Key events
And here we go! Play all around the grounds.
A great read on Kamindu Mendis:
Saturday’s round-up
Tawanda Muyeye tailored a maiden double century of sparkling quality to lift Kent from the depths of the doldrums to a lead of 77 and a hair’s breadth of a chance going into the final day. Muyeye, who came to England as a refugee from Zimbabwe, was in sparkling form, threading the innings together with stout support from Harry Finch, and jigging with joy as he reached 200. He was finally caught for 211 off 279 balls in the final over of the day.
“Some of the boys have never seen me that happy because I’m usually quite reserved and quite quiet,” he said afterwards. “I struggled a lot [this season] and I just never ever saw any light at the end of the tunnel…for me to play like that over the last two days has made me so happy.”
Nineteen year old Daniel Hogg grabbed four wickets on his first-class debut to help Durham stride towards victory at Chester le Street. Hogg was given the new ball in the absence of Neil Wagner with a shoulder injury, and chipped away as Notts were asked to follow on. A doughty partnership of 96 between Matthew Montgomery and Jack Haynes frustrated Durham in the afternoon, but an evening wobble left Notts still 90 runs adrift with only four wickets remaining.
Runs a-go-go at Bristol where both Ben Charlesworth and James Bracey made delightful career-best double centuries. The pair enjoyed Leicestershire’s bowling on a pancake pitch during a stand of 290. It was Bracey’s fourth century of a prolific summer.
On loan spinner Jack Morley gave Derbyshire real hope of a red-ball win at home for the first time since August 2019. Morley grabbed three for 35 to leave Glamorgan seven wickets down and still 25 runs behind. Meanwhile Yorkshire could smell salty victory at Scarborough, though Sussex fought valiantly. They need another 75 to win, eight wickets left.
Alex Davies smashed an unbeaten 109 at a damp Edgbaston to give Warwickshire a lead of 277 going into the final day, though thoughts of a declaration might be muddied by the memory of Somerset chasing down 410 at their previous meeting. Rain continued to thwart Essex’s hopes down in Southampton. Tom Westley declared at 438 for eight but Toby Albert and Nick Gubbins then drew the shutters for Hampshire. Only 10.2 overs were possible at The Oval where leaders Surrey winkled out Luke Wells.
“There’s no need to panic”
On loan Jack Morley on the prospects of a long-awaited Derybshire victory.
“It got to one point where they were about 70 behind with four down and I thought this could get a little bit difficult.
“Then the skipper came on and bowled one of the best off-spin deliveries I’ve ever seen and changed the game completely.
“I’m not sure how many days it is but Derbyshire haven’t had a win at home for a while so that would be one to tick off, especially being part of it. There’s one over to the new ball and hopefully that does a little bit in the morning and we can wrap it up pretty quickly but if not there’s no need to panic, just keep doing what we’ve done all game and stay patient.”
England call up Josh Hull as Mark Wood is ruled out for the series
Mark Wood’s thigh injury has ruled him out for the rest of the England v Sri Lanka series, meaning England have sprung a surprise by calling up Leicestershire’s Josh Hull.
(As the team morphs into an XI of six foot something giants, a quiet thank you to Ben Duckett for flying the flag for us shorter humans)
Scores on the doors
DIVISION ONE
New Road: Worcestershire 447 v Kent 171 and 353-8
Edgbaston: Warwickshire 337 and 179-5 v Somerset 239
The Oval: Surrey 444-9 v Lancashire 204 and 26-1
Southampton: Hampshire 40-1 v Essex 438-8dec
Chester-le-Street: Durham 531-7 dec v Nottinghamshire 229 and 212-6
DIVISION TWO
Merchant Taylor’s School: Middlesex 250-7 v Northamptonshire 207 no play on Saturday.
North Marine Road: Yorkshire 326 and 28-2 v Sussex 189 and 239
County Ground: Derbyshire 429 v Glamorgan 168 and 236-7
Bristol: Gloucestershire 544-4dec v Leicestershire 402 and 41-0
Preamble
Hello from a crisp late summer morning in Manchester, the dew heavy, some leaves just starting to turn. All nine games are still in action on this final day of the round – with Derbyshire tantalisingly close to their first home win since August 2019 and Lancashire with a job on their hands at The Oval. Plenty more too but, first, a coffee.
