LV= Insurance County Championship 2022 Round 13 Day 1: Monday 12th September - Latest News, Scores and Match Reports

Here is all the latest news, scores and match reports for the LV= Insurance County Championship 2022 Round 13 Day 1: Monday 12th September.

 

Top Tournament Stats -  LV= Insurance County Championship 2022

Top Batter (Runs Scored)

Top Bowler (Wickets taken)

Most Sixes

Points Table

Monday September 12th

Division One

 

Northamptonshire vs Surrey, The County Ground Northampton

Emilio Gay celebrated a deluxe century, his first at Wantage Road, as Northamptonshire dominated LV= Insurance County Championship title-chasing Surrey on day one.

Opening batter Gay was fantastic in his 145, his third first-class century and second of the season, as he helped his side score 249 for four seamlessly having been stuck into bat.

He was joined in a 77-run first-wicket partnership with Will Young and a 155-run fourth-wicket stand with Rob Keogh with a Kemar Roach and Dan Worrall-induced wobble in between.

Keogh ended the day on an effortless 75 not out but was outshone by Gay’s personal best.

The death of The Queen last week was marked with a minute’s silence and National Anthem before play, while there was a period of applause during a rain break in remembrance of Northamptonshire coach Luke Swann, who died aged 39 last week on a sombre day.

On the field, Gay burst the subdued mood with a jamboree of an innings.

Gay erupted out the gates with a pair of glorious cover drives off Kemar Roach, but it was his play square of the wicket that dominated his innings – most aesthetically pleasing were his wristy flicks off his legs.

The elegant left-hander passed 50 for the sixth time this season in 69 balls, and he answered criticisms of his conversion rate – only one century this year – in emphatic style.

The 22-year-old stayed in one easy-going gear the whole way through the day and reached three figures – his first outside of Canterbury – in 118-balls, before passing his previous best red ball score of 112.

His standing ovation, having fallen into a short ball trap to hook to deep square leg in drizzle, was well deserved for his high-quality innings – although it turned to frustration as his wicket saw the end of the day’s play.

Rory Burns had stuck Northamptonshire in but didn’t get the immediate movement and accuracy he would have craved – with his side losing their top spot of Division One to Hampshire on their week off.

Tom Curran made his first Championship appearance since April 2019 with unspectacular figures of 11 wicketless overs for 39. The England international has returned from a stress fracture in his back this year, having been sidelined by a side strain for much of 2019.

After the rain delay, which knocked 10 overs off the day’s scheduled allotment, Surrey return to find swing on the agenda and made the more favourable conditions work with three wickets in 31 balls.

Will Young had been the antidote to Gay’s flair – scoring 20 of the 77 runs – before a backfoot drive off Roach found his outside edge and flew to second slip, before the West Indian had Luke Procter fending to gully.

Dan Worrell dragged Josh Cobb wide to drive an away swinger behind to put Northamptonshire in danger of replicating their woes at Hampshire last week. In each innings, Gay and Young had successfully dealt with the new ball, with stands of 68 and 98 before the team was bowled out for 175 and 221.

This time Rob Keogh entered to steady things, with Gay continuing his business. Keogh embodied class and experience for his 91-ball fifty and continued an equal 75 to the 155 with Gay. The heavy majority of his runs came behind the wicket, usually when opening the face of the bat on a good-paced pitch.

 

Warwickshire vs Somerset, Edgbaston

Lewis Gregory's defiant half-century underpinned Somerset's dogged fightback on a weather-affected opening day of their LV=Insurance County Championship relegation battle with Warwickshire at Edgbaston. 

After choosing to bat on a slow, turning pitch, the visitors closed on 182 for eight with Gregory unbeaten  on 60 (93 balls, four fours, four sixes) having supervised an impressive recovery from a parlous 82 for seven. 

Somerset were in deep trouble after India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj (four for 54) got among the wickets on his Warwickshire debut. But Gregory batted with great determination and nous to add 58 with Josh Davey for the eighth wicket and an unbroken 42 with Sajid Khan for the ninth.  

His work meant that this crucial match between the two sides currently straddling the Division One relegation line ended a truncated first day (40 overs lost to rain and bad light) pretty much even.  

The game opened with a compelling India v Pakistan tussle as Siraj bowled to Imam-ul-Haq and it went India's way after the batter edged a waft to wicketkeeper Michael Burgess. Olly Hannon-Dalby then hit Tom Abell's off stump with the second ball after a rain-enforced early lunch. 

Tom Lammonby (24, 68 balls) and George Bartlett took Somerset to 46 for two before three wickets fell in six balls to leave them 46 for five. Lammonby's ill-advised charge at debutant Jayant Nadav saw him comfortably stumped, then Bartlett gloved a pull at Siraj and James Rew fell lbw first ball. 

After Siraj went off to graze with figures of 13-5-25-3, Henry Brookes maintained the pressure with two wickets in his first four overs as Lewis Goldsworthy and Kasey Aldridge were lbw to rapid inswingers.  

Somerset were in deep trouble at 82 for seven but Gregory played with great vigilance, interspersed with one spectacular burst of aggression when he lifted Danny Briggs for three successive sixes just before tea.  

In the final session, Gregory and Davey (21, 43 balls) added 58 in 14 overs before Siraj won another lbw decision to oust Davey. Warwickshire's hopes of briskly lopping off the tail were foiled by Gregory's continued doggedness with assertive support from Khan (31 not out, 33 balls). 

Yorkshire vs Essex, Headingley

Sam Cook reached 200 first-class career wickets in record-breaking fashion as Essex bowled Yorkshire out for 134 during a bowler-friendly opening day of their LV= Insurance County Championship clash at Headingley. 

In returning an excellent three for 31 from 15 overs, the 25-year-old England Lions seamer became the first English bowler in more than half a century to bring up the double hundred at an average under 20.

Cook, whose 201 wickets have came at 19.56 apiece, achieved a feat last secured by Derbyshire’s Alan Ward in 1971 and took advantage of helpful conditions to vindicate captain Tom Westley’s decision to bowl first at the start of the two counties’ 12th match of 14 in Division One. 

He was ably backed up by fellow seamer Shane Snater’s three for 39, while Jamie Porter and Ben Allison claimed two wickets apiece as the hosts were bowled out just before tea, including George Hill’s top score of 36. 

There was no play possible beyond tea, taken at 3pm, due to rain, with Essex’s innings not starting. Forty three overs were cut from the day’s allotted 96. 

Play was preceded by a minute’s silence in memory of Queen Elizabeth II and the national anthem, while both teams wore black armbands. 

While Essex are bidding to end the season with a top three finish in Division One - they started this round 30 points behind Lancashire with a game in hand - Yorkshire are still not clear of relegation danger. They are 25 points clear of second-bottom Warwickshire. 

Cook has been in outstanding recent form. He has taken 23 wickets in his last six appearances both in the Championship and for the Trent Rockets in the Hundred, including a match-winning 10-for against Kent last week.

Here is a bowler who is affectionately known as Little Chef at Chelmsford, owing to the presence of the Alastair Cook in their squad.

Sam is without express pace - he is not as quick as new ball partner Jamie Porter, for example - but he rarely lets batters settle with his accuracy and skill. Many see him as the ideal replacement for Jimmy Anderson in England’s Test team when needs be. 

He made the initial breakthrough by getting Fin Bean caught behind for a duck one-handed by wicketkeeper Adam Rossington, who also had an impressive day. It was the first of four catches for the ex-Northamptonshire man.

That left Yorkshire, batting under floodlights all day, at four for one in the fourth over before Tom Kohler-Cadmore edged to third slip for his milestone wicket and Hill feathered behind.

When the latter fell for an innings top-score of 36 in the afternoon’s second over, Yorkshire were 64 for five in the 30th.

After an early Porter strike, getting the other opener Adam Lyth caught behind, Snater matched Cook’s contribution as Essex pressed ahead.

Snater’s first wicket was Will Fraine bowled for a duck shortly before lunch. 

Afterwards, he had Matthew Revis caught behind off the inside edge and also bowled Jonny Tattersall for a hard-working 32 as Yorkshire fell to 100 for seven in the 41st over.

Allison then added his two wickets, including bowling Ben Coad with a vicious bouncer which he could only fend onto his stumps, before Porter wrapped up the innings by trapping Jack Shutt lbw in the 53rd over.

New Yorkshire loan signing Ben Mike, the all-rounder who has joined early from Leicestershire ahead of a three-year contract starting this winter, has not been selected and must wait at least a week for his debut.

 

Division Two

 

Leicestershire vs Durham, Uptonsteel County Ground

Leicestershire and Durham had the rare experience of being frustrated by the weather on day one of their LV= Insurance County Championship match at the Uptonsteel County Ground.

Only 22 overs were possible before rain forced the players off the field for an early lunch just after mid-day, with Leicestershire 97 for two, debutant Sol Budinger on 63 not out - despite having to change his bat after Ben Raine knocked a chunk out of it with the first ball of the day.

Once the rain had subsided, the ground staff made every effort to make the playing surface fit for a resumption, but with no wind to speak of to hasten the drying process parts of the outfield remained stubbornly soggy.

Those 22 overs were enough time, though, for the former Nottinghamshire batter Budinger to make a favourable impression on his Leicestershire debut, with 10 fours and a six already in his account.

Budinger, 23, never played a first-class match during his two years as a senior player at Trent Bridge but moved to Grace Road after scoring 645 red-ball runs for Nottinghamshire’s Second XI this season.

Of those, 321 came in two matches against Leicestershire Second XI, including his highest score of 151.

He has a reputation as an aggressive top-order player in white-ball formats and it is clear that he wants to play red-ball cricket with the same mindset. Budinger reached 50 off just 57 balls with nine fours, three of them in a single over off the rookie seamer Oliver Gibson.

Flexing his muscles, he then pulled Paul Coughlin for a huge six over the Milligan Road side of the ground.  Although he had some early luck with balls that were a whisker from finding the edge, he generally hit the ball cleanly.

Budinger is on loan from Nottinghamshire for the last three matches of the season ahead of starting a two-year contract.

Coughlin had removed Budinger’s opening partner, Hassan Azad, with a big inswinger that had him leg before. Their partnership of 74 was the second highest for the first wicket this season for the side currently bottom of Division Two.

England bowler Matty Potts - rusty at first after almost four weeks with no cricket - dismissed Rishi Patel via a catch at second slip in the last over before the rain came.

It is the first time Leicestershire have lost time to rain in a Championship match since the opening day of the season in April.

Middlesex vs Glamorgan, Lord’s

James Harris returned to haunt his former teammates, bowling Glamorgan back into contention on day one of their vital LV = Insurance County Championship clash with fellow promotion contenders Middlesex at Lord’s.

With Middlesex 90-1 in reply to the visitors’ 214 all out, Harris produced a burst of 3-0 in nine balls from the Nursery End, reducing the hosts to 92-4 and evoking memories of his greatest ever spell of 9-34 against Durham at the home of cricket in 2015.

Mark Stoneman witnessed the carnage from the other end, to remain unbeaten on 72 with Middlesex 132-4 when bad light ended play four overs before the scheduled close.

Earlier Chris Cooke was the mainstay of Glamorgan’s innings with 52, Ryan Higgins taking four for 59 in his first game since returning to the county from Gloucestershire and John Simpson taking five catches behind the stumps.

The start of play was preceded by an impeccably observed minute’s silence in memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Given the 10:30 start it was no surprise Middlesex chose to bowl and they struck in the first over, Tim Murtagh getting one to bounce and find the shoulder of Edward Byron’s bat to give Simpson his first catch of the day.

Toby Roland-Jones matched his skipper’s feat uprooting Glamorgan skipper David Lloyd’s off-stump to leave the visitors 9-2.

Despite the early successes, the home attack showed an understandable rustiness born of a schedule which had not seen them bowl a red ball competitively for 46 days, Murtagh particularly guilty of a spate of half-volleys.

Shubman Gill though never settled. Dropped on eight when Murtagh failed to hold a caught and bowled, his skittish effort ended on 22 when he bottom-edged a pull off Roland-Jones into his stumps.

One wicket brought two when Murtagh (three for 58) found the edge of Sam Northeast’s bat and Simpson did the rest and when Higgins relieved Murtagh to have Billy Root caught behind Glamorgan were floundering at 70-5.

Cooke and Kiran Carlson led a fightback either side of lunch encouraged by too many four balls from the hosts, Murtagh being despatched three times in one over soon after the resumption. As so often though Murtagh extracted revenge when Carlson nicked him behind to end the stand at 59.

Harris kept Cooke company long enough for him to reach 50 from 80 balls, but Higgins returned to trap him lbw and Cooke’s vigil ended four balls later when he dragged one from Ethan Bamber into his off bail.

Glamorgan did though glean a precious batting point thanks to Ajaz Patel’s entertaining, if unorthodox 36 before Higgins mopped up the tail.

Stoneman opened the host’s reply with a spate of boundaries including a glorious square drive off Harris to the short side of the ground.

Fellow opener Sam Robson though went early taken low down at third slip off Michael Hogan. The former England opener stood his ground but after conferring the umpires sent him on his way.

Stephen Eskinazi survived a raucous caught behind shout first ball to play some trademark cover drives against seam and spin alike before Harris (three for 47) took centre-stage.

An all but unplayable ball squared up Eskinazi to take the edge and send him on his way for 31. It transpired the Welsh seamer was simply warming up as in his next over he castled Pieter Malan for a duck before having Max Holden caught at slip first ball by Northeast.

Simpson survived the hat-trick ball and one or two other scares as he and Stoneman steadied the ship before the premature close.  

 

Sussex vs Worcestershire, The 1st Central County Ground

Joe Leach took his 400^th first-class wicket as Worcestershire dominated Sussex on day one at Hove to keep their slim promotion hopes alive in the LV= Insurance County Championship.

The Pears realistically need to win all three remaining Division Two games and put themselves in a strong position after dismissing Sussex for 220, with Leach claiming four for 37.

That modest total represented a recovery by Sussex who had been 23 for five before half-centuries by Fynn Hudson-Prentice, James Coles and Jack Carson revived them.

But the pitch held few terrors for Worcestershire’s openers Ed Pollock and Jake Libby who posted 87 without loss before bad light ended play six overs early.  

After the teams observed a minute’s silence in memory of Queen Elizabeth II, Leach settled into a probing line to the four left-handers at the top of the Sussex innings, taking three for 16 in his seven-over new-ball spell to leave Sussex in tatters after they had won the toss.

Ali Orr played on to his Leach’s fifth ball and he pinned Tom Alsop lbw with the second delivery of his second over, a fullish delivery that swung back just enough. A similar length accounted for Tom Clark in Leach’s fourth over as the batsman played across the line.

Dillon Pennington struck with his first ball when he extracted some extra bounce and Oli Carter touched it tamely to the wicketkeeper. Tom Haines, returning from a broken hand, faced 36 balls and batted for 63 minutes for his two runs but the Sussex captain played on to Ben Gibbon’s second ball.

But as is so often the case at Hove, batting gets easier once the new ball loses its hardness and Hudson-Prentice, Coles and Carson led the recovery.

Hudson-Prentice was dropped at second slip by Jack Haynes on 36 but added 76 with Coles, counterattacking effectively until Pennington found just enough seam movement to have him caught behind for 51 (64 balls, 7 fours) just after lunch.

Leach returned and reached his milestone courtesy of a smart low catch by Hayes off Pakistan all-rounder Faheem Ashraf, who has joined Sussex for their last three Championship matches of the season. His side were back in trouble at 106 for seven.

But Sussex’s last three wickets more than doubled the score, the fightback led by Coles and Carson, who was playing his first match of the season after recovering from knee surgery.

Coles progressed to his second half-century of the season, made in a shade under three hours. At the other end Carson was more aggressive as they added 87 in 18 overs. Coles had just reached his second half-century of the season when Pennington dropped short, and he picked out Azhar Ali on the deep backward square boundary for 54 (132 balls, 9 fours).

After Henry Crocombe holed out to mid-off, Carson was last out for 58 (74 balls, 9 fours) when he was run out by Libby’s direct hit coming back for a second run.

Ashraf has been brought in to bolster a seam attack without Ari Karvelas and Steve Finn, who are out for the rest of the season but both he and the rest of the Sussex seamers struggled to break through.

Pollock gave one chance on 34 but was dropped at slip by Tom Alsop off Haines to confirm it was Worcestershire’s day. 

© Cricket World 2022