Key events
And as noon approaches (though not on the pavilion clock), Anderson Philip gets his first over of the season. Clean orange soles on his shiny white boots. A warm round of applause from the OT faithful, scattered around the ground like toffee pennies in Quality Street. Bartlett is watchful.
Around the Div one grounds with a Friday bounce:
Here at OT, Balderson and Bailey and tottering in, big guns Anderson and Turner to come. Northants 32-1.
Lyth and Bean are having a fine-old time at Headingley, bashing 49 off the first ten overs from Worcestershire.
Notts have been Portered at Trent Bridge, 13-2. Ten overs gone, Porter 2-3 and Cook 0-6.
Surrey are also in early trouble against Hampshire, 39-2. Burns caught for two and Pope for 14. Wickets for Wheal and Abbott.
And Lewis Gregory has an early wicket at Hove, Haines bowled for 14. Sussex 42-1.
“I have an ex-GP friend who’s moved to Leek and has had a lot of work done on her new house,” writes Mike Daniels.
“She was surprised that the workers were calling her “Doc” as she hadn’t told them what she did for a living. Eventually she realised they were calling her “Duck”!”
Cook watch
Sam Cook is bowling nicely here – Freddie McCann has just about survived some excellent probage outside off stump – but it is Jamie Porter with the first two wickets of the day. Ben Slater was tucked up lbw from around the wicket and Haseeb Hameeb has fallen just now pushing out to an outswinger and nicking off for a 21-ball duck. In comes Joe Clarke with the score four for two in the seventh over.
A first-half-hour wicket, Vasconcelos trudges off, caught behind off baby-faced Balderson for 16. Oh well, at least he’s 16 runs richer than he would have been, if Jennings hadn’t fumbled him early on. Northants 25-1.
The pavilion clock here at Old Trafford is running six minutes slow making Keaton head boy Jennings late for the toss. Read the runes in that.
Good morning Tim Maitland!
“Greetings Tanya
Just pondering my next thesis for my PhD in stating the bleeding obvious, and it would seem that Yorkshire and Northamptonshire have the most to prove in their respective divisions after folding relatively cheaply in their season openers.
Yorkshire at least had the Adam Lyth second-inning masterclass in standing your ground (106 in 275 balls) to remind them that belligerence has its place in the County Championship.
Northants’ batting looks paper thin without Emilio Gay this season, although you’d expect Darren Lehman to have been in their ears this week.
Having said that, I just checked on Gay’s performances on debut for Durham: donuts and just ten balls faced. Did anyone do worse last week?”
An early morning drop, between second and third slip, Vasconcelos for a duck. A slow Manchester sigh.
Ali Martin
Yello Tanya and friends. Just arrived at sunny Trent Bridge for the first time this season as the players were strolling out from their auxiliary changing rooms in the Radcliffe Road End. The old pavilion is a bit like the house I left this morning: a building site. Essex won the toss and are having a jam roll, so an early look at Sam Cook (with Rob Key believed to be in attendance today). Already had a first “me duck” from one of the stewards, so all is well in the world.
Apologies about the lack of posts, I couldn’t find my keys. There were, of course, in my handbag. Here at Old Trafford, Lancs won the toss and have put Northants in.
Who knew that ditching the dog -thrower was the way to go? Ali Martin talks to man of the moment, Tom Banton, fresh from his 371 against Worcestershire.
Division One Table
Too early?
1 Notts 22
2 Hants 19
3 Somerset 16
4 Sussex 15
5 Warwicks 14
6 Essex 14
7 Surrey 11
8 Worcestershire 9
9 Durham 5
10 Yorkshire 3
Fixtures
DIVISION ONE
Chester le Street: Durham v Warwickshire
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire v Essex
The Oval: Surrey v Hampshire
Hove: Sussex v Somerset
Headingley: Yorkshire v Worcestershire
DIVISION TWO
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Glamorgan
Canterbury: Kent v Middlesex
Old Trafford: Lancashire v Northamptonshire
Grace Road: Leicestershire v Derbyshire
Preamble
Good misty morning! Welcome to round two of this Championship extravaganza/last hurrah.
There really was a breathless hush to the last hour on Monday – the games at Lord’s and Taunton going down to the shoe-chewing final over, only to end in draws. The first-round spoils went to Notts and Hampshire, Leicester, Derbyshire and Kent – time will tell if they are still on top when the leaves turn.
Play starts at 11am and we’ll be here all day, so pull up your chair and settle in. The coffee is brewing.
