Key events
2023 is the year of the Durham fan:
Somerset doing their best to attach their teeth to Nottinghamshire’s trouser hems and haul themselves back into the game. Mullaney and Slater both out quickly this morning, Slater for 70 and Mullaney for 29. Craig Overton involved with both, a bucket hands catch at second slip and catching Mullaney’s edge. Hold that thought, Hutton has now joined Mullaney and Slater in the pavilion, bowled Henry for four. Notts 162-7, two runs behind.
Some fantastic photographs here posted by Mes, who spent yesterday umpiring in a cricket tournament in Caen, organised by France terre d’asile – a non-profit organisation which works for asylum seekers. Seven matches of six-a-side cricket using a tennis ball on a chipboard wicket.
A hundred for Nick Gubbins!
His slowest first-class century, against his old county that he left in search of England recognition. A hug and a bat raise. Hampshire 297-4.
5o for Daniel Bell Drummond!
Bell Drummond at The County Ground beats Nick Gubbins (98) at The Rose Bowl to the first milestone of the day.
Kookaburra chat
Surrey’s Sean Abbott: “The Kookaburra ball is more consistent when it is brand new but the Dukes tend to swing more through an innings and, today, when that Kookaburra got older, it did feel a bit flat and slow out there.”
Leicestershire’s Ed Barnes: ““Ultimately it is a great wicket and the Kookaburra adds to that, but all we can do is pick up the last six wickets as soon as possible and get batting ourselves. You never know about a pitch until both sides have batted but we’ll be confident of getting runs on it as well.”
Sussex’s Nathan McAndrew: “They are completely different balls, behave really differently, the normal Dukes swing a lot more and the Kookaburra doesn’t stay as hard. I was surprised how the ball lost its hardness after 16 to 17 overs so luckily we had them three or four down at that point.”
Kent’s Wes Agar: “At times with the Kookaburra ball the game goes a bit slower and it gets a bit flatter. For Hami [Qadri] to come in and break those partnerships by bowling spin on a day one wicket, I think that’s a big tick for his game moving forward.
“Luckily enough we got the ball moving a bit in the air, which was nice and I was able to get some wickets. It’s always nice to have a ball in your hand when it is reversing.”
Derbyshire’s Anuj Dal: “I felt the ball (Kookaburra) was very different. In your hand it feels very different and the outcome on the pitch is also very different.
“What this ball is test your patience and to try and be as disciplined as you can. That is the biggest thing. If you look after a Dukes ball properly, it can still be swinging in the 79th over. With this one, not quite the same but it is nice to have that opportunity to play with it.”
Hampshire’s Liam Dawson: ““[The Kookaburra ball] went very soft in that middle period. It wasn’t easy to score with the ring fields and then when they took the new ball I took a conscious effort to score a bit quicker as it seemed easier to score with the harder ball. If anything it is softer than the Dukes but it is what it is.”
Middlesex’s Josh de Caires: “I wasn’t expecting to bowl as many overs but the pitch is taking a bit of spin, especially when the ball is a little harder. It was nice to get through a few overs but a shame I couldn’t get a few more wickets. I probably wouldn’t be playing if it wasn’t a Kookaburra.
“I felt in the game before lunch but afterwards it stopped spinning for me. I’m not experienced enough to know whether that is me or the ball.
“It definitely went a bit softer and slightly less happening which meant we had to hang in there. I think by the end of 80 overs they [Kookaburra and Dukes balls] would be similar. I was more around the 40-50 over mark where the Dukes still offers a little bit. It is still a cricket ball and you have got to find a way.”
Yorkshire’s Fin Bean: “With these Kookaburra balls, there’s not much off the seam, but there was a bit in the air early on. That’s the biggest thing we spoke about – just getting through the swing and pile them on like we did. Onto tomorrow now and see what we can do.”
Warwickshire’s bowling coach Stuart Barnes: “The Kookaburra ball is an interesting one. We practised with it, but not a lot. Hassan gave us some real good insights into the way that the Kookaburra ball in Pakistan conditions behaves. But there is nothing like learning on the job. The first new-ball this morning I thought we bowled really well, two quick wickets – it would have been nice to get a third before the ball stopped doing anything. It went soft quite early and then it was just a case of just digging in and bowling lots of good balls.
“The second new-ball didn’t really do too much. It actually reacted similar to a white Kookaburra where it might swing for a couple of balls, and that’s what happened with the second one. But it didn’t really do too much and I know our boys would much prefer the Duke’s.
Scores on the doors
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 391-7 v Warwickshire
Rose Bowl: Hampshire 284-4 v Middlesex
County Ground: Northants 237 v Kent 110-1
Taunton: Somerset 163 v Nottinghamshire 145-4
The Oval: Surrey 70-4 v Lancashire 274
DIVISION TWO
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 242 v Sussex 65-1
Grace Road: Leicestershire v Durham 422-4
New Road: Worcestershire 237 v Derbyshire 32-2
Headingley: Yorkshire 393-6 v Gloucestershire
Sunday’s round up
This round of Championship cricket, squeezed between the T20 Blast, has the novelty of being the first of two this summer which will use the Kookaburra ball. They were prescribed by the Strauss report, in an attempt to reduce reliance on the swing and seam of the Dukes and encourage fast and spin bowling.
One day in, with seven centuries on the board but five teams bowled out in less than a day, it seems too early to make a call. Finlay Bean and George Hill made the most of a good Headingley pitch, a swift outfield, and some wayward Gloucestershire bowling, to rock to sparkling centuries and put Yorkshire in a dominant position.
At Chelmsford, Dan Lawrence made his second hundred of the season for Essex, in a partnership of 227 with Tom Westley, who was finally out for a sparkling 114. Dom Bess grabbed two consolation wickets for Warwickshire.
A humdinger of a game is developing at The Oval, where Lancashire were dismissed for 274 only to have Surrey 70 for four at stumps. A Brett Hutton five‑fer took the shine off Somerset’s day against Nottinghamshire, dismissed for 163.
Hampshire finished the day on 284 for four against Middlesex. Spinner Liam Dawson, overlooked by England, was 111 not out overnight and, along with Nick Gubbins, shimmied Hampshire into a dominant position. At the County Ground, Rob Keogh’s 97 propped up Northamptonshire in the Division One basement battle against Kent.
Durham raced along at now familiar lick, with centuries from Alex Lees and Ollie Robinson putting pressure on a Leicestershire side already reeling from the news that Paul Nixon had been put on gardening leave. Nathan McAndrew and Jack Carson kept Glamorgan firmly tethered at Sophia Gardens against Sussex, while Anuj Dal’s five wickets ensured the bottom club Derbyshire had some skin in the game at New Road, Worcestershire all out for 237 after a stonking opening stand.
Preamble
Good morning! A fresher day has dawned with showers swirling, especially in the north and east. While England’s women buckle down for an unlikely chase in the Test, and English cricket prepares for the ICEC report on equity in cricket to land, eight Championship games are in progress – part of a small Kookaburra ball experiment.
Centuries for Lawrence, Westley, Dawson, Bean, Hill, Lees and Robinson (the other one) have set up some cracking games, but it is at Taunton and The Oval, where 28 wickets fell yesterday, where you might first want to glance.
