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Key events
Twelve overs here in OT this morninga lot of threat but not as much pressure as Lancashire he could hope – there was no maiden yet. The hundred is up for Kent who need 63 more.
Suddenly it looks tacky for Kent. Hartley and Lyon have the bite between their teeth. At least Anderson didn’t dig the grass in the deep end.
By the way, no game at Lord’s – it’s raining there and the forecast is miserable.
Brilliant! Compton has to go this time, he drives and Lyon, all international reflexes, dives down the right and collects. Kent 92-2, require 73.
Drop! And that’s the crab-like Compton dropped by Will Williams, the ball bouncing off his paws as he hit the ground.
Another email drops – good morning Jonathan May!
“Interesting article by Ali on PCA concerns about the volume of domestic cricket being played.
“To some extent the concerns make sense given that after the championship phase the schedule becomes incredibly messy due to the ECB’s mother of all disasters in adding a fourth format to the season. You often get the impression that players aren’t sure which format they are playing midway through.
“However, some complaints do not wash away. Travel time in England is not much of an issue (compare road trips for the US NBA!). And how about traveling on team buses rather than their cars as it’s safer and more environmentally friendly? Most sports teams look like this.
“First of all, 78 days of county cricket (the number Ali quoted) doesn’t seem too much in six months. This includes all the days of the Championship that are theoretically played (which they never do) and the one-day cup, which today is full of second-team players grateful for the chance to shine. Very few players, if any, play all the matches.
“Come on guys, it’s professional sports and it’s a good life. I would trade it for an office job any day.
Hartley and Lyon walk away, not quite in the dust, a little less the moist soil. Kent’s target has shrunk to 84 – make that 80 with that boundary from Compton, who has been a bit less of a slug this morning.
Good morning Tim Maitland!
“I’m just reliving the 156 against Joe Root Glamorgan and the 119 he scored in the last game against Darbyshire and I can’t help but think that could be really good news for England.
“Of course, these are not Test-caliber attacks, but I would say that Root was the one person who was not to be swayed by what Brendon McCullum likes to call the ‘Bazball’ philosophy. He was already scoring at a rate that would get under the skin of any Test captain and, more importantly, he was doing it in a relatively risk-free manner: cuddling one and two of the good balls and dispatching the bad ones with precision. Relieved of the captaincy and given the looser management of the Ben Stokes era, I would say Root has become less effective. Not that his new shots got him out as often, but he seemed to come out more often, insisting on scoring higher than he should have.
”The beauty of yesterday’s innings (foreshadowed by the more pedestrian one against Derbyshire) was that although he was scoring almost a ball a ball – his century came nicely off exactly 100 balls – Root was not pushing to produce runs. The scoop seems to have been largely abandoned and the backswing returned to its role as a surprise weapon.
“If this is part of a plan to get back to what made him such a successful Test batsman, he could enjoy a real Indian summer as he enters the later stages of his career.”
Players express concern on the congested domestic fixture list:
The Sunday round
In the brilliant evening sunlight at Old Trafford, Nathan Lyon was wreaking havoc. With the ball spitting and tearing, and four men near the bat squatting on their long shadows, KentDaniel Bell-Drummond and Ben Compton dive into their task of surviving and unearthing 164 Lancashire set them up to win.
Lyon, with sunglasses to match his shaved head, called vigorously but neither he nor Tom Hartley could make a breakthrough. Kentdespite the loss of Zac Crowley in the second over of the innings, lbw for one, still needing 93. Earlier, Matt Parkinson and Wes Agar finished with three wickets each despite some gutsy innings from Lancashire youngsters George Balderson and Bell and Matty Hurst .
A reverse swing masterclass from the lively Jayden Seals sneaked in Derbyshiresecond innings of, sending them flying like Smarties at a children’s party and win by an innings and 124 runs.
Seals, who scored two hat-tricks, finished with a career-best five for 29 and warm words from his head coach at Sussex, Paul Farbrace, who said: “In the four games he’s played for us, every single period he’s been involved in has struggled. He never galloped, never took it easy and never wanted to bowl.”
New Zealand fast bowler Blair Tickner of Derbyshire has pulled no punches and announced that his wife Sarah is suffering from leukemia and is being treated in the UK. Sussex lost a point due to slow bidding.
Yorkshire skinned Glamorgan to all corners of Headingley, galloping to maximum batting points with bags of overs to spare. Joe Root hit 156, his second hundred in consecutive games, Finlay Bean’s aggressive 173, his highest first-class score, while Harry Brook and Jonny Tattersall contributed superb fifties. Mason Crane, who got a ton, finished with five for 152. Glamorgan lost three wickets – including Kieran Carlson, who was unlucky to be run out by Root’s shin pad at a silly moment – before Sam Northist and Colin Ingram intervened.
Hundreds for Sam Robson and Leus du Plooy helped Middlesex after 400 at the Lord’s, with several loopholes for LeicestershireThis is Rehan Ahmed.
Door scores
DIVISION ONE
Old Trafford: Lancashire 92 and 332 vs Kent 261 and 71-1
Taunton: Somerset 128 and 170-7 BEAT Essex 156 and 138 BY THREE WICKETS
SECOND DIVISION
Derby: Derbyshire 246 and 109-9 LOST TO SUSSEX 479 BY AN INNINGS AND 124 RUNS
Lord’s: Middlesex 407-8 v Leicestershire 306
Headingley: Yorkshire 519-7dec v Glamorgan 221 and 171-3
Preamble
Good festive morning! It’s a beautiful day here in Manchester – where Kent need 93 more runs for their first Championship win at Old Trafford this millennium. elsewhere Yorkshire are on a charge and things look fair for an entertaining tie at Lord’s.
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