Key events
Flintoff removes his helmet and walks off (towering over Matty Hurst) unbeaten on 32, GCSE results presumably stuffed in his pocket somewhere. Lancs 98-3, lunch scores rounds the grounds to follow.
Play due to start at 1.15 at Old Trafford
Things will get underway at 1.15, with the afternoon session lasting till 4pm. The evening session will run 4.20-7pm – weather relenting.
Rocky rockets one past third slip … as elsewhere Durham rustle up a hundred without loss in their easy-breezy slam-bam way.
Swing and haul, Jordan Clark dispatched to the rope. Flintoff moves to 27.
The rain has abated at Edgbaston, where Somerset won the toss and are fielding (four Toms in their top five). Warwicks 9-0 from two overs.
And a wicket at The Oval…. but it’s not Flintoff! Bohannon chops on, Lancs 73-3.
Kent’s morning going rather downhill thanks to Joe Leach– Muyeye caught for a frisky 56, Bell Drummond for a four ball duck and Leaning for six. Ben Compton has stashed away ten from an hour and a half’s work. Kent 79-3.
And Flintoff pings Lawes, with a crack, and a rapid swing of the bat, for four. Lancs 66-2.
And Surrey shell another one! Flintoff dropped at third slip on 13.
In Division Two: rain at Merchant Taylor’s, rain at North Marine Road (Sussex 12-1), rain at Bristol (Leicestershire 5-0) ,rain at the County Ground, but not before Glamorgan produced a scorecard for the ages at 32-6, with ducks for Kellaway, Northeast and Carlson. Zak Chappell 4-9.
Love this photo:
I know I posted this recently but seems apt today – two ladies brave the weather outside Old Trafford on the first day of the Ashes Test, July 8th 1938. As it was, the entire match was washed out, only the second time that had happened. The first was in 1890, also at Old Trafford pic.twitter.com/OdCuC1F7H9
— Historic Cricket Pictures (@PictureSporting) August 22, 2024
With an hour gone, and Rocky Flintoff still at the crease, a potter round the grounds…
In Division One: Muyeye and Compton making a good start for Kent v Worcestershire, Muyeye has hit eight fours in his 42 not out: 59-0.
Durham too, racing along, mostly thanks to Ben McKinney, 57-0 against Nottinghamshire. Olly Stone, six wicketless overs for 39.
And at The Oval, Lancashire 39-2, Bohannon just dropped on 13 at leg slip off the son of more cricketing royalty, Sam Curran. Rocky Flintoff five not out.
No play yet at Edgbaston or Southampton.
The Surrey stream currently being viewed through a wet/smeary lens, Dan Worrall giving Josh Bohannon a working over while Flintoff Jnr, tall and slim, watches from the other end. Lancs 36-2.
Rocky Flintoff to the crease!
In he comes, after the dismissal of Keaton Jennings for 12, off the mark with a lovely dab to the edge of the midwicket boundary.
There have been many tributes to Graham Thorpe over the last week, and Surrey remembered him with a minute’s silence at The Oval this morning. They also released this little tribute.
And this was Taha at an emotional Old Trafford yesterday:
For anyone with an eye on the Test, I can tell you that the drizzle, at least out of my window, has stopped. Rob has the updates from Old Trafford here:
An email drops – hello Tim Maitland!
“Hi Tanya
“Welcome back! It feels like the first day of term all over again, doesn’t it? Just looked at the weather radar and it doesn’t look like anyone’s going to escape the rain today.
”Except for me. I’m going to gulp down some char siu topped with poached eggs and soy sauce and head off to a pub quiz in Sai Kung.”
Lucky you! Would you like to take the Glamorgan top order (18-3) with you?
Lord’s to host a women’s Test – at last
The MCC have announced that Lord’s will, belatedly, host their first Women’s Test in the summer of 2026, with England taking on India. It will be 50 years since Rachael Heyhoe Flint first led a be-skirted England onto the pitch at NW8.
And after a six week wait, Tom Haines is the first Championship wicket to fall – lbw to Ben Coad up in Scarborough, where Jonny Bairstow is wearing the gloves.
Weather watch
Starts delayed at Edgbaston, Bristol, Southampton and Merchant Taylor’s. Dampness sniffing about. This is the Met office’s verdict: “Rain moving southeastwards throughout the day, with sunny spells and blustery showers following across the north and west. Very windy during the morning, but easing through the day. Rather cool for many.”
There are five rounds left in this summer’s competition, with the season due to end on Sunday September 29, and points mean prizes. Talking of which… good luck to anyone picking up GCSE results today – may your hard work be rewarded (and a few wild hunches too).
Meanwhile, and miserably, there is no broadcast deal in sight for England men’s autumn Test series against Pakistan.
It was six weeks ago that the Championship last flashed a bit of leg, Glamorgan and Gloucestershire taking the headlines after a thrilling run chase ended in a tie at Cheltenham. Since then, the Hundred and, in the shadows, the One-Day Cup have dominated the schedules. The latest on those big fat franchise bids here:
DIVISION TWO TABLE
1 Sussex 150 pts
2 Middlesex 127
3 Yorkshire 123
4 Leicestershire 115
5 Glamorgan 108
6 Gloucestershire 103
7 Northants 97
8 Derbyshire 78
DIVISION ONE TABLE
1 Surrey 157 pts
2 Somerset 134
3 Essex 128
4 Hampshire 120
5 Durham 102
6 Nottinghamshire 102
7 Lancashire 101
8 Warwickshire 96
9 Worcestershire 91
10 Kent 66
Rocky Flintoff and more
The Championship putting on its party dress as it dances back into the schedule. At The Oval, where thoughts will linger long with Graham Thorpe, 16 year old Rocky Flintoff is due to make his Lancashire Championship debut. Jonny Bairstow plays for Yorkshire at Scarborough, while Jordan Cox and Olly Stone have plenty to prove, and a tour place to play for, released by England to play for Essex and Nottinghamshire.
Preamble
Hello and welcome back! The skies may be cloudy (up north at least) but red ball cricket returns for its final late summer/early autumn hurrah – the run-up to the County Championship trophy.
Fixtures
DIVISION ONE
New Road: Worcestershire v Kent
Edgbaston: Warwickshire v Somerset
The Oval: Surrey v Lancashire
Southampton: Hampshire v Essex
Chester-le-Street: Durham v Nottinghamshire
DIVISION TWO
Merchant Taylor’s School: Middlesex v Northamptonshire
North Marine Road: Yorkshire v Sussex
County Ground: Derbyshire v Glamorgan
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Leicestershire
