There is nothing quite as rousing as the emergence of a young, wicket-taking spin bowler, so the seven for 56 taken by Nottinghamshire’s Matt Carter, on his first-class debut, will bring cheer to all except Somerset supporters, whose batsmen collapsed to 200 all out at Taunton.
Carter, 20 last month, removed James Hildreth – who had recently passed 1,000 runs for the season – as his maiden first-class wicket, before a wild swipe from Tom Cooper handed him a second and set about a team collapse of the final six for 68. Delivered from a classical action, all of the offspinner’s wickets fell in 12 overs to give him the best first-class bowling figures on debut for Nottinghamshire for a century and only the second five-wicket haul in the county championship for a spinner this season. By day’s end, Nottinghamshire had built a lead of 299 with six second-innings wickets in hand.
After the abandonment at Arundel on Sunday, Sussex and Surrey returned to Championship action, and both Surrey fielders involved in the collision had showed signs of recovery. Rory Burns was discharged from hospital after receiving stitches to deep lacerations above and below his left eye while Moises Henriques remains in hospital as he requires further dental surgery on his jaw, which is broken in three places. It is unclear how long either will spend on the sidelines.
Burns’s replacement at the top of the Surrey order, Arun Harinath, scored his fourth first-class century, against Glamorgan at Guildford. Harinath was dropped in the slips on 53 off the bowling of Michael Hogan but brought up a fine century off 157 balls. His opening partner, Zafar Ansari, batted out the day for 91, including 50 overs without scoring a boundary, but Surrey lost two wickets in the final 11 deliveries to close on 289 for six.
After Sunday’s shock, the scene at Arundel was more placid, although 12 wickets – including a first five-wicket haul since 2012 for Sussex’s on-loan Surrey seamer Tim Linley – fell on the first day of their Championship match with Durham, who posted 301 after a blistering first session that saw 147 runs scored and four wickets taken. Gordon Muchall scored a fine unbeaten 81 in conjunction with the tail as Linley’s nagging line saw him reduce Durham to 197 for seven. Chris Rushworth bowled both openers – Mike Yardy leaving and Luke Wells played on – as Sussex closed on 44 for two.
At Chelmsford, Alastair Cook’s Ashes preparation continued as he added 30 to his overnight 50 before being bowled by the Derbyshire off-spinner Wes Durston. With James Foster unbeaten on 51, Essex closed on 449 for eight.
