Key events
A bold bit of order-reshuffling from Somerset: they’ve punted Archie Vaughan (son of etc …) in only his second first-class match but he’s lost his fellow opener already. Lewis Goldsworthy’s been castled by a befuddling inswinger from Kemar Roach for a second-ball duck. Somerset 0-1.
Goldsworthy’s not the only batter taking his pads off and flinging his gloves to the dressing room floor. Leicestershire have already lost Rishi Patel fourth ball to Ben Coad and Northants’ Indian opener Prithvi Shaw is a goner for four against Derbyshire, c Donald b Chappell.
The weather has delayed the start at Chelmsford also.
Some thoughts from Wilberforce BTL: “Jack Home making his county champs debut for Worcs, will be interesting to see how he goes, just a pity Worcs lost the toss. Jack took plenty of wickets in the 1 day cup but a different challenge here. Great to see he signed a 3 year deal.
“Only read Ali Martin’s piece on Mo this morning, great piece & all the best to Mo. Kashif Ali like Mo before looking a very good county no 3.”
Here is that Mo piece. He’s left the international scene with a host of great memories, a personal fave is his century at Rajkot in 2016 on the morning of Trump’s election. Never has cricket’s alluring escapist appeal felt so potent.
Toss news: Somerset win the toss and bat on a clouds-and-sun kind of morning at Cyderabad; Notts decide to bowl at Chelmsford; Warwickshire are having a bowl at New Road; Yorkshire have put Leicestershire in at Grace Road; Gloucestershire likewise at Lord’s; Northants opted to bat against Derbyshire and Sussex have put Glamorgan in at Hove.
Very much a bowl-first kind of morning, though you can understand Somerset taking a punt on batting – they need bonus points as well as a win.
Delayed start news: Rain at Chester-le-Street has put back the start of Durham v Lancs, and they’ll have to grab another coffee at Canterbury too:
How they stand:
Division One
1 Surrey P11 Pts 193
2 Somerset P11 Pts 169
3 Hampshire P11 Pts 156
4 Essex P11 Pts 149
5 Worcs P11 Pts 134
6 Warwickshire P11 Pts 132
7 Durham P11 Pts 130
8 Notts P11 Pts 116
9 Lancashire P11 Pts 106
10 Kent P11 Pts 71
Division Two
1 Sussex P11 Pts 177
2 Middlesex P11 Pts 158
3 Yorkshire P11 Pts 157
4 Leics P11 Pts 139
5 Glamorgan P11 Pts 125
6 Gloucs P11 Pts 119
7 Northants P11 Pts 111
8 Derbyshire P11 Pts 104
Preamble
Morning everyone. The dear old County Championship – forever derided, shunted into unwelcoming corners of the season, and no longer even an automatic barometer of England-worthiness – could do with an exciting denouement this year rather than just another Surrey procession. And, thankfully, we now have a chance of one after Somerset’s win over Durham and the champions’ draw at Trent Bridge put Lewis Gregory’s side within reach – 24 points – of the leaders.
Handily, they also meet this week at Taunton, with Somerset buoyant after white-ball successes that have them eyeing an unlikely treble, with places at Blast finals day and the One Day Cup to look forward to. Surrey meanwhile have eight players missing on England duty, with the T20 series against Australia crash-landing straight into the schedule after the Tests against Sri Lanka have concluded. Surrey though have added to their formidable depth by nonchalantly signing Shakib Al Hasan on a one-match deal, enabling the veteran former Bangladesh captain to get some red-ball cricket under his belt before their Test series against India. (It also gets him away from the political turmoil of his home country, in which he has become embroiled due to his role as a lawmaker in the party of the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.)
Elsewhere, third-placed Hampshire travel to doomed Kent, but the relegation scramble just above them looks tasty with improving Nottinghamshire visiting Essex, whose title hopes were torpedoed by their surprise defeat to Worcestershire, and seventh-placed Durham hosting Lancashire in eighth.
We’ll be keeping an eye on the second tier too, as leaders Sussex host Glamorgan and Middlesex and Yorkshire duke it out for the second promotion slot behind them. Middlesex take on Gloucestershire at Lord’s while Yorkshire visit Leicestershire, who have an outside chance themselves.
And it all starts, in the autumnal gloaming, at 10.30, rather more sensibly than at the Test, which is still scheduled for 11am, not that we’ll get a full day’s play at the Oval today.
Those fixtures in full:
Division One:
Durham v Lancashire (Chester-le-Street)
Essex v Nottinghamshire (Chelmsford)
Kent v Hampshire (Canterbury)
Somerset v Surrey (Taunton)
Worcestershire v Warwickshire (Worcester)
Division Two
Leicestershire v Yorkshire (Leicester)
Middlesex v Gloucestershire (Lord’s)
Northamptonshire v Derbyshire (Northampton)
Sussex v Glamorgan (Hove)
