County Cricket

Bat continued to dominate ball in round nine of the LV= County Championship, with most of the matches looking destined to be draws heading into tomorrow's final day. Only at Wantage Road was there a result as Northamptonshire completed the anticipated win over Worcestershire to move further clear at the top of Division Two.

Runs continued to flow on the county circuit as the sun shone and Keith Barker, Nick Compton and Freddie van den Bergh completed centuries. The best of the wicket-taking action again came at Wantage Road, where Worcestershire look to be on the brink of defeat against Northamptomshire.

There were centuries for Varun Chopra, Michael Lumb, Chris Rogers and Jim Allenby on a high-scoring day of matches in the LV= County Championship. Worcestershire were the only side bowled out on the opening day of round nine fixtures as Northamptonshire's pace attack proved too hot to handle at Wantage Road.

We preview tomorrow's round nine LV= County Championship matches and look back at last night's Graham Napier-led demolition of Surrey.

A doughty unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 70 in 23 overs between Ben Brown and Chris Jordan helped Sussex earn a draw on the final day of their LV= County Championship Division One match against Nottinghamshire at Hove. There was also a win for Worcestershire in Rotterdam in the Yorkshire Bank 40.

It was another sun-drenched day on the county circuit, with wins for Durham, Essex, Northamptonshire, Middlesex, Somerset and Gloucestershire in the Yorkshire Bank 40. In the LV= County Championship, Ricky Ponting tormented Derbyshire a little longer before their game at Derby ended in the anticipated draw, while Nottinghamshire moved into a good position with a day to go at Hove.

There was last-ball drama at Aigburth as Gloucestershire only narrowly escaped with a draw against Lancashire. Elsewhere, there was a tense nine-run win in the Yorkshire Bank 40 for Worcestershire and a debut Surrey century for Ricky Ponting.

There were welcome wickets for Chris Tremlett as he ensured that his name was kept in the thoughts of the England selectors on the day that they bowled poorly at Lord's. Elsewhere, Daryl Mitchell led Worcestershire's bonus points charge against Essex and Somerset avoided the follow-on to escape with a draw against Yorkshire.

There was enough cricket played in between the rain delays today to provide some interesting talking points. Shivnarine Chanderpaul made up for a delayed start at Derby by hitting an unusually brisk century, while Adam Lyth found himself on a hat-trick at Taunton, and Jack Shantry out-bowled Alan Richardson to be Essex's unexpected tormentor at New Road.

Rain again decimated the day's county cricket action, with the opening day of the second division match between Northamptonshire and Hampshire at Wantage Road abandoned without a ball bowled.

Rain in both Taunton and Worcester means that the eighth round of the LV= County Championship will have to wait until tomorrow to get underway. The first days of the matches between Somerset and Yorkshire and Worcestershire and Essex were both abandoned without a ball bowled with not even a toss taking place.

There were Bank Holiday Yorkshire Bank 40 wins for Kent, Surrey, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Middlesex and Durham. Josh Cobb and Steven Crook both carried over their prolific form from yesterday's games with starring roles in their sides' victories against the Unicorns and Warwickshire.

There were wins for Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Sussex, Gloucestershire and Leicestershire in today's Yorkshire Bank 40 matches, with the Foxes' win over Somerset coming during a match in which well over 600 runs were scored and which saw three centuries. The Championship match at Southampton between Hampshire and Lancashire finished in a draw.

There were draws at Chester-le-Street, New Road and Chelmsford today as the seventh round of the LV= County Championship drew to a close. In Southampton, the final day is set up nicely thanks to another five-wicket haul from Lancashire captain Glen Chapple.

The same band of blustery showers that wiped out the opening day of the second Test at Headingley played havoc with the day's county cricket. All matches suffered to some degree, but that didn't prevent an Alan Richardson inspired Worcestershire from closing in on victory over Gloucestershire.

The demise of Somerset in very much the talking point on the county circuit at the moment, with the county giving further ammunition to their critics by collapsing for 108 to lose inside two days to Sussex. Elsewhere, Worcestershire built on Alan Richardson's eight-wicket haul yesterday thanks to a Moeen Ali century, while Durham took the upper hand over Middlesex.

There were two eight-wicket hauls in the LV= County Championship as the seventh round got into full swing today. Alan Richardson has now taken 20 wickets in his last three bowls after starring against Kent and now Gloucestershire, while Steve Magoffin added to Somerset's Championship woes by leading their humbling for 76.

A round-up of the day's county cricket action plus previews of tomorrow's round seven games.

Rain in the Netherlands meant that only 10.2 overs were bowled in Schiedam as the Group A Yorkshire Bank 40 between the hosts and Sussex ended in a no result.

Chris Dent was the unexpected star of the day in the Yorkshire Bank 40. Boasting a previous highest one-day score of just 36, Dent struck 151 not out off only 113 balls to help Gloucestershire to a narrow win over Glamorgan. Elsewhere, Hampshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire and Somerset all triumphed.