Root hits his stride for Yorkshire
There was a standing ovation for Joe Root from the Headingley faithful for an innings of fan-favourite shots. After a sketchy one on Friday, his 90 with Yorkshire on the back foot was just the warm-up Dr McCullum might have ordered. Root was Ethan Bamber’s eighth wicket in the match, a bowler thriving after a winter move from Middlesex to Warwickshire.
There was also good news for England fans of a nervous disposition from Lord’s, where Zak Crawley knitted a third second-innings fifty in three games, albeit after being dropped on three. It was a diligent innings, with Kent trailing by 109 on first innings, but still contained the trademark imperious drives before he was out lbw to Dane Paterson for the second time in the match.
Tawanda Muyeye and Jack Leaning flickered briefly but the innings built itself around Daniel Bell-Drummond, a captain who has not found runs easy to come by this season. But his unbeaten 103, his first red-ball hundred in more than a year, inched Kent to a lead of 117 before bad light stopped play. Middlesex earlier lost their last six wickets for 61, with a second successive fifty for Ryan Higgins.
Jordan Cox was another England player to settle nicely into form, with a rollicking 61 not out at Taunton as Essex eased into a dominant position, collecting a lead of 224 in a low-scoring game. Somerset had lost nine wickets for 99 in one of their trademark collapses, trousers falling down at the same time as their shirt buttons pinged off. Simon Harmer happily stepped into Jack Leach’s boots, reeling through 19 overs and taking four for 43 from the River End. Their No 10, Migael Pretorius, was the second-highest scorer with a boisterous 24.
Manchester’s clouds settled into their regular position above Old Trafford on a day when the coat returned to a cricket watcher’s backpack. Friday’s centurion Marcus Harris was out after adding just a couple of runs to his overnight 165, playing on to the zippy Ajeet Singh Dale, but some useful contributions down the order took Lancashire to 450 – more batting points than they had accrued in total in the previous three games.
Tom Price grabbed the last two wickets in successive balls, leaving him to start the next innings on a hat-trick, while the not-out batter Tom Bailey caused a stir of his own when his mobile phone fell out of his pocket mid-run. Gloucestershire advanced, carefully at first, and then with more abandon, as Ollie Price and Myles Hammond put together an unbeaten hundred partnership.
Graham Clark, not in the Durham XI on Friday morning until young Ben McKinney had a back spasm, continued to seize his chance, moving to a career-best 160 on a glorious batting surface at Southampton. He was out to an spry caught and bowled by Wisden Cricketer of the Year Liam Dawson, who pocketed five for 158. Mark Stoneman made a gritty unbeaten 54 in Hampshire’s reply.
Glamorgan had a dominant day against Derbyshire, passing 400 runs and then reducing Derbyshire to 215 for seven with four wickets for Andy Gorvin.
It was a topsy-turvy day at Grace Road. But Ben Sanderson, in his first match of the season after knee problems restricted his appearance, then went through the Leicestershire top five.
It was a topsy-turvy day at Grace Road. First Northants were bowled out for 191, with four wickets for Logan van Beek. Then Leicestershire collapsed like an empty chip bag – Ben Sanderson, in his first match of the season after knee problems, running through the Leicestershire top five.
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Essex have just lost Tom Westley for 26 at Taunton, the lead over Somerset 106, and it is now time for me to write up. BTL will remain open, do stay and chat.
Just realised I had the Yorkshire stream on delay, YJB is actually out, top-edging a pull to the keeper. Super Ethan Bamber. Joe Root walks down the pitch and taps away. Yorks 156-5.
Warwickshire are keeping Root and YJB in check at Headingley; while Saqib Mahmood and Tom Hartley are turning the screw at Old Trafford.
Nothing to worry about here: “Delhi authorities urged schools to cancel afternoon assemblies on Tuesday and issued emergency guidelines to ensure water breaks and stocks of oral rehydration salts in first aid kits, and to treat any signs of heat stress immediately.”
"'Many of the events predicted for 2050 or 2070 are already happening. We underestimated the speed of change'."https://t.co/FXPYNID9Qb
— Dr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they) (@DoctorVive) May 1, 2025
Tea-time-ish scores
DIVISION ONE
Southampton: Hampshire 29-1 v Durham 511
Taunton: Somerset 145 v Essex 206 and 65-2
Headingley: Yorkshire 205 and 152-4 v Warwickshire 253
DIVISION TWO
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 431 v Derbyshire 123-4
Old Trafford: Lancashire 450 v Gloucestershire 87-2
Grace Road: Leicestershire 304 and 0-1 v Northamptonshire 191
Lord’s: Middlesex 238 v Kent 129 and 167-2
Joe Root has lost his England teammate, after a partnership of 53. Brook lbw to Booth for 20, who looked down at his feet and did a little dance before glancing up at the umpire’s raised finger. YJB joins Root (61) , and Yorks lead by 104.
Charlesworth advances but is done by the flight and knocks a simple return catch to Tom Hartley (the young Peter Davidson). The first ball of Hartley’s second over Glos: 74-2.
Brook and Root batting together for Yorks
With a step and a drive, Root reaches fifty, then Brook batters a fat wide one to move into double figures. Yorks 125-3, lead by 77.
Crawley will not be racing Root to a hundred, lbw to Paterson after a patient innings of 68. Kent 128-1.
At Headingley, Yorkshire have recovered from 19 for two. That man Joe Root is 45 not out off 58 balls. Racing Crawley to a hundred.
While the returning Dean Elgar has lost his opening partner Paul Walter for 0, and now Elgan too must go, bowled by Gregory for 23. Essex 49-2, lead by 110.
They’ve taken tea at Southampton, with Durham finally all out for 511. Five wickets for the evergreen/indefatigable/choose your own epithet/ Liam Dawson. A very useful 44 from Codi Yusuf at No. 9, alongside Clark’s 160.
A missive! Hello Andrew Benton:
“It was nice to ‘do’ Zak Crawley’s walk with him, and I was amazed at how nonchalant the MCC members are by his presence. He did the teapot stance at the end and I was wondering if there are other famous cricket stances - perhaps an ashes urn stance with elbows out and hands on hips to troll the Aussies when England are in the field? A ballet dancers stance tip-toeing around a vertical bat at the crease held at arms length?”
There is currently a double teapot from Ben Charlesworth, as George Balderson bowls Bancroft with a beauty that nips back. Glos 47-1.
Kent inch into the lead.
Elsewhere in Division Two: Cameron Bancroft and Ben Charlesworth have safely negotiated hte first 14 overs from Tom Bailey, Saqib Mahmood and George Balderson. Glos: 37-0
Northants are nine down at Grace Road, still 146 behind, three wickets each for Ben Green and Logan van Beek. Justin Broad the top scorer with 36.
In the face of Glamorgan’s 431, Derbyshire are in trouble at 73-four, those back polishing their boots include their banker, Wayne Madsen, for seven.
A month before WTC final, Rabada announces drugs ban
A huge loss for South Africa, if he can’t play.
Fifty for Zac Crawley
Gets there with some wristy gorgeousness. I check his stats and realise I’ve fallen for the narrative that he’s consistently failed whereas in fact he’s just failed in the first innings. For the last three games he’s hit a fifty in the second.
The famous walk with Zak Crawley 🤩 pic.twitter.com/wAQxEP96mW
— Lord's Cricket Ground (@HomeOfCricket) May 2, 2025
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Matt Henry to return to Somerset
The messianic Henry will be available for selection on May 16. It’s quite some mess that he’ll have to clear up. Somerset all out 145 at Taunton, though Gregory, Pretorius and COverton added a precious 48 for the last three wickets.
Here is some Simon Harmer (4-43) magic:
Fair play Simon Harmer, that's a brilliant catch #SOMvESS #WeAreSomerset pic.twitter.com/ds6ctIa88l
— Somerset Cricket (@SomersetCCC) May 3, 2025
Eyes to Lord’s, where, whisper it, Zac Crawley and DBD have survived the new ball. Six fours in ZC’s 40. Kent 73-1, trail Middx by nine wickets.
Saqib Mahmood, elbows like an open window, wristband on, charges in from the Anderson end. A bouncer flies over Charlesworth’s head and continues rising over the slips and down to the rope. The sun is out but there is lots of hand-rubbing and hands shoved in trousers going on. Gloucestershire 4-0, Lancs lost their last two wickets for 13 runs after lunch, including John Turner for a golden duck with two in two for Tom Price.
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Six first ball, century, duck: Andy Bull tells the tale of Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
Rabada suspended for recreational drug use
Kagiso Rabada suspended for recreational drug use.
Kagiso Rabada confirms in a statement through South Africa’s players union that he is currently serving a provisional suspension after testing positive for a recreational drug pic.twitter.com/gUd9Uu1Vhu
— Ali Martin (@Cricket_Ali) May 3, 2025
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Lunchtime scores
DIVISION ONE
Southampton: Hampshire v Durham 434-7
Taunton: Somerset 106-7 v Essex 206
Headingley: Yorkshire 205 and 9-1 v Warwickshire 253
DIVISION TWO
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 431 v Derbyshire
Old Trafford: Lancashire 437-8 v Gloucestershire
Grace Road: Leicestershire 304 v Northamptonshire 87-6
Lord’s: Middlesex 238 v Kent 129 and 25-1
Elsewhere in Division Two:
Glamorgan, who hadn’t passed 300 before yesterday, have passed 400. Van der Gugten 60 not out in 424 for eight against Derbyshire.
In the battle of the East Midlands, Northants are crumbling in the face of Green-Scriven-Van Beek-Hull: 96 for five v Leicestershire.
And Kent are batting again, but have already lost Compton to the unstoppable TRJ. Kent 19-1, trail Middx by 90. Wishing the out of runs Zac Crawley and DBD, plenty.
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I wonder if Lewis Gregory gets fed up of propping up Somerset. He and Rew lay down the dustsheets and start again. Actually, Rew has gone for nine. Somerset 97-7.
Yorkshire are already batting, and have already lost makeshift opener Dom Bess, not going for the heave-ho, but tentatively pushing and losing his leg stump to a beauty from Ethan Bamber. Yorks 9-1.
Phone in pocket
And trouble for Tom Bailey at Old Trafford, when what certainly looked like a mobile phone fell out of his pocket when he was mid-run. Players’ phones are forbidden on the field of play, so – if it is what it looks like – the match referee will want a word.
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I only went around the ground to buy a couple of coffees, but things have happened. Three wickets at Taunton has quickly changed the rhythm of that game – Somerset 78-4, Harmer 2-28.
Here at OT, Luke Wells has fallen victim to the search for bonus points. He hit the first ball of Wells’ over for six, tried to swipe the second over square leg and was lbw. Balderson followed soon afterwards. Even so, Lancs have scored more batting bonus points over the last two days than they have all season: 403-8.
Clark is still in at Southampton, 132 not out, but he’s lost Drissell, b DAwson, for 69. Durham 382-6
And Warwickshire are all out for 253 at Headingley, Sears 4-45.
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Singh Dale takes a rest after five cracking overs, one for ten this morning, replaced by Akhter at the SJA end.
Down at Taunton, Essex are yet to make a breakthrough morning, though Simon Harmer has slipped into the Jack Leach shoes from yesterday. Umeed and Davey have put on 42, the deficit 160.
Fifty on debut for Beau Webster at Headingley, and he lays into his countryman Jordan Buckingham to take Warwickshire into the lead. Warwickshire 215-7, a lead of ten. On this pitch, a lead of fifty or so would be very handy.
“Salutations Tanya!” Lovely to hear from you Tim Maitland.
”I’m pondering the ramifications of Jack Leach bowling 30 overs of spin on the first day of a County Championship in early May, when it used to be that such nurdlers would be grateful if they saw as much as an occasional over at the end of a session until the football season was over, while the seamers filled their boots on verdant pitches under leaden skies.
”Could one of the previously unforeseen tragedies of global warming be spin bowlers suffering stress injuries before “the fields are rich in grass, and buttercups in thousands grow*”?
*W.H. Davies All In June. Thanks Duckduckgo.
Unforseen tragedies as well as the forseen tragedies is a depressing throught for a Saturday morning.
That’s what Gloucestershire were after! Harris plays on to Singh Dale – a deserved wicket – after adding only two to his overnight score. It was interesting listening to Harris after play last night – he said that he had pretty much given up on playing for Australia (though of course he’d be interested if they came calling) and that gave him a kind of freedom.
Three batting points for Lancs, and a delayed shout out for Ollie Robinson (the Durham one) who dropped off my radar yesterday. After seven innings in which he’d not passed 22, he clocked up 76 against Hampshire, stirling support for Graham Clark. This was Clark at stumps:
“Robbo is a class act and probably hasn’t scored the runs he would have liked this year, but he has backed himself and stayed true to himself and came out firing today. He might be disappointed not to get a hundred but he played beautifully and put us in a great position.”
A nice read with your elevenses:
Jimmy Anderson will be looking longingly at the clouds plonked on top of Old Trafford, but it is Singh Dale who has the ball at the Jimmy Anderson end for the first over of the day. He delivers a snorter to Wells, that has him jumping like a fire cracker, in an excellent first over.
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A view from Headingley from five-wicket Ethan Bamber:
“I loved it out there. These are the games you want to play in. I really enjoyed it.
“It’s fast moving and probably finely poised after day one. I got a fair share of luck, including one caught at third-man. But I felt alright. Hopefully we can push on with the bat tomorrow.
“There’s a good amount of grass covering (on the pitch) and maybe a few divots.
“It was a bit soft underneath at the start and hardened up. It’s nice to bowl on, for sure. As they showed - they bowled really nicely - you can build pressure and there’s a ball in there. But you do get value for shots.
“It will be interesting to see how the game progresses from here.”
Friday's round-up
Joe Root and Harry Brook pulled on their Yorkshire boots to warm up for the Zimbabwe Test.
It didn’t go entirely to plan on a 16-wicket day at Headingley. Root fenced uncharacteristically at Ed Barnard and was caught for a 17-ball one and Brook ran through a spicy repertoire before he was caught for 33. Jonny Bairstow hustled to 47 before being bowled in a blaze of exploding stumps, but he and the tail had ushered Yorkshire past 200. Ethan Bamber finished with five for 47. Warwickshire then lost six wickets in the evening session.
Gloucestershire completed their 100% losing record at the toss in 2025 and were invited to bowl at Old Trafford. The energetic and swift figure of Ajeet Singh Dale soon removed George Bell and Keaton Jennings, but Marcus Harris had arrived with his overnight bag.
Harris started with neat accumulation but rolled out his greatest hits once he’d passed his hundred – a glide through midwicket, a whip to the rope through backward square, a glorious flick off the toes for six. At stumps, he was 165 not out and the leading scorer in the country with 559 runs.
Somerset prepared an emerald pitch at Taunton but it was Jack Leach, wheeling in for 30 overs from the River End, who caused havoc, inducing a mid-innings collapse and picking up three for 35. Essex squeaked past 200 before Sam Cook, freshly called up by England, removed Archie Vaughan in the first over of the Somerset reply.
There was a return to form for Rishi Patel at Grace Road, his 105 a model of patience and skill as wickets fell about him. The South Australian Harry Conway grabbed five for 68 on his Northants debut.
Toby Roland-Jones, the Middlesex captain, (five for 33) skittled through Kent, who were dismissed for 129. Poor Zak Crawley’s early season woes continued when he was lbw for six. Graham Clark’s unbeaten 110 put Durham on top against Hampshire. And there were fifties for the Jersey international Asa Tribe, Sam Northeast and Colin Ingram as Glamorgan passed 300 for the first time this season against Derbyshire.
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Scores on the doors
DIVISION ONE
Southampton: Hampshire v Durham 330-5
Taunton: Somerset 9-1 v Essex 206
Headingley: Yorkshire 205 v Warwickshire 157-6
DIVISION TWO
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 336-6 v Derbyshire
Old Trafford: Lancashire 342-5 v Gloucestershire
Grace Road: Leicestershire 304 v Northamptonshire 6-0
Lord’s: Middlesex 158-4 v Kent 129
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Preamble
Good morning from a chillier Manchester, clouds piling to the left, magpies mobbing to the right. Welcome to day two of this first May round of matches – plenty of wickets yesterday, can the batters strike back today? Sam Cook might fancy a few morale-boosting Somerset wickets before being measured up for his England cap.
The coffee is on the counter, do help yourself. Play starts at 11am.
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