Ali reports that the skies are clearat Headingley too, and they should start on time in the Test. Daniel Harris is OBOing here:
At New Road,Worcestershirelook in big trouble.Ben Allison, who finished with 5-44 to bowl Surrey out with just a 77 run-lead, pondered yesterday evening’s collapse.
”Not to go into too much detail, but, you know, Richo did sort of say, it didn’t really seem like we actually showed up that session.
“I know it wasn’t the ideal end to the day, but you know, we’re happy as a team that, you know, we fought back, and we were putting a shift and will do tomorrow.”
The weather is skirting aroundthe grounds but, against all odds, we are starting on time at Blackpool. The mopper-sopper is doing its business, andLancashireare huddling.
A familiar figuretook the field at Chester-le-Street. Tall, neat, trousers nipping at his ankles, right arm wrapped with a sleeve. Red-ball cricket had been waiting for Jofra Archer for 1,501 days but theSussexcaptain, John Simpson, was playing by his own timetable. He threw the new ball to Ollie Robinson – another bowler with an England shadow stuck to his boot – and Gurinder Sandhu. It was half an hour before Archer was called up from long leg to take onDurham.
For those whose memories of Archer are forever Lord’s 2019, Smith down on the burning deck, his first spell back was nothing more than solid. A couple of maidens, a handful of bouncers: 4-2-11-0. His second spell, after lunch, once he had checked that everything was in full working order, was spicier. Will Rhodes survived a toe-crusher, before Emilio Gay’s luck ran out and he was lbw to a rapid rasper low on the pad. Colin Ackerman was greeted with a snorter and there were a couple of those missiles that hone in on the body. One further spell made it 14 overs and one wicket for the day, and a nod of approval from Headingley.
On the other side of the country, Jimmy Anderson grabbed a couple of early wickets at Blackpool where the wind ran up the trouser leg and scampered out of the collar. Ben Compton’s 135 forKentreceived a standing ovation beforeLancashire’s openers accumulated neatly, until Keaton Jennings was out just before stumps.
Tilak Varma made an unbeaten 98 to easeHampshireto near parity asEssextoiled. Earlier Kyle Abbott pocketed his third five-fer of the season.Yorkshirehad a better day with bat than ball, biffed about byNottinghamshire’s Ishan Kishan, Liam Patterson-White and Dillon Pennington. Mohammad Abbas then removed Adam Lyth with his first ball, but an unbeaten 86 from Finlay Bean steadied things.
Middlesex’s Zafar Gohar spun out four ofNorthamptonshire’s top five, but Saif Zaib danced to an unbeaten 83 at Wantage Road, and there were more fireworks fromLeicestershireas Rehan Ahmed and Sol Budinger sprayed attacking centuries againstGlamorgan.
Centuries from Harry Came and Wayne Madsen putDerbyshirein a happy position againstGloucestershire. Tom Lammonby’s 133 was his highest first-class score, thoughSomersetthen lost seven for 91.Worcestershireworked hard to dismissSurrey, but Matt Fisher and Nathan Smith ruined their top order.
DIVISION ONE
Chester le Street:Durham 249-5 vSussex361
Chelmsford:Essex296 v Hants 293-4
Trent Bridge:Nottinghamshire487 v Yorkshire 154-3
Edgbaston:Warwickshire158-1 v Somerset 498
New Road:Worcestershire 214 and 69-4 v Surrey 291
DIVISION TWO
Bristol:Gloucestershire 187 and 62-1 v Derbyshire 398
Blackpool:Lancashire 120-1 v Kent 374
Grace Road:Leicestershire 389-3 v Glamorgan 353
Wantage Road:Northamptonshire 308-5 v Middlesex 413
Hello from a dampBlackpool tent. The skies are quizzical and there will be an inspection at 10.30am.