Starting on time atDerby, Headingley, The Oval and New Road, New Road and that’s your set!
There may be interruptions. The Met office says:Sunshine and showers today, heavy in the north perhaps with hail and thunder at times. Cloud thickening from the west through the day with a spell of prolonged heavy rain arriving into the west during the afternoon. Breezy.
Two ends of the rainbowfrom Grace Road last night:
Keaton Jennings:“We were short with the bat, short with the ball and that’s why ultimately you end up with a three-day loss. They are a side who have their tail up and they kept us under pressure but we have to do better as a batting unit. Only one score over fifty in the whole game is not enough.
Lewis Hill:“Having five seamers gives us a chance to rotate and the way they bowl as a pack, they are relentless, bowling for each other, sticking to their plans. They do not give the batters any kind of let-up and they have been like it all season for us.”This season’s side has to be the best I’ve played in during my time at the club, on performances and the quality of players. Five wins puts us in a good position, obviously, and four in a row all inside three days is just crazy, but going forward we have to take it game by game, not get ahead of ourselves and just see where it takes us.”
Josh Hull hurtled back to catch Tom Hartley off his own bowling andLeicestershireromped to their fifth victory of the season, all in three days, floating yet further ahead at the top of Division Two. Keaton Jennings batted until shortly after tea for a valiant 112 forLancashire, but from there Rehan Ahmed and Hull wrapped things up. There wasn’t even time forLeicestershireto take to take the new ball.
Matt Kuhnemann, at Sophia Gardens for one game only prior to the World Test Championship final, filleted throughMiddlesexto finish with career-best figures of six for 53, usheringGlamorganto their third win a row. A barnstorming 57 from Toby Roland-Jones ensured Glamorgan would have to bat again – but only just.
Tom Lammonby easedSomersetto an uncharacteristically calm victory overDurhamat Chester-le- Street. His unbeaten 104, and 73 from Tom Abell, smoothed Taunton brows on a pitch where 31 wickets had fallen over the first two days.
Jack Carson collected five for 26 – his best figures of the summer – asSussexromped to victory overHampshireat Southampton.
There was joy forEssex’s Charlie Allison who crunched 140 – a maiden first-class hundred – at the Oval. Allison, whose previous highest score was 28, batted beautifully and, together with fellow 20-year-old Noah Thain, painted a pretty picture for Essex’s future, asSurreywere set 418 for victory.
Ben Compton did his best to hold the fort againstDerbyshire, 156 in the first innings followed by 49 in the second asKentwere forced to follow-on.Yorkshire, set 463 to win, were beguiled byNottinghamshire’s Liam Patterson-White who grabbed three for 25. Cameron Green scored a fabulous 118 asGloucestershiremade a brave declaration againstNorthamptonshire.
Division One
Chester-le-Street:Somerset172 and 174-3 BEAT Durham 277 and 159 by seven wickets.
Southampton:Sussex 297 and 23-1 BEATHampshire154 and 165 by nine wickets.
The Oval:Surrey279 and 32-0 v Essex 217 and 479Surrey need 386 to win
New Road:Worcestershire181 and 57-2 v Warwickshire 227 and 280 Worcs need 270 to win
Headingley:Yorkshire 159 and 176-5 vNottinghamshire228 and 393-8dec Yorks need 287 to win
Division Two
Derby:Derbyshire587-5dec v Kent 326 and 157-3
Sophia Gardens:Glamorgan 383 and 8-0 BEATMiddlesex155 and 235 by ten wickets
Grace Road:Leicestershire457 BEAT Lancashire 206 and 248 by an innings and three runs.
County Ground:Northamptonshire469 and 158-4 v Gloucestershire 379-8dec
Hello!It’s a beautiful Manchester morning, everything three times more alive after the rain, and we roll into this last day of the spring block of matches. Do join us, play starts at 11am.