On a day of contrived finishes, bore draws and calculated bonus point accumulation, there was a win for Yorkshire and tense happenings at New Road, Chester-le-Street and Grace Road as the sixth round of matches in the LV= County Championship reached an, at times, enthralling conclusion today.
Players made up for time lost due to the recent rain and put in some excellent performances on the third day of matches in the sixth round of the LV= County Championship today. Ollie Rayner, Kyle Coetzer, Tom Westley and Darren Stevens were just some of the people to impress.
Rain again played havoc with what should have been the second day of matches in the sixth round of the LV= County Championship. Hampshire, Derbyshire, Sussex and Lancashire are still yet to get their matches underway, while there was no play on day two at Durham, where the hosts are taking on Somerset, or at Grace Road, where Northamptonshire are taking on Leicestershire.
Only up at Chester-le-Street was anything like a full day's play possible as the opening day of matches in the sixth round of the LV= County Championship attempted to get underway amidst the rain today. Those in the far south and west were worst affected, with Hampshire's match against Derbyshire; Lancashire's at Sussex; and Gloucestershire's against Yorkshire all abandoned with no play possible.
We preview all eight matches ahead of the sixth round of the LV= County Championship.
The rain allowed for some exciting action in the LV= County Championship as Warwickshire recorded a win over Durham to go top of Division One, while Kane Williamson and Andrew Hall put in notable performances in the second division.
The weather again intervened on the second day of matches in round five of the LV= County Championship, meaning that no play was possible in the matches involving Glamorgan and Essex; Northamptonshire and Hampshire; and Oxford MCCU and Kent, while the opening day of Middlesex's match against Worcestershire was also abandoned.
The long-running stand-off between Chris Gayle and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) appears to be closer to resolution after he turned down a deal to represent Somerset in the Friends Life t20.
He has made himself available for selection by the West Indies during the One-Day International and Twenty20 International series they play against England.
The rain finally relented to allow for more or less a full day's cricket as the fifth round of the LV= County Championship got underway. There were notable for performances from Derbyshire captain Wayne Madsen, Yorkshire wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow, and South Africa and Essex batsman Alviro Petersen, among others on the opening day.
The weather turned out to be worse than anticipated today meaning that the no play was possible on the third day of the matches involving Surrey and Durham; Essex and Northamptonshire; and Gloucestershire and Glamorgan. Derbyshire's match against Cardiff MCCU also saw no play and the decision was taken to abandon that match ahead of the final day.
A combination of sodden outfields and yet more rain made play impossible in three of the nine county matches scheduled for today. The second day of Gloucestershire's match against Glamorgan as well as Surrey's against Durham were both abandoned without a ball able to be bowled, while the first day of Derbyshire’s match against Cardiff MCCU suffered a similar fate.
Rain affected the opening day of most of the matches in the fourth round of the LV= County Championship to some extent, with those in the south of the country particularly badly affected. Indeed no play was possible at The Oval, where Surrey were taking on Durham, or in the Division Two clashes between Gloucestershire and Glamorgan and Essex and Northamptonshire.
We preview the fourth round of matches in the LV= County Championship which begin tomorrow, and round up all of the recent happenings on the county circuit in today's County Cricket Round-Up.
Nick Compton takes this week's award, as much in recognition of his excellent start to the 2012 season as for his 204 from 323 balls in Somerset's dominant performance at Trent Bridge.
Rain was the ultimate victor as most matches in the third round of the LV= County Championship ended in a draw. However, there was time for Warwickshire to hold their nerve to wrap up victory over Lancashire and for Hampshire to win a thriller at Cardiff.
The batsmen made the most of the slightly improved weather to record seven centuries on the third day of matches in the LV= County Championship third round.
The weather delayed things rather less than was originally feared, meaning that significant play was possible in all eight of today's games in the LV= County Championship.
As expected, rain wreaked havoc with today's county fixtures. From the little play that was possible between the showers, it was the bowlers who once again held the upper hand over their batting colleagues.
We preview the third round of matches in the LV= County Championship which begin tomorrow, and round-up the rest of the county news in today's County Cricket Round-Up.
There were several close finishes in the latest round of LV= County Championship matches, with Middlesex, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire all triumphing in their respective matches.
It was a day for batting collapses in the LV= County Championship as Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Durham, Middlesex and Glamorgan all lost a flurry of wickets at one point or other during the day's play with most of the batsmen struggling to adapt to the overcast conditions.
The bowlers continued to hold the edge over the batsmen on the second day of matches in round two of the LV= County Championship, although Michael Yardy, Michael Lumb, Michael Powell and Chris Dent did all reach three figures to restore some pride for the batsmen.
Wickets tumbled on the opening day of matches in round two of the LV= County Championship as the overcast conditions and myriad of stoppages due to persistent showers made life a misery for batsmen.
We preview the second round of LV= County Championship matches which get underway tomorrow.
