County cricket: Yorkshire v Lancashire, Surrey v Somerset and more – live!

Forget everything I said about maximum bowling points. Durham now 13-2, with Michael Jones also back in the pavilion. Stuart Broad currently: 4-2-8-2. I smell power to add.

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Worcestershire hit cruise control – 191-2, with Jack Haynes 59 not out.

Durham’s pursuit of maximum batting points dealt rather a blow as Bancroft falls third ball to Stuart Broad for a duck. Durham 7-1. I wonder if England will do as Tim suggests and alternate Jimmy/Broad in the Ashes.

Somerset will qualify for Division One if they pick up three Surrey wickets today (Surrey currently 50-0)

Apologies to Atkins, that is actually the second five-fer of his career.

Meanwhile at The Riverside, Chris Rushworth has just taken the final wicket of the Notts innings, Liam Patterson-White for 73. If – let’s be honest, it is a big if – Durham get maximum batting points and win the game, they will be in Division One come August.

The groups as they sit at the moment:

Group one

Notts 137

Warwicks 131

Durham 122

Essex 118

Worcestershire 97

Derby 63

Group two

Somerset 134

Gloucestershire 129

Hants 123

Surrey 112

Leics 107

Middlesex 63

Group three

YORKS 141 – DIVISION ONE

LANCS 139 – DIVISION ONE

Northants 113

Glamorgan 111

Kent 86

Sussex 83

The only wicket to fall in the first ten minutes of the day is at Canterbury, where young Jamie Atkins completes a five-fer in only his fourth Championship match. Kent 129-8, 52 behind. This could be over today.

Yesterday’s sogathon at Headingley has delayed the start until noon, elsewhere, they’re ready to go.

Tim loves to tinker with the established norms, and here he is at it again. A great read.

There is buckets to read this morning – here is Ali’s match preview of today’s ODI against Pakistan, with Ben Stokes musing over Covid’s possible arrow through the heart of The Hundred.

Group One

Derbyshire 146 v Essex 86-3 MATCH ABANDONED: COVID
Durham v Nottinghamshire 312-9 No play day 2, rain
Worcestershire 152-2 v Warwickshire 395 all out

Group Two
Gloucestershire 229 v Hampshire 270-5
Middlesex 324-9 v Leicestershire 174-5
Surrey 24-0 v Somerset 429 all out

Group Three
Glamorgan 52-2 v Northants 215-9
Kent 127-7 v Sussex 181

Yorkshire v Lancashire 273-2 No play day 2, rain.

Covid threw a bouncer into Essex’s chances of playing Division One cricket later this season when their Championship game against Derbyshire had to be abandoned before play on the second day.
A positive Test in the Derbyshire ranks was the cause, with other squad members being ‘pinged’ as close contacts. The entire squad is now self-isolating, alongside the Derbyshire players involved in the Vitality Blast match last Friday. Points awarded from the abandoned game are yet to be decided, but Essex, who started the match with a theoretical chance of reaching Division One, are presumably now out of the running. A decision will be made in consultation with Public Health England and the ECB on whether Derbyshire will play their two remaining Blast matches, against Northamptonshire on Friday and Yorkshire on Sunday.
There was more Covid-interruption at Canterbury, where Kent’s second-string team was further depleted. Nathan Gilchrist, who took two for 24 during Sussex’s first innings, was told to self-isolate from a separate track and trace incident, leaving Bailey Wightman as the sixth Kent debutant of the match. Just 80 minutes play were possible, with Kent moving on to 122 for seven.
Hampshire finished the chirpier in the winner-takes-all contest at Cheltenham. Gloucestershire’s batting never recovered from losing 3-0 in the three first overs of the day. Hampshire then built a lead of 41 thanks largely to an opening stand of 174 between Ian Holland and Joe Weatherley.
At the Oval, Somerset only have to avoid defeat to leap into Division One and their batsmen made good progress, hoovering up a third batting point and reaching 429. Some jolly late-innings japes from Jack Leach and Marchant de Lange, who both swung sixes, entertained the crowd. Rory Burns had time to hit four fours in Surrey’s reply before the rain fell.
Overnight batsmen Charlie Thurston and Saif Zaib helped Northamptonshire to respectability at Sophia Gardens, but off spinner Andrew Salter’s four for 18 mopped up the tail. Glamorgan lost both openers before the heavens opened Middlesex lost five for 29 as their middle-order and tail folded origami-style in the face of seamer Will Davis, who finished with five for 66. Bulwark Sam Robson was finally out for a seven-hour 154. Colin Ackermann led the Leicestershire reply, 65 not out before bad light intervened. Tim Murtagh took three for 34.
New Zealand spinner Ish Sodhi grabbed six wickets on his red-ball debut for Worcestershire, but Warwickshire still scooped up four batting points in their quest for Division One cricket. Daryl Mitchell then hit his highest score of the season, 83 not out, on a flat New Road pitch. Not a ball was bowled at Headingley or The Riverside.

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15h ago19:13

Good morning from a Manchester wrapped in dirty old dog blankets. Yesterday, the weather farted at will round the country, but today promises to be more settled, with just a few showers across Scotland and the northwest England. So set up your percolator and settle in in for day 3 of this final preliminary Championship round.