County Cricket Round-Up - 1st August

County Cricket Round-Up - 1st August

Steve Magoffin has been a revelation for Sussex in four-day cricket since signing as their overseas player at the beginning of the season.

©Sussex CCC

The beginning of August marked the start of another round of action in the LV= County Championship, with two of the three title contenders in action at Uxbridge and Aigburth, and Yorkshire looking to make up ground on Derbyshire at the top of Division Two. We round up all six of today’s matches, and the rest of the action, below.

It was a good day for two young English batsmen on day one at Uxbridge where Middlesex closed on 324 for seven against Warwickshire. Joe Denly made 95 and shared a third-wicket stand of 136 with Dawid Malan. Malan brought up his century off 162 balls, but Chris Wright and Chris Woakes each took two wickets to peg the home side back and cause a mini-collapse of four wickets for five runs, before Ollie Rayner and Toby Roland-Jones prevented any further loss before stumps.

Lancashire reached 129 for five on the opening day against Somerset at Aigburth. Peter Trego took four for 34 for the visitors, including the key wicket of Karl Brown, which ended his 79-run third-wicket stand with Ashwell Prince. Alfonso Thomas dispatched Prince for 51 shortly before the close to wrap up another testing day for the reigning champions.

Sussex bowled Worcestershire out for just 162 on day one at Hove. Steve Magoffin took the first two wickets to fall on his way to figures of four for 34, while James Anyon (two for 39) and Amjad Khan (three for 36) also enjoyed good days. Moeen Ali hit a battling 43 for the Pears, while Richard Jones ended unbeaten on 30 off 44 balls at number nine. Sussex then closed on 22 without loss.

Glamorgan had to wait until mid-afternoon to get their Division Two match against Gloucestershire underway at Swansea as rain battered the ground throughout the morning. They may have regretted having to start at all, however, as they had slipped to 64 for six by the time stumps were drawn. On a pitch that is expected to turn appreciably, off-spinners Rob Nicol and Jack Taylor shared three wickets, while Ian Saxelby and David Payne accounted for the other three between them.

Yorkshire were bowled out for 249 on the first day against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road. They squandered a promising start, having reached 148 for two at one stage thanks to Phil Jaques, who made 75, but Lee Daggett took three middle-order wickets and they were bowled out in the final over of the day.

Essex’s openers batted for all of a shortened opening day against Leicestershire at Chelmsford to reach stumps on 161 for none. Tom Westley and Jaik Mickleburgh both ended with undefeated half-centuries as none of the visitors’ six bowlers were able to find a way through.

Surrey went top of Group B of the Clydesdale Bank 40 thanks to a hard-fought win over Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge. On a slow, spinning pitch, they bowled the home side out for just 149, with Gareth Batty and Matthew Spriegel taking two wickets each and Jade Denbach taking three for 39.

Surrey struggled in their run chase and lost the returning Rory Hamilton-Brown and Jason Roy in Harry Gurney's opening over. Steve Davies then played nicely in making 35 before becoming the first of two victims for the reliable Steven Mullaney. Spriegel made 47 but fell shortly before the end, leaving Zafar Ansari and Gareth Batty to finish the job with almost four overs to spare.

Durham’s bowlers were again left to make up for the shortcomings of their batsmen on the opening day of their tour match against Australia A. They were dismissed for just 197 in their first innings, in spite of a bright start from debutant Ramanpreet Singh, who made 22 before falling as one of four wickets for Alister McDermott. Fellow debutant Paul Coughlin hit 29 not out from number nine, while Johann Myburgh top-scored with 34. In reply, the Australians reached 69 for one as Liam Davis dazzled in making 40, before Coughlin dismissed Michael Klinger to give him his maiden first-class scalp, and Mark Wood took four quick wickets. They closed on 111 for six.

Tomorrow’s Fixtures:
Day Two, LV=CCD1, Lancashire v Somerset at Aigburth
Day Two, LV=CCD1, Middlesex v Warwickshire at Uxbridge
Day Two, LV=CCD1, Sussex v Worcestershire at Hove
Day One, LV=CCD2, Derbyshire v Kent at Derby
Day Two, LV=CCD2, Essex v Leicestershire at Chelmsford
Day Two, LV=CCD2, Glamorgan v Gloucestershire at Swansea
Day Two, LV=CCD2, Northamptonshire v Yorkshire at Wantage Road
Day Two, Tour Match, Durham v Australia A at Chester-le-Street

Weather Forecast: Tomorrow will start dry, but a band of scattered showers will begin to come in from the west late in the morning. At times, these will be heavy, but in between it will be sunny and relatively warm, with temperatures peaking at between 18 and 21 degrees Celsius.

County News In Brief:
Yorkshire have been boosted by the news that should they make it to October’s Champions League T20 by reaching the final of the Friends Life t20 on 25th August, then overseas player David Miller will be available for all of their matches.

Somerset are understood to be one of the two counties to have submitted a 28-day notice to Warwickshire saying they would like permission to speak to Irish bowler Boyd Rankin. In other Warwickshire transfer news, Richard Johnson has been allowed out on loan to Derbyshire for the rest of the season; Neil Carter is expected to announce his retirement shortly; and Andy Miller and Ateeq Javid are expected to move away from Edgbaston at the end of the season.

Jack Brooks and Alex Wakely have been awarded their county caps by Northamptonshire.

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