County cricket’s pink ball plunge was devised chiefly as a training tool for England’s cricketers before their maiden floodlit Test against West Indies this summer. But at Edgbaston, where this historic first will be staged, it was a Caribbean batsman with a seemingly unquenchable thirst for runs who dominated on day one of Warwickshire versus Lancashire.
While Jimmy Anderson struck late to leave the home side on 23 for one at the close – if anyone is to revel in the delights of the pink Duke it will surely be England’s swing king – his Lancashire team-mate, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, shone brightest under lights, with an unbeaten 117 proving the glue for a total of 273.
Chanderpaul is a remarkable cricketer and, though he is approaching 43, the eyes clearly remain sharp – even with the floodlights on from 5pm on a murky Birmingham day. Quick singles are no longer his forte, Warwickshire fed his pull shot too often and Tim Ambrose gave him a life on 47. But the grand old Guyanese simply did what he has done 75 times before in first-class cricket, reaching three figures with minimal fuss.
Anderson’s delight in pinning Will Porterfield lbw before the close and his continuing return to fitness after a groin injury will be the chief plus for England, not least since Haseeb Hameed was knobbled for 17 as his season syndrome continues and Jos Buttler – technically the incumbent Test No7 – managed only three before Jeetan Patel trapped him in front.
Buttler, in at first-drop 24 hours after captaining England, was out trying to mow a straight one from the spinner that, given an earlier failed ramp shot, suggested Twenty20 was not fully out of his system. But of the two the form of Hameed remains the more vexing. An impressive maiden Test tour in India last winter rightly had the cognoscenti purring about the talent of the then 19-year-old, not least his final outing in Mohali when, with a badly broken hand, he took the attack to Virat Kohli’s side in a defiant 59 from No8.
But since recovering from that blow the numbers in red-ball cricket have flatlined somewhat, with his highest score in the Championship the 47 against Essex in April. There have been five ducks during this time, with some suggesting his introduction to List A cricket this summer has muddied his judgment outside off stump.
Ashley Giles, who pushed Hameed through when director of cricket at Lancashire before his winter return to Warwickshire, sees no such diagnosis but admits there is little value in retaining him unless there is a second-innings revival. “On this form I can’t see him being picked but he’s a class player and it’s up to him how he punches back,” Giles said. “I don’t think white-ball cricket has affected him and, had I still been at Lancashire, I would have introduced him to it this year. We held him back just to let him focus on the one format last year. He’s got all the shots to be a successful white-ball cricketer. It’s probably a case of it being his second season and bowlers having had a look at him.”
Here it was a tentative scoop to Ian Bell at silly mid-off to give George Panayi his maiden first-class wicket, in what was the first of three for the lithe 19-year-old seamer in an impressive senior debut. He will resume on a hat-trick after polishing off the tail and capitalising on Keith Barker’s double strike after the supper break.
It left Chanderpaul high and dry, having earlier put on stands of 96 with Dane Vilas (44) and 68 with Ryan McLaren (24). The champagne moment belonged to Rikki Clarke’s diving catch at second slip to remove Stephen Croft amid a four-wicket opening session and the booby prize went to opener Alex Davies for crazily running himself out for 31.
For Warwickshire the match did not point to day-night Championship cricket being a big money-spinner in itself. The 1,300 crowd was no greater than a regular fixture and it thinned out, rather than swelled, after work hours. Nevertheless the club will have seen value in this dry run before they make history on 17 August.
Sales are currently at 60,000 across the first three days – greater than expected at this stage – with the uptake on hospitality particularly pleasing the chief executive, Neil Snowball, as well as the fact that 45% are first-time buyers. The club is working with Handsworth Cricket Club to market to its local Caribbean community, while during the Test there will be rum shacks, steel bands and a fake beach in the area behind the family stand.
There will be no Chanderpaul among the tourists, of course, since he was forced out of the West Indies set-up years ago. But at this level, even with a fuschia pink Duke being propelled at high speeds, the limpet-like left-hander remains a force to be reckoned with.
Roy puts Surrey in charge against Yorkshire
Jason Roy had never hit a pink ball when he arrived at Headingley but by the close, his recent form struggles seemed a distant memory as his aggressive 87 put Surrey right in charge against Yorkshire.
After swift, classy cameos from Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick were ended as they began to purr, there was a straight, stoic 90 from Rory Burns, ended on the stroke of tea as he became Tim Bresnan’s 500th first-class wicket, caught behind as the ball got big. Then, in the second half of the day, Kumar Sangakkara stroked his merry way to an unbeaten 82, which he will pick up in the morning, seeking full batting points and a sixth century of his remarkable farewell summer. He was careful in the trickier, gloomy periods – when, said Roy, the new ball “looked like a lightbulb”, but cover-drove sweetly and cut crisply.
Roy’s, though, full of pulls, uppish straight drives and powerful cuts until he was lbw to Jack Brooks, was the pick. “Put it down to beginner’s luck,” Roy joked. “It was pretty similar to a red ball, just different coloured. It felt terrible off the bat, you didn’t know when you middled it, which isn’t great for your confidence, but overall it was fine.
“I’ve had a tough couple of months, I’ve taken myself back to the drawing board and keep positive and relaxed. No rocket science behind what’s going on, just got to keep my head down and score as many runs as possible.”
Yorkshire’s bowling, particularly in the first two sessions, was poor and their bowlers, according to Bresnan, were not overly enamoured with the pink Dukes ball. “It was a weird day,” he said. “It nipped around when new so we thought we could bowl them out cheaply, and then the ball got soft and easy-paced. The nip had gone.
“It felt like a one-day game in white clothes. There was no swing, very little seam and the pitch is good, so it’s difficult to stop them scoring. It was definitely harder work than with the red ball, which you can shine right up.”
This is as much about crowds as cricket. Yorkshire had 2,595 people through the gates, with 494 of them after 4.40, when their reduced pricing began. By the close at 9.12, with a nip in the air (it was still not completely dark), many had left. Visions of packed houses late in the day may be fanciful.
Across the nine games, 96 wickets fell. Alastair Cook got straight into the swing of things as leaders Essex dominated against the Middlesex. Having reduced them to two for two, Essex bowled Middlesex out for 246, with Stevie Eskinazi, David Malan and Paul Stirling making half-centuries and Simon Harmer taking his third five-wicket haul in a week, before closing 106 without loss, with Cook unbeaten on 64.
The first funky declaration – a feature of the nascent format – came at the Ageas Bowl, where Hampshire crawled their way to 211 for nine before sending Somerset in for six overs in the gloaming. Somerset’s openers, Marcus Trescothick and the debutant Eddie Byrom, separated by 21 years and 368 first-class matches, survived unscathed.
In Division Two, a remarkable day at the Riverside saw 14 wickets fall and more than 400 runs scored as Worcestershire closed 16 ahead of Durham’s 197 with Moeen Ali 36 not out and Brett D’Oliveira on 91. Mark Wood had taken three wickets for Durham as Worcestershire’s played with their batting lineup, promoting John Hastings and Joe Leach to No3 and No4, and they closed 216 for four. * Earlier, Ben Stokes had made a duck as – caught behind off a snorter from Hastings – as Durham fell to 64 for seven, only for the lower order to carry them to 197.
The leaders Nottinghamshire are in charge against Kent, who they bowled out for 180 before closing on 135 for three. At Wantage Road, Ben Duckett scored a remarkable 89-ball century before the tea break (the first of the day) as Northamptonshire scored 261; Max Holden was last man out for 92 but at one stage they lost four wickets for one run. Leicestershire closed on 65 for four. Luke Wright scored his first Championship century September 2015 as Sussex made 358 for nine declared at Hove, before Gloucestershire closed on 31 without loss, while Derbyshire were bowled out for 288 by Glamorgan. Will Macpherson at Headlingley
