It’s been a hugely entertaining day in the County Championship as England basks in the sunshine of Bank Holiday-eve.
Rikki Wessels is one of the stars of the day after his unbeaten 159 helped Notts reach 534 against Durham who are 193-4 in reply at the close. Scott Borthwick’s performance is worth a mention too: he took five for 79 and is unbeaten on 59.
A truly bonkers day at Taunton saw Gareth Batty take 7-32 as Surrey skittled Somerset for 102 in reply to the visitors’ 264 all out. Surrey then reached 94 for 6 at stumps on the second day with Jack Leach taking 3-37. He now has 7-71 in the match.
In Division Two Sussex have had a good day with both Ed Joyce and Luke Wells hitting centuries as they reached 342-4 in reply to Derbyshire’s 150 all out. Ravi Bopara took 5-95 as Northants were bowled out for 444 and he also remains unbeaten on 30 as Essex reached 274-2. Jaik Mickleburgh scored 103 and Nick Browne 88. At stumps on Day One, Leicestershire are 340-8 against Kent after recovering from 19-3 thanks to 119 from Mark Cogrove and 97 from Mark Pettini. Adam Voges hit 128 not out and Dawid Malan 147 as Middlesex reached 342 for 3 against Hampshire. And finally at Worcester, the hosts are 341-8 at the end of day one against Gloucestershire with an unbeaten 153 from Tom Kohler-Cadmore the highlight.
And that’s that for the day. Goodnight.
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Well that was undoubtedly Yorkshire’s last hour as both Andrew Hodd and Steven Patterson gave it some long handle as they put on 75 for the ninth wicket. This has been a brilliant and entertaining recovery from the champions who were 29-4 at one stage and to reach 300 will be seriously demoralising for Lancashire despite honours still being even in my opinion.
Patterson deserves a lot of credit for his unbeaten innings of 41 which contained some enjoyable heaving over mid-on. Hodd fell in the last over of the day when he clipped Wagner around the corner to Liam Livingstone at leg slip for 40. So it’s 301-9 at the close and the weather is set fair for tomorrow - I can’t wait.
I think it’s fair to call this day ‘topsy turvy’ as I begin the task of trying to make sense of it. After Lancashire looked to be back in control after removing Rashid and Bresnan, Andrew Hodd and Steven Patterson have now built a ninth wicket partnership of 52 with a towering maximum from the latter being the highlight. Yorkshire are now 278-8 with 90 overs bowled already. Excellent stuff.
Lancashire are fighting back hard here after tea with two wickets falling after the break. Rashid failed to make his third century in Roses matches after falling 12 runs short, mistiming a drive to Luke Procter off the bowling of Simon Kerrigan. After a wicketless middle session, Yorkshire’s seventh wicket fell soon after with Jarvis picking up his fourth of the day after Liam Plunkett scooped one up to Procter at mid-on for three. Tim Bresnan has now been joined at the crease by Andrew Hodd who received his county cap before the day’s play. Yorkshire are 215-7.
There’s some pretty strange goings on today across the championship, not least at Taunton where earlier Gareth Batty took 7-32 for Surrey as Somerset were skittled for 102. In reply Surrey, who did not enforce the follow on, are currently 43-4.
Other heroes from the day’s action include Rikki Wessels who scored an unbeaten 159 as Notts scored 534 against Durham and Jack Mickleburgh and Nick Browne who scored an unbeaten 84 and 73 respectively, helping Essex amass 166-0 in reply to Northants’ 444.
Tea has arrived and Adil Rashid and the returning Tim Bresnan have turned this game completely on its head after Lancashire took five wickets in the morning session.
Rashid is nearing his century on 85 and Bresnan has 60 with the pair putting on 127 unbeaten runs for the sixth wicket in front of an increasingly jubilant Headingley crowd, who are enjoying the sunshine almost as much as the duo’s enterprising batting.
Lancashire’s seamers, who looked lethal this morning, were utterly bereft of ideas as the pair swung their bats outside the off stump before settling down and playing some lovely shots around Headingley’s green expanses.
Neil Wagner looked especially toothless as a succession of bouncers sailed past the batsmen before giving part-time wicketkeeper Steven Croft a difficult time behind the stumps.
With Yorkshire now 201-5, Lancashire need to come up with some answers and quick unless all this morning’s good work goes out the window.
The sun has really come out this afternoon and it’s currently shining on Yorkshire who have made an excellent recovery here thanks to Adil Rashid and Tim Bresnan. They’ve taken the score from 74-5 to 167-5 and although it’s been pretty streaky at times you can’t fault the entertainment as both have swung the bat with abandon outside the off stump.
We’ve also had an update on Ryan Sidebottom’s continuing injury problems. Following the revelations that the former England man had sustained a hairline fracture in his ankle playing football as the side warmed up, Yorkshire have released a statement admitting Sidebottom hurt himself in a “dressing room accident” and will be out for an estimated 4-6 weeks.
There’s a great comeback being launched at Taunton where Surrey have taken seven wickets after lunch to reduce Somerset to 102 all out. Surrey were something of a shambles against Lancashire in their last match so this is an excellent response. Gareth Batty has taken 7-32 in a remarkable period of play. Somerset lost their first wicket on 46 so that is some collapse.
Gareth Batty has taken 7 wickets, but that batting collapse is up there with some of the worst I've seen supporting Somerset! #SOMvSUR
— Andy Cleave (@CleaveO) May 29, 2016
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It’s been a different story here at Headingley in the half hour after lunch with Yorkshire adding 37 runs without any major scares. Adil Rashid has just reached a rapturously applauded 50 off 87 balls with Tim Bresnan also enjoying himself at the other end with some lusty swings of the bat. The pair have passed the half century mark for the sixth wicket and things are slowly looking up for the Yorkies.
Just a quick note on Rashid – he clearly likes a Roses clash with this being his third half-century to go alongside two centuries in 17 first class innings against the Red Rose.
So it’s lunch around the country and I’m tucking into a nice slice of coffee cake as I peruse the county scores. Remember some of these games started yesterday and some today.
At Headingley it’s been all Lancashire as the visitors dominated the morning session of the Roses clash with Yorkshire. Led by Kyle Jarvis who claimed 3-24 in his nine over opening spell, Yorkshire lost Lyth, Lees, Leaning and Ballance before Andrew Gale threatened a mini recovery until he fell lbw to Neil Wagner. It’s 94-5 off 30 overs with Rashid and Bresnan the not out batsmen.
Elsewhere in Division One Rikki Wessels has hit 122 not out as he and Brett Hutton have built an unbeaten stand of 182 runs for the sixth wicket in Nottinghamshire’s match with Durham. Notts are 473-6 at the break. Surrey are making a decent fist of things after being bowled out for 264 with Somerset 61-3. At Merchant Taylors’s Middlesex are 86-2 against Hampshire.
In Division Two, Essex are 23-0 replying to Northants’ 444 all out. Sussex are well in charge at Hove where they are 91-0 in answer to Derbyshire’s 150 all out. Chris Nash is 50 not out. At Canterbury, Leicestershire have recovered well from 19-3 to reach 105-3 at lunch with Mark Cosgrove (50*) and Mark Pettini (40*) steadying the ship.
More bad news for Surrey’s version of Darren Anderton...
Zafar Ansari off the field at the moment after taking a blow to his right thumb fielding at cover point...
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) May 29, 2016
Andrew Gale was leading the fightback here for Yorkshire who had recovered to 74-4 after a nightmare first hour. The Yorkshire skipper had batted for over an hour and hit five 4s on his way to 36 before Wagner trapped him lbw.
Gale trapped LBW by Wagner https://t.co/XY6QyIapeV
— Yorkshire CCC (@YorkshireCCC) May 29, 2016
Gale, you may remember, has a rather complicated relationship with this fixture. In 2014 he was suspended for a level-two breach of county cricket’s disciplinary code – “using language or gesture that is obscene or of a serious insulting nature to another player, umpire, referee, team official or spectator” - after exchanging some less than complimentary words with Ashwell Prince. This followed a previous incident in another Roses match when he took exception to being given out caught behind.
It was hard to see if Gale reacted to today’s decision (which looked plumb, to be fair), but I’m sure there were a few words from the Lancashire side wishing him well on his way. Rashid and Bresnan are the men in now and Yorkshire desperately need to reach lunch without any further losses.
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So, as the wickets tumble at Headingley (Yorkshire are now 51-4, after losing Leaning for 10), it’s been a similar story at New Road where Gloucestershire have reduced Worcestershire to 52-5 inside the first hour with David Payne taking 3-7 off 6 overs.
At the Oval, Somerset are replying to Surrey’s 264 all out, in which Jack Leach took 4-34. Notts are continuing to amass a big score against Durham with Riki Wessels and Brett Hutton helping them reach 389-6. It’s been a tough start for Middlesex at Merchant Taylors’ school, where the hosts are 32-2 against Hampshire.
In Div Two, the Northants innings is nearing an end with the score 423-9 against Essex, while Sussex are 49-0 replying to Derbyshire’s 150. Leicestershire are struggling against Kent with the score 44-3.
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An extraordinary first half hour here at Headingley and it’s been quite a morning for Lancashire skipper Steven Croft. As news filtered through that he would be taking over keeping duties from the injured Alex Davies, Croft then made the decision to bowl first, which has turned out to be the right choice. And that is something of an understatement.
The drama began as early as the third ball from Tom Bailey, which Adam Lyth drove through the covers for four. Moments later Lyth was on his way back to the hutch after edging the fourth ball of the innings to Lancashire’s new hot-shot keeper. In the second over Kyle Jarvis followed suit by getting Alex Lees to edge to Karl Brown at third slip for 0. When Gary Ballance fell for the same score in the sixth over, the champions were 14 for 3, and Croft was looking like Captain Fantastic.
Yorkshire now need a captain’s knock from Andrew Gale. Something usually happens to Gale when he plays the old enemy, so keep your eyes peeled on this little battle.
As soon as I get my breath back, we’ll take a look at what is happening across the country.
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Preamble
Welcome everyone from a hazy but warm Headingley this morning for this highly anticipated Roses clash between top of the Championship table Lancashire and unbeaten champions Yorkshire.
The shock news emerging before play regards the Lancashire team which will be without wicketkeeper Alex Davies who injured his knee on Friday. With Jos Buttler currently being rested after his IPL stint, the visitors have opted for skipper Steven Croft to don the gloves. Karl Brown comes in to replace Davies.
It’s going to be a big ask of captain Croft to combine the job with leading his side and playing a pivotal role in the batting order. He’ll be pressed into action straight away as Lancashire are bowling after inserting the hosts.
There’s a nice moment before we start play for Yorkshire wicketkeeper Andy Hodd who is receiving his county cap from president John Hampshire.
Teams
Yorkshire: Lees, Lyth, Ballance, Gale (c), Leaning, Bresnan, Rashid, Hodd (w), Plunkett, Patterson, Brooks
Lancashire: Smith, Hameed, Brown, Procter, Petersen, Croft (c+w), Livingstone, Bailey, Wagner, Jarvis, Kerrigan
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