of his crease and boom, tennis-slogs the ball over the point boundary. And the umpire gives it as a no ball. Don’t mess with Mr Livingstone today.
SHOT?! Describe this delivery from Dieter Klien and this extraordinary shot by @liaml4893 if you can. The ball landed about three feet inside the point boundary before going for four! @lancscricket 173-5 #LANvLEI pic.twitter.com/luj8i3N5rM
— Lancashire Cricket (@lancscricket) June 3, 2019
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There’s a distinctive smell that wafts off the Aigburth turf - beer, grass and bacon. The sun has reached my toes.
Glamorgan putting on their sensible shoes and batting this out. Billy Root putting his illegal bowling action behind him, 75 not out - Glam 168 for five, just 41 behind.
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The final Pakistan score - 348 for 8. If England beat it, it will be the highest run-chase in World Cup history.
Going back to Paul Edward’s piece on Liverpool cricketers- only ten cricketers either born or bought up in Liverpool have played more than 20 games for Lancashire since 1900. And very very few of them were state educated. Can you name them?
Paul’s reasoning: a mixture of things, partly a suspicion of Merseyside generally from Manchester, a suspicion of Lancashire cricket from Merseyside, and the fact there was very strong club cricket in Liverpool but not much in schools.
A pied wagtail hops about the pitch in front of me.
Ah shame, Tom Banton out for 44 at Guildford after a partnership of 95 with George Bartlett. Tom, I imagine, is willowy and pale, George a pespiring farm hand with hams for hands. I don’t want to look in case that’s not true. Somerset 130/4.
This strikes a chime with me, and I think with you. Fed up of trying to tell my kids how the bookies always win in an attempt to stop the brainwashing.
Pretty sure every ad break during the #EngvPak match has been for online betting. Half a dozen companies clamouring for cash. Just gross.
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) June 3, 2019
A wicket at the bargain basement - Yates b Broad for 24. Warwicks 87 for 2. And a fifty for Alex Lees at Durham, which is good to see. Durham 94/3.
I admit, I’d just bent down to pick up my pen, but Vilas has gone. Caught behind for 34, flailing at one, after a couple of powerful drives.
Lancashire 128/5, as Abbas beats Croft’s outside edge first ball. Better, second ball, a drive for a couple.
Adam Lyth gets his fifty, off 99 balls, against Essex. Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who looked good against Hampshire last week, 6 not out. Bartlett and Banton still having a good go at the Surrey bowlers - Banton has hit nine fours in his 44 not out.
A quick lap of the ground at lunch in an attempt to warm-up. Busy round the boundary: tinies and grandads playing kind cricket, old buddies with rounded middles and greying whiskers chatting over lunch and a dad showing his son how to use the seam with the shiny new cherry he’d just bought from the shop. Some smashing looking grass tennis courts at the River End too. Abbas restarts from the River End.
LUNCH-TIME SCORES
ENGLAND V PAKISTAN: PAKISTAN 218-3 off 35
DIVISION ONE
Yorkshire v Essex: Yorks 98/2 (Lyth 44 not out)
Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire: Warwicks 75/1
Surrey v Somerset: Somerset: 100/3 (Banton 42 not out)
DIVISION TWO
Lancashire v Leicestershire: Lancs 102/4 (Klein 2-25)
Durham v Derbyshire: Durham 68/2
day 2: Northants v Glamorgan: Northants 209 (Rossington 77; de Lange 4-64); Glamorgan 115-4 (Sanderson 4-31)
day 2: Middlesex v Sussex: Middlesex 138 (Wiese 5-26); Sussex 252-4 (van Zyl 81 not out; Brown 51; Murtagh 3-41)
Yorkshire lose their second wicket - Ballance run out after being sent back by Lyth, and that’s lunch! Scores to follow.
The word on Josh Bohannon as requested BTL: Lancs think the seamers will do the job on this wicket, and they need another batsman.
There’s a twinkle in Mark Cosgrove’s fielding eye. He looks like cricketers used to look, upholstered in a way that doesn’t involve too much strain.
Last over before lunch here, Livingstone and Vilas surviving the penultimate one from Abbas. Just a few more breaths.
And at twenty minutes to lunch, the bowling change works and Abbas makes the breakthrough in the first over of his second spell - Jones for 11. Lancashire four down and a nervy turn before sandwiches.
It is peculiar how few Liverpool cricketers have gone on to play for Lancashire. Paul Edwards investigated for The Nightwatchman - details to follow as the wind dies briefly. I wish I’d worn two pairs of socks.
Abbas back at the River End.
Tight bowling from Leicestershire this morning and smart fielding. You wouldn’t guess, at the moment, the 38 point gap between them and Lancs in the Div 2 table. Liam Livingstone looking mighty fine though. A couple of powerful drives in his ten not out and an appreciative crowd in shorts and fleeces.
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Oh Hass. A regulation slip catch. Head down, right arm flapping forlornly, slender figure’s shoulders slumped, he trudges off the pitch. Lancashire 55/3. Enter Liam Livingstone, off the mark with a four.
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Cameron Bancroft gone for 18, another for Rampaul at Chester-le-Street. Wonder how he feels, captaining struggling Durham as Warner and Smith bustle out for Australia. I felt like he hadn’t scored many runs so just checked the averages - turns out he’s topping the Durham averages, at 31.67, with one fifty - a highest score of 70.
Somerset stutter; losing Trescothick and Hildreth in consecutive overs to Rikki Clarke and Matt Dunn. 39/3.
Scorecards blowing everywhere in the press tent, Abbas has been seen off and Dieter Klein, in his first over, demolishes Jake Lehmann’s stumps! He walks off, replaying his stroke. Lancashire 46/2.
Adam Lyth and debutant Fraine are galloping away at Headingley against Essex - 43/0 in ten overs. Rhodes out in the battle of the doldrums, Warwicks 33/1, Sibey 11 not out.
Tres still there at Guildford, but Abell Morkelled. Somerset 27/1. Bancroft and Lees plodding away in Div 2 - Durham 17/1.
Glamorgan, oh, Glamorgan - 29/3 - Billy Root and Hemphrey still there. Ben Sanderson 3-14. And Sussex’s lead at Lords now 62 - Van Zyl 64 not out.
An absolutely cracking back foot drive by Lehmann off Abbas - four all the way. Lancashire 36 for one.
Emma John’s eye-witness report from the Bangladesh v South Africa game yesterday:
What a fillip it would be if the old carthorse could get stuck in at Guildford. Short boundaries, fast pitch, not unusual for balls to get toppled through the trees and into Woodbridge Road. Somerset 20/0 - Trescothick three boundaries in his 14.
Another edge through the slips by Hass, as the wind whittles the fielders trousers and Abass looks a tricky beast to tame.
A wicket at Chester-le-Street, Ravi Rampaul dismissing Michael Jones for a duck. Durham four for 1.
Et tu Marcus? Life in the old dog yet - an upper-cut at Woodbridge Road - and to Morkel’s first ball!
SHOT! First ball of the match and Marcus Trescothick upper-cuts Morkel to the boundary!
— Somerset Cricket 🏏 (@SomersetCCC) June 3, 2019
LIVE STREAM -> https://t.co/dF6GhNA901#SURvSOM#WeAreSomerset pic.twitter.com/VeA9u2OeuM
A debut too for Essex’s Will Buttleman. Good luck!
And here’s that fielding in full. Poor Keaton left splayed on the grass:
WICKET | Great start from the Foxes and what a piece of fielding from @Bat_Pad_Man.
— Leicestershire CCC (@leicsccc) June 3, 2019
Jennings ran out for nought.
LAN 0-1
🦊 #foxesfamily pic.twitter.com/zU5AqJvx7F
And with that Hameed edges Abass through the slips.
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Will Fraine is making his first-class debut for Yorkshire. And oh my gosh, an astonishing bit of fielding at short leg by Hasan Azad to the third ball of the day after Keaton Jennings just tipped the ball to him, he snapped it up and threw down the stumps with Jennings just out his crease. Lancashire 0/1.
It’s an uncontested toss here and Keaton Jennings and Haseeb Hameed get the, er, early pleasure of Abbas under cloudy skies.
Lancashire’s last victory here was in golden 2011, their last game before the Taunton triumph, since then they haven’t won in eight first-class games at Aighburth.
The diddy green stands, wheeled straight outta of Trumpton, are slowly filling and there’s a good queue for the breakfast barms - £3 for the salivating.
Good morning!
Today it’s Aigburth - where the camellias have faded but the flags are still flying from Saturday’s triumph. The sun is in, and sometimes out, and I’m concerned I’ve come underdressed, as Cricinfo’s Paul Edwards is in an anorak, scarf and flat cap, and Lancashire’s Ken Grime has a bobble cap in his laptop bag. The wind off the Mersey can apparently be quite tasty.
When you're really happy to be covering the shyer story, Lancashire v Leicestershire, with the red flag still flying on on the walk to Aigburth. pic.twitter.com/H35CCt9ZmY
— tanya aldred (@tjaldred) June 3, 2019
Here, at Aighburth’s 200th first-class game, top-of-Division-Two Lancashire play eighth-place Leicestershire - beware Mohammad Abbas. About the counties, it’s another uneven round so two games are already underway – Northampton v Glamorgan at a verdant County Ground and Middlesex v Sussex at Lord’s. It wasn’t a good day for the sides batting first – Middlesex were skittled for 138, where at least one South African was smiling, David Wiese walking off with five for 26. Sussex already have a 31- run lead with six wickets in hand. Northants were held together by Adam Rossington’s 77 – all out for 209, Glamorgan 5/0 in reply.
Otherwise: Surrey play Somerset at lovely Guildford, Warwickshire play Nottingham in an intriguing battle of the faded giants and Yorkshire take on Essex at Headingley. In Division Two, Durham entertain Derbyshire.
World-Cup wise, after that thrilling match where Bangladesh upset the South African apple cart yesterday at The Oval, England play Pakistan today – on the pitch where they scored 481 for six against Australia last year. Mark Wood is expected to pull on his bowling boots. Follow the bounce-fest with the knock-me-down-fabulous duo of Tim de Lisle and Rob Smyth here.
But for the thread beneath the cloth of gold, do pop in below the line. All refugees from the World Cup welcome, at lunch-breaks or whenever the diet of easy wins gets a little dull.
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