Key events
Scores on the doors
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 356-4 v Surrey
Southampton: Hampshire 164-5 v Yorkshire 121
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire v Durham 370-9
Taunton: Somerset 187-4 v Worcestershire 154
Edgbaston: Warwickshire v Sussex 386-5
DIVISION TWO
The County Ground: Derbyshire 127-2 v Gloucestershire 222
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 229 v Leicestershire 65-1
Lord’s: Middlesex 260 v Lancashire 68-0
Wantage Road: Northamptonshire 118-7 v Kent 231
Friday’s round-up
The first day of the cricket season in early April isn’t supposed to feel like this. T-shirts, ice-creams, arm-crispingly warm. At Chelmsford, where nearly 2,500 came through the turnstiles, feet in the queue before half past nine, the champions were in town.
But Surrey, seeking their fourth title on the bounce, didn’t have things their way against Essex. They lost the toss on a flat pitch, and first Paul Walter, then Jordan Cox, batted with a bounce and a song. Cox, who was due to make his Test debut in the winter at Christchurch only to be thwarted by a broken thumb, played with bellicose beauty. He drove Dan Lawrence into the boundary boards with a thud to reach his century, watched with purring admiration by Graham Gooch. When he was finally out for 117, including 21 fours, Chelmsford rose. As they did for Walter, the stand-in opener while Dean Elgar is on paternity leave, who fell five short of a hundred – a first Surrey wicket for Matt Fisher. The home side ended the day on 356 for four.
Things weren’t going so well for England’s Zak Crawley, who lost his stumps in spectacular style to the Northamptonshire new boy Liam Guthrie, out for one. Tawanda Muyeye’s 72 then helped Kent to a respectable 231, before Northants were fleeced to 118 for seven.
At the Rose Bowl, Jonny Bairstow’s first day as Yorkshire captain didn’t unfold entirely as planned as they were skittled for 121 by Hampshire. Shadow in the corner Liam Dawson snaffled three for eight, and there was a first wicket for Sonny Baker, who had Bairstow caught flaming to third man, bothered by an insect. In reply Hampshire were 165 for five at the close of play.
It was shaping up to be Ethan Bamber’s day at Edgbaston when Warwickshire’s winter signing from Middlesex burst out of the traps with three new ball strikes. But bar a wicket on debut for the 18-year-old leg-spinner Tazeem Ali, things took a downward turn for the hosts thereafter as a succulent career-best 140 from Tom Clark, and a pugnacious 116 not out from the captain, John Simpson, bent the script the way of Sussex, who finished on 386 for five. A statement day for the Division One newcomers; a slightly concerning one for the more established hosts without the injured Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Chris Rushworth.
Colin Ackermann had some birthday luck on his way to the first century of the year, bowled for 80 only for the bails to settle back in their groove. Durham ploughed on towards 400 despite four wickets for Nottinghamshire’s Australian Fergus O’Neill.
At Taunton, Kasey Aldridge’s five wickets ruined a good Worcestershire start as they lost nine for 52 and were all out for 154. Half centuries from the Toms Abell and Banton then rescued Somerset from a precarious 39 for three to finish on 187 for four.
The big name Division Two game at Lord’s swung merrily; Sam Robson and Max Holden easing Middlesex to 127 for one before the Lancashire debutant Ollie Sutton (two for 57) and Tom Aspinwall (four for 32) took charge. Leicestershire bowled out Glamorgan for 229, the on loan Shoaib Bashir bowled by Rehan Ahmed for 20 while Derbyshire’s Luis Reece grabbed six for 52 against Gloucestershire before Caleb Jewell’s 61 from 48 balls showed why he was in Mickey Arthur’s little black book.
Preamble
Hello! Welcome to day two. It’s beautiful – again. Unseasonably so perhaps, my friend at Whalley Range CC in Manchester tells me that they’re watering the pitch today – unheard of at this time of year. But climate apocalypse aside, yesterday was a warm hug of a reintroduction to the season.
I’ve been won over by Chelmsford this morning, who knew it had a gorgeous airy cathedral? Also a town centre with real shops, cycle routes everywhere, an old fashioned park with a lake and a cafe serving homemade pilchard cake to lucky pooches.
Hope your Saturday mornings have been as contented. Play starts at 11am, do join us.