Hello and welcome to day three of the first round of the County Championship. Tanya is indisposed today so I’m afraid you’re stuck with me BUT do not slam your laptops shut and fling your phone into the nearest tributary just yet – we’ll have some fun and follow proceedings together, above the line, below the line, play straight down the line and maybe even flick away off the pads with aplomb.
The sun is shining and the runs are flowing around the shires, particularly in Taunton where Tom Banton continues his career renaissance. Here’s the aforementioned Aldred’s round up of a remarkable day yesterday:
Banton makes history with 344
Be gone Harold Gimblett, Viv Richards, Justin Langer – there is a new man in town. Tom Banton’s astonishing 344 not out against Worcestershire eclipsed them all, the highest score by a Somerset player – and marks the revival of a blazing young gun, whose star had dimmed but is now aflame.
It was also an innings that will have gladdened the hearts of the England selectors, with Banton said to be in their thoughts for Tests this year as they look to build a small pool who play across all formats. It wasn’t all cider and sausages, at 39 for three on Friday afternoon, concentration had been crucial. But by the penultimate ball yesterday, Langer’s 342 in sight, Banton threw caution to the wind and flat-packed a boundary to rapturous applause and handshakes all round.
“It’s a weird feeling,” he said, “and I was a bit emotional up there in the dressing room. This is the best day I’ve had in cricket and will probably be the best day I’ll ever have.
“These days don’t come along very often and you have to make the most of them. I won’t lie, I was pretty tired out there and I kept saying to myself: ‘Just keep batting, keep going’. There were a few moments when I felt I wanted to be back in the dressing room, but I wanted to go for it [the record] tonight, so I tried to play my shots when possible.”
If he was dropped in the 300s by a tiring Worcestershire, it was an aberration – this was a innings of power but also finesse. He didn’t hit a six until he had passed 200 – quite a display of discipline for a man who has graced the Big Bash, the Indian Premier League and the Pakistan Super League. He is also now the joint owner of the earliest triple in Championship history, sharing the record notched up by Sam Northeast on 5 April last year.
Banton’s partner in a record fifth-wicket stand of 371 was James Rew – whose second season last year was a more crunchy experience than the first. But his 152 was gloriously heady – and his and Banton’s efforts left Somerset fans walking away from the ground in disbelief, the scoreboard reading 637 for six.
There were runs galore at Chelmsford, where Essex’s centurions Matt Critchley and Michael Pepper tucked into Surrey – Dan Lawrence whisking down 35.2 overs against a club where he barely bowled. After the excitement of Sam Cook pinning Dom Sibley leg before in his second over, and having Ollie Pope dropped on 10, Surrey then dropped anchor, with Pope and Rory Burns adding 101 on a gentle pitch. Simon Harmer toiled away, but in sunglasses, not his customary April snood.
Edgbaston also proved rich pickings, John Simpson’s 181 helping Sussex to 528. Rob Yates’s unbeaten 113 led Warwickshire’s reply. A misbehaving sprinkler system delayed play at Trent Bridge, where Australian Fergus O’Neill duly collected his fifth wicket, on debut. Durham then picked away at Nottinghamshire’s lineup.
Jonny Bairstow made an exuberant 56 against Hampshire, the new Yorkshire captain dropped three times before he passed 20, and eventually dismissed by Sonny Baker for the second time in the match. The lead is 61, but with just four second-innings wickets left.
In Division Two, Marcus Harris made a hundred on debut for Lancashire against Middlesex at Lord’s, proving an excellent prop for the flaky middle order. Twenty wickets fell at Wantage Road, where the writing is on the wall for Northamptonshire against Kent; Derbyshire’s Wayne Madsen collected his 40th first-class century, against Gloucestershire, and Leicestershire captain’s old and new, Lewis Hill and Peter Handscomb, made hay against Glamorgan.
