LV= Insurance County Championship 2022 Round 8 Day 4: Wednesday June 29th - Latest News, Scores and Match Reports

Here is all the latest news, scores and match reports for the LV= Insurance County Championship 2022 Round 8 Day 4: Wednesday June 29th

 

LV= Insurance County Championship 2022 Round 8 - Day 4: Wednesday June 29th

 

Division One

 

 

Gloucestershire vs Lancashire, Bristol County Ground

 

Miles Hammond and James Bracey batted Gloucestershire towards safety before rain wiped out the last two sessions of the LV= County Championship match with Lancashire at the Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol. 

Only 19 overs were possible at the start of the final day, which began with the home side precariously placed on 99 for three in their second innings, just 34 runs ahead. 

Overnight pair Hammond and Bracey negotiated them with few alarms on the placid pitch, both reaching half-centuries in taking the score to 176 for three by the time rain started to fall at 12.20pm. 

Hammond was unbeaten on 58 and Bracey 55 when play ceased. An early lunch was taken, and play almost restarted at 2.05pm, with umpires and teams ready to take the field. 

But more rain started to fall and became heavier, to the frustration of the groundstaff, who had been on and off with the covers. 

Umpires Rob Bailey and Neil Pratt abandoned any prospect of further play at 3.10pm. 

Lancashire took 14 points from the drawn contest to consolidate their position in the top three of the First Division, while Gloucestershire’s 12 points left them still occupying bottom place. 

The hosts have still not won a Championship game this season in eight attempts, but will take some comfort from having competed well in a closely-fought contest. 

Bracey, eager to overcome a poor run of form stretching back to the second match of the Championship campaign, was positive from the outset, cover-driving the opening delivery of the day from Will Williams for four. 

Unbeaten on 14 overnight, the England player was the first to his fifty, having faced 90 balls and hit seven boundaries. 

Fellow left-hander Hammond followed suit in the same over, bowled by Jack Morley, having just dispatched the spinner over long-on for six. 

His half-century occupied 124 deliveries and also featured 5 fours. But the time the rain came, Gloucestershire were 111 ahead and, with precious little assistance in the pitch for the bowlers, a draw looked the only likely outcome. 

 

Lancashire head coach Glen Chapple said: "We didn't know what to expect from the weather today and I was hopeful of a full day's play. There seemed to be a lot of cloud about, but not much rain to start with.

"A heavy roller on the pitch seemed to take any life out of it. The Gloucestershire lads played well and we weren't able to make the breakthroughs we wanted.

"Other results have been okay for us and we played decent cricket, so nothing has been gained or lost this week and we move on."

 

Gloucestershire captain Ryan Higgins said: "It was a good game and we were competitive throughout. I think we are starting to understand how we need to go about winning in this division.

"Some of the pitches we have played on haven't been easy for the bowlers and it has been tough work for us. But if you keep trusting in your processes to win matches, eventually it is going to happen.

"In previous games, we have lost key half hour periods, which have been costly. I always felt we could bat through today on that wicket, but the two lads still had to go out and do it at the start and that is a positive."

 

Northamptonshire vs Warwickshire, The County Ground Northampton

Luke Procter posted a superb 144, his highest first-class score, as Northamptonshire batted out a draw on the final day of this LV= Insurance County Championship match at Wantage Road.

Procter and Ryan Rickleton, who also scored a century, shared a record third-wicket stand for Northamptonshire against Warwickshire of 226 in 51 overs. It was Procter’s third Championship ton of the season, while South African international Rickleton’s 103 came while making his debut in county cricket.

Their stand followed a dramatic start to the day. Simon Kerrigan mopped up Warwickshire’s tail with two wickets in just 10 deliveries to give Northamptonshire a 46-run advantage on first innings. The hosts then lost both openers inside four overs to offer the visitors a glimmer of hope.

From there though Procter and Rickleton booked in for the afternoon to put any chance of an upset out of the equation. In total Procter hit 19 fours and three sixes in a four-hour stay at the crease (204 balls).

Kerrigan was in the groove immediately in the morning, trapping Craig Miles leg before and having Oliver Hannon-Dalby caught behind as Warwickshire closed on 405.

In reply, Northamptonshire skipper Ricardo Vasconcelos fell in the first over, caught behind off Hannon-Dalby Shortly afterwards Emilio Gay followed in similar fashion off Nathan McAndrew to leave the Steelbacks 10 for two in the fourth over.

Rickleton had a scare early in his innings when he edged Nathan McAndrew just in front of second slip. But from there he and Procter looked to be positive throughout the morning session. Procter was in a belligerent mood, pulling disdainfully off both McAndrew and Hannon-Dalby and driving sweetly through the covers.

Rickleton’s first boundary came when he lent into a lovely cover drive off McAndrew but he targeted teenage left-arm spinner Jacob Bethell too, stepping down the wicket to smash him over long-on for six and reverse sweeping and cover driving for fours.

Procter reached his half-century soon after the lunch break, and unfurled some serene drives and cut shots as he got back into his work.

Bethell, playing only his third first-class game, obtained plenty of turn and bounce and posed questions for the Northamptonshire batters. He was taken out of the attack though when Procter took advantage of a long hop and a full toss and dispatched both for six.

Racing through the nineties, Procter struck Lamb over deep midwicket for another maximum before running three to reach his ton off 126 balls..

Rickleton too began in aggressive fashion after lunch, taking five boundaries off Henry Brookes’ first two overs. He went past 50 with a sumptuous drive down the ground and clubbed Matt Lamb for four more in the same direction.

He reached his century with two streaky shots off the outside edge before pulling a short ball from Lamb into the hands of deep midwicket. He had faced 167 deliveries and struck 18 boundaries and one maximum.

Rob Keogh joined Procter with the score 236 for three and the pair safely negotiated the remaining overs before tea.

After the interval Warwickshire turned to their part-time bowlers including the rarely seen medium pace of keeper Michael Burgess who claimed his maiden first-class wicket when Keogh chased a wide one and edged to Miles who was standing in as keeper.

There were no further surprises though as Procter and Josh Cobb batted out the remaining overs before the players shook hands on a draw.

Surrey vs Kent, Kia Oval

 

Daniel Bell-Drummond added another fighting 107 not out to his first innings 102 as Kent battled to a draw against LV= Insurance County Championship leaders Surrey. It is the first time the 28-year-old Bell-Drummond has scored two hundreds in a first-class match.

The loss of 14 overs to bad weather at the start of the final day was frustrating for Surrey, but the Kia Oval pitch remained a good one for batting throughout and hands were shaken at 5.48pm when Kent had taken their overnight second innings 121 for no wicket to 361 for 4.

Surrey, however, have still stretched their lead at the top of Division One to 16 points, as a result of second-placed Hampshire’s defeat at Essex in this round, and third-placed Lancashire’s draw at Gloucestershire. Surrey took 16 points from this match, and Kent 12.

Bell-Drummond batted for a total of almost nine hours in the game, resisting in Kent’s second innings for 195 balls and 284 minutes after coming in when opener Ben Compton was leg-before to Sam Curran in the final day’s second over.

Play should have started at 11.50am, following early morning rain, but just as the players reached the middle another shower meant a further five-minute delay. Amusingly, the Surrey team remained on the field as the umpires ordered the pitch to be covered and liaised with Oval groundstaff, while Kent’s openers Compton and Joe Denly marched off back into their dressing room.

With a minimum of 82 overs now scheduled from 11.55am, Denly – who resumed on 63 – was soon flashing Dan Worrall’s pacy outswing away through the gully area for four but Compton, on 47 overnight, had only added a single to his score when Curran skidded one into the left-hander’s pads through an attempted work to leg.

Denly, on 69, was then beaten by a full, in-slanting ball from Worrall that flicked the inside of his front pad before hammering into his back pad to make another upraised umpire’s finger a formality.

At 128 for two, Kent were suddenly under severe pressure, with the serene progress of Denly and Compton the evening before, when the openers had added 121 in 44 overs, seeming a distant memory.

Bell-Drummond, however, was joined by Jack Leaning in a stand of 107 either side of lunch that did much to guide Kent to safety. The pair, who had also added 161 together in Kent’s first innings, were largely untroubled although Bell-Drummond, on 54, did edge Curran just short of second slip – the ball flying away for one of the batsman’s 14 fours.

Surrey tried seven bowlers in all, but although Leaning was bowled off stump for 43 by a perfect inswinger by Curran, soon after the second new ball was taken at 219 for two, they could not dislodge Bell-Drummond.

Jordan Cox, on 27, fell for a trap set by Gus Atkinson when he pulled high to deep square leg but Surrey’s last chance of forcing a victory probably came on 301 for four – with Kent’s overall deficit still 41 and with more than 22 overs remaining – when Ollie Robinson, on 12, fended a short ball from Conor McKerr just short of Ben Geddes diving forward at a deepish short leg.

Geddes was then moved a couple of yards forward but no other opportunity came his way and, fittingly, the game ended soon after Bell-Drummond had completed his hundred, with Robinson finishing unbeaten on 39.

 

Surrey assistant coach Azhar Mahmood said: “The bowlers gave everything they had for more than 200 overs and although unfortunately we didn’t win the game we are happy enough to take the 16 points from the draw.

“There were also a lot of plus points from the match for us. Ben Geddes and Sam Curran both scored their first championship hundreds, with Sam’s the first of his career, and Hashim Amla also got back into form with his 124. Will Jacks hit his first hundred of the season too.

“With the ball I thought young Tom Lawes did absolutely brilliantly on debut, taking four wickets in their first innings and bowling well throughout. He certainly showed just what depth we have in our squad at the moment.”

Kent head coach Matt Walker said: “I think it was an outstanding effort from us to draw this match. Even after day one we knew we were not in a position to win it, and we were staring down the barrel from about three-quarters of the way through the first day to be honest, with them getting to 445 for 5 by the end of that opening day.

“It was also a difficult task for us when we followed on but I thought Ben Compton and Joe Denly’s 121-run stand on the third evening was critical and, as for Daniel Bell-Drummond, he has batted superbly in both innings. He was frustrated to get out soon after reaching his hundred in the first innings but then to come out again second time around and bat like that just shows his strength of character and it’s great to see him back to his best in red-ball cricket.”

Division Two

 

Nottinghamshire vs Middlesex, Trent Bridge

 Middlesex, forced to follow-on 175 behind on Tuesday, secured the draw that always looked the most likely outcome on a benign pitch against Division Two leaders Nottinghamshire by batting through the final day of their LV= Insurance County Championship match one wicket down, with a century apiece for openers Sam Robson and Mark Stoneman.

The result rewarded Tim Murtagh’s team for fighting back from 106 for five on day three to post 376 in reply to Nottinghamshire’s 551 for eight declared. They were 261 for one when the draw was declared.

Robson and Stoneman, who had come through 20 overs unscathed against the home side’s high-quality attack on Tuesday evening, won another battle by reaching lunch with their wickets still intact and put together a partnership of 201 before they were finally parted.

By then Nottinghamshire had opted to rest their frontline bowlers in favour of part-timers, accepting that the chance of a win had gone.  By the time the sides shook hands on a draw, captain Steven Mullaney had given at least an over to all his 11 players, including wicketkeeper Tom Moores.

Given the benign nature of the pitch, Nottinghamshire needed early successes if they were to put Middlesex under pressure.

But there were few opportunities, the clearest of which was offered by Stoneman off Dane Paterson on 19 but not taken by Liam Patterson-White at short midwicket.

James Pattinson thought he had Robson leg before on 39 when the former England opener tried to duck a ball that hardly bounced, but was judged to be clearing the stumps when it struck him. The Australian pace man had half a chance of a low caught-and-bowled in the same over but that too came to nothing.

Then Patterson-White and virtually the full complement of five close fielders went up in unison, convinced that Stoneman, on 35, had been caught behind. Again the verdict was not out.

But these were rare and fleeting moments of excitement and one felt for the teachers trying to keep the attention of a large school party occupying a block of seats in the William Clarke Stand. The opening pair’s achievement in staying together for 100 runs for the first time this season did not much impress them.

The pair had added 59 more to their overnight score when lunch arrived at 122 without loss, by which time Ben Slater, the erstwhile part-time off-spinner, had just begun what would by some distance be the longest spell of bowling in his first-class career, stretching to 18 overs before he returned to more customary duties.

By then his fellow opening bat Haseeb Hameed was bowling leg breaks from the other end and Robson was celebrating his second century of the season, both against Nottinghamshire, having faced 247 balls and hit a dozen boundaries.

Steven Mullaney took the new ball but handed in to Ben Duckett, another very occasional off-spinner, but one with a first-class wicket to his name for Northamptonshire in 2017. To great amusement, he picked up his second with only his eighth ball, Robson tickling one down the leg side to be caught by a diving Moores for 108 out of 201.

Stoneman completed his second century of the season off 281 balls. By then Joe Clarke had joined the fun, brushing the rust off his right-arm medium pace for the first time since he bowled two overs for Worcestershire in 2016.

As the clock ticked towards the moment the game could officially be declared a draw, Clarke donned the wicket-keeper’s pads and Moores bowled an over of right-arm medium, the first of his career at any level of senior cricket.

Nottinghamshire captain Steven Mullaney said:

“We could not have done any more. To get 550 on day one and two and make them follow on on a really good wicket was a magnificent effort and I’m proud of the efforts that all of them put in.

“Credit to Robson and Stoneman, I thought they played really well because we bowled well last night and again this morning, although I’m amazed that Liam Patterson-White only got one wicket overall because it turned and bounced, but sometimes the rub of the green doesn’t go your way.

“But no complaints, no excuses. Credit to the way Middlesex battled on the third day when John Simpson and Max Holden batted really well after they had been under pressure.  

“In the context of the season it’s not a bad result for us. We’re still top of the table by 11 points and we’ve got a massive game away to Glamorgan in a couple of weeks’ time.  

“They’ve come off a win at Worcester today and we had a couple of bad sessions when we met them at home, which probably cost us the game, so hopefully we can go down there and get a positive result but we will have to be on our game because they are a good team.

“We had a discussion at tea and thought it would be quite fitting to get all 11 players to have a bowl. The big three deserved to put their feet up for a couple of sessions after the effort they put in over the last three days.

“I think Ben Duckett has kept the ball, he was so pleased to get his wicket. Someone told me it’s the first time since 1905 that all 11 have bowled, so to be in the record books for a different reason is quite funny.”

Middlesex captain Tim Murtagh said:

“We’ve shown some more good fight, especially after being 100 for five in the first innings and that partnership between Max Holden and Simmo (John Simpson) was massive for us.

“And again when we had to come out and bat again last night, when it was a bit gloomy and conditions were good for bowling, for Robbo (Sam Robson) and Rocky (Mark Stoneman) to get through that and to take us through this morning as well was exceptional.

“Nottinghamshire have a fine attack, they’ve got two international quality bowlers, plus Luke Fletcher who has been a proven county bowler for many years and Patterson-White is a pretty decent spinner.

“We were disappointed after the first day and had some good honest chats among us as a bowling group, but it is the sign of a good team that we can fight back in the way we did.

“To come away from here having not lost was important after a poor performance against Derbyshire at Chesterfield.”

Sussex vs Derbyshire, The 1st Central County Ground

 

Derbyshire’s surprising decision not to enforce the follow-on against Sussex reduced their chances of winning a match they had dominated – and even gave their opponents an outside chance of pulling off  an astonishing victory.

         When Sussex were bowled out for 337 in this LV= Insurance County Championship match, losing their last five wickets for 38 runs and their last three in the space of four Hayden Kerr deliveries to concede a first innings advantage of 214, they looked down and out and not relishing the prospect of being put back in.

              But Derbyshire decided to bat again and when they slumped to 54 for five, with Jack Brooks putting in a four wicket burst, Sussex sensed the chance to pinch an outrageous win.  Billy Godleman was well caught by Tom Alsop at first slip off Sean Hunt  in the second over.  That means the Derbyshire captain has 213 championship runs in 13 innings this season for an average of 16.38.

             Then Brooks stepped up.  He had Brooke Guest lbw for eight before dismissing the first innings hero Wayne Madsen first ball, caught behind.   In his next over Brooks dismissed Leus du Plooy, who mis-cued to midwicket, and in his next over Shan Masood dragged a wide ball onto his stumps.

       Anuj Dal and Kerr fell near the close  and Derbyshire closed on 127 for seven,  a lead of 341.  They are still favourites to win the game but Sussex can now see an escape route.

       Sussex had started the third day on 142 for three, chasing a target of 402 to avoid the follow-on, with Mohammad Rizwan unbeaten on 54 and the in-form Oli Carter 14.  Carter was dropped at first slip by Madsen off Sam Connors when he had made 26.  Madsen should be forgiven, even by the most impatient of Derbyshire supporters.  In all forms of cricket he has taken 313 catches for the county, placing 13^th in Derbyshire’s history – and seven of the 12 ahead of him were wicketkeepers.

         Carter, who had scored a career best 185 and 83 in the county’s previous championship fixture against Glamorgan in Cardiff, went on to reach his half-century from 88 deliveries, with six fours.  But then he was bowled going back when he might have been forward to one from the impressive Mark Watt, who was signed as a t20 player but who now appears to be the side’s number one red ball spinner.

        The spotlight on Rizwan was getting brighter with the fall of each wicket at the other end.  And, making the most of the short boundary at the east side of the ground, he went on to reach his first championship century for Sussex from 172 balls, with 18 fours.

        Sussex lost their fifth wicket at 242 when Danial Ibrahim, half forward to one that turned from Watt, was bowled for six.  Delray Rawlins is a lavishly talented player who has not always shown shown enough discipline for the red ball game. But he scored a half-century in Cardiff and here, against the spinners, he sensibly mixed aggression with patience.  However, when Derbyshire took the new ball at 295 for five he was undone almost immediately, bowled through the gate by Dal as he played a loose drive.  His 37 from 57 balls, with six fours and a six, was not what Sussex required.

         Rizwan was lbw to Dal for a fine 130, with 22 fours, but the Sussex tail didn’t wag, as Steve Finn fell second ball and Hunt to his first delivery.

Sussex batsman Ali Orr, who made 141, said: "There are some young guys in our team who haven't been on the winning side for us in the Championship so to win that is a very special feeling after four hard days, everyone in our dressing room is so happy. 

"When they pulled out this morning after the rain we had a feeling we could win. It spun a bit but it's been a good wicket throughout and we believed in ourselves. The small boundary on one side was very appealing, and when the spinners came on or if they dropped it short I was always going to target it and luckily I managed to get a few runs that way. Having Mohammad Rizwan at the other end took all the pressure off towards the end, even when I got out, he was so calm and had the chase under control. Hopefully this is a springboard for us. It's massive for our confidence for the rest of the season, something for us to build on."

 

Derbyshire coach Mickey Arthur said: "One bad session can cost you dearly in first-class cricket and that's what happened. The late session batting on the third day was disappointing although I still believe you have to risk losing to produce cricketers and create a good culture. 

"I can't fault our effort, coming off the amount of cricket we've played, which has been fantastic, but for one poor session yesterday. It wasn't in our minds to enforce the follow on. A couple of bowlers had niggles so we didn't want to push them back out there but if we'd had one good session of batting it would have put us in a really good position. Having said all that, Ali Orr batted really well for Sussex." 

 

Worcestershire vs Glamorgan, New Road

 

Billy Root was again the chief thorn in Worcestershire’s side in leading Glamorgan to a three wicket win over Worcestershire in the LV=Insurance County Championship match at New Road.

Two years ago Root had blunted Worcestershire’s victory hopes with a splendid century on the return to cricket after the pandemic in the Bob Willis Trophy.

Today he was their match-winner with 99 not out after Colin Ingram’s hundred yesterday had laid the foundations in pursuit of a 332 target.

Root struck 11 fours in his 172 knock to seal Glamorgan’s fourth win of the season in the Championship.

All of them have involved successful run chases after victories over Nottinghamshire (seven wickets), Leicestershire (six wickets) and Sussex (five wickets).

This latest triumph represented a splendid recovery after being bowled out for 139 in their first innings and conceding a lead of 132 and keeps them well in the hunt for promotion.

But for Worcestershire it was a severe blow to their own hopes of finishing in the top two as a way of compensating for a dismal Vitality Blast campaign.

The game was perfectly poised heading into the final day with Glamorgan needing 100 runs and Worcestershire five wickets for victory on a pitch still offering encouragement to the seamers.

The second new ball was also immediately available with Joe Leach, who had taken a career best 6-44 in the first innings, and Charlie Morris sharing the attack.

Root resumed on 46 and he brought up a 99 ball half century with the first of two cover drives for four in a Leach over.

There were still the occasional balls climbing off a length and one such delivery flew past the outside edge of nightwatchman James Harris.

He had survived 38 balls before driving at Leach and edging through to keeper Gareth Roderick.

New batter, Tom Cullen, immediately looked in good touch and produced the shot of the day with a drive back down the ground off Leach to the boundary.

Root looked in little trouble although on 74 he was relieved to inside edge a delivery from Dillon Pennington just past his leg stump.

Spin was introduced via Josh Baker and Root used his feet to loft him back down the ground and reduce the target needed below 40.

But then Tom Fell, a concussion replacement for Taylor Cornall, produced a superb one handed catch at third slip to dismiss Cullen after Leach returned to the attack.

Michael Neser survived a one-handed caught and bowled chance on two after Ed Barnard came into the attack.

It was the last throw of the dice for the home side and Root and Neser completed victory for the visitors with few alarms.

Glamorgan batter Billy Root, who hit 99 not out, said: “I think we were pretty calm this morning because of the way Colin (Ingram) and Ed (Byrom) played yesterday.

“They bought us a ticket, so to speak. It was a really special knock from Colin.

“We just knew that the (second) new ball was going to be tough. They bowled well all game so it was never going to be easy so we just had to chip away and almost count down the runs in tens to get there.

“That really helped us and setting small targets got us to the big one in the end.

“We did the chase the game for a little bit in the first innings. We got a little shift when Michael Neser had the ball that (second) evening.

“He went ‘bang, bang’ and gave us a chance to bowl them out for something competitive and we just had a bit of belief off the back of that.

“We’d had three successful run chases this season in the competition before this and it gave us that little bit of hope that we are never out of it until it has gone.

“It keeps us competitive and we’ve just got to keep building on what we have and keep trying to force results.”

--

Worcestershire Club Captain, Brett D’Oliveira, said: “It was an outstanding game of cricket and just unfortunate for us to be on the wrong end of it I thought.

“Credit has to go to them. Billy Root played an outstanding knock to get them across the line as well as Colin Ingram yesterday.

“Then Michael Neser came in and showed his experience and took the game out of our hands a little bit.

“Credit goes to our bowlers as well. They fought and fought all the way through and even the fielding, with Tom Fell taking an outstanding catch, are the sort of things you want players to be doing so the right characteristics are there.

“It is fine margins in this game. If Ed (Barnard) had held onto that return catch we might have gone ‘bang, bang, bang’ and bowled them out.

“This whole red ball campaign we have shown fight and determination, things I asked for at the start of the year, and there is still plenty to play for.”

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