Ben Foakes doesn’t slip comfortably into contemporary boxes. He stays away from social media and plays his game, his way. And on the first day of the Championship season, a bitter wind screaming across Old Trafford, he played a crucial innings as Surrey began their title defence against last year’s runners-up, Lancashire. His careful 76 spanned a partnership of 87 with Jamie Smith and 75 with Cameron Steel after an early Surrey wobble – Rory Burns, the season’s first wicket, affronted to be given out caught behind for one. Steel also played astutely and cutely to be unbeaten on 86 at stumps as Surrey closed on 340 for seven.
A stop-start opening day at Lord’s was still positive for Dan Lawrence. After two Tests as a drinks waiter in New Zealand he was back with a bat in hand, holding firm between the breaks to give Essex a promising early platform against Middlesex.
Striding out to the middle an hour into play after Alastair Cook (16) and Nick Browne (22) fell in the space of two balls, Lawrence was 74 not out off 153 balls when bad light had the final say at 5.10pm. The visitors closed on 162 for three from 56 overs, the third wicket falling shortly before the close as Tom Westley (48) skewed Toby Roland-Jones to backward point and ruefully slunk back to the pavilion.
Lawrence might have left that winter tour believing that all-out aggression should now be his default but here he was content to absorb pressure, a stand of 121 with Westley built in the main on steadfast defence. It wasn’t until the final instalment of the day that he truly freed his arms, shimmying down to Roland-Jones to unfurl a handsome six over extra-cover and then drill the follow-up for four. Back in the top flight for the first time since 2017, Middlesex were served an early reminder of the step up in quality they will face this season.
The 20-year-old Finlay Bean, he of 441 against Nottinghamshire seconds last year, shimmied to the first Championship century of the year against Leicestershire, as Yorkshire made a positive start to a season which may yet include a points deduction.
Nottinghamshire took a battering in their first game since promotion, woven out for 185 by arguably the most skilful bowlers in the Championship. Hampshire’s Mohammad Abbas took six for 49 to decimate the top-order and turn the screw on the tail. Joe Clarke and Tom Moores both fell just short of fifty. In reply, Olly Stone, in Notts colours for the first time, bowled Felix Organ for one with his ninth ball but Fletcha Middleton, making his Championship debut, guided Hampshire to three figures with an unbeaten 56.
It was down in Division Two that Bazball shone brightest, at Ben Stokes’s Durham – who sprinted to 352 for 7 against Sussex, at five an over, picking up three batting points in the process. Alex Lees set the tone with 79 off only 85 balls at the top of the order.
Rain and mechanical hiccups delayed the start of play at Sophia Gardens, where the hover cover broke down in the middle of the outfield. Gloucestershire then crawled to 71-1, before losing six for 37. Fifty from Marcus Harris and twenties from Zafar Gohar and Tom Price inched them to 165 all out. Glamorgan’s Timm van der Gugten finished with 5 for 26.
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The first day of Northamptonshire’s trip to Canterbury was not a happy one: they finished a grim, rain-curtailed day with 89 for seven, after being put into bat by Kent. Ricky Vasconcelos’s 39 at the top of the order was followed by a cascade of single figures, extras contributing the second highest score with 11. Grant Stewart snaffled three for 6 and Michael Hogan, a winter signing from Glamorgan, two for 36. While at Derby, Billy Godleman and Wayne Madsen chugged Derbyshire along at a marching tempo against Worcestershire.
There was no cricket at all at Taunton, the outfield resembling a sopping dishcloth and heat lamps coaxing the grass to grow in front of the pavilion. Twenty-six days of rain in March had left the groundstaff with little room for maneouvre and an approach to Warwickshire to switch home and away fixtures was turned down.
