The skies are filthy at CLS, the floodlights on. Bedingham is still in the nineties, though hardly marooned, with 99 off 97 balls.
No Moores, no Stanley, no Anderson for Lancashire, who were invited to bat by Worcestershire and are already stumbling, boots on the wrong foot. Hurst caught off Taylor for 2.
Gloucestershire haven’t had any luck changing the ball at CLS so must take their punishement. An on-song Bedingham (97) and a punchy Ben Stokes (33) equals 180-3 and counting.
Good morning Tim Maitland!
“Seeing as you don’t seem likely to be watching much cricket for a while at Scarbados - the Met Office is showing more showers coming to add to all of the early morning rain - I thought it was time to look at Surrey’s season.
”The usual caveat applies that we should see how the Essex reply pans out before we declare them in crisis, but what had skipped my attention was the extent that Nottinghamshire have donned the black stiletto boots, strapped on the latex corset, grabbed a bullwhip and treated Surrey like their gimp.
“It’s not just eviscerating them in last week’s County Championship, although, given everything else that has passed at The Oval in the competition this season, bowling them out for 162 and 183 was like stubbing a cigarette out on their collective buttock. A buttock that would already have been red raw and smarting from the spanking delivered at the same venue in the final group game of the One Day Cup (by 6 wickets with two overs and a ball to spare) to end Surrey’s involvement.
“This in turn was preceded by a lick-my-boots quarter-final defeat in the Vitality Blast, by 7 runs at Trent Bridge in mid-July. No matter how much you enjoy a bit of punishment, taking all of that in the span of five or six weeks has got to hurt, hasn’t it?”
Gosh, that multiple-contest licking had passed me by. Elgar and Westley are pressing on alright this morning, Essex 44-1. And the sun is out at Scarborough, but there will be no play before lunch.
There is play at last at the big beast bash at Edgbaston, but it isn’t going so well for Notts, who are 19 for 2 after losing Hameed and McCann for ducks.
No hundred for Crawley
As that man Ben Sanderson spoils the dream with a nipbacker into the pads. Kent 170 for one.
Play around most of the grounds
Except Scarborough and Sophia Gardens, where Glamorgan were cheesed off by Sonny Baker’s spectacular entrance yesterday “It’s not really for me to comment on [the ECB rule],” said Ben Kellaway. “We just have to try forget about it but [Baker] came on fresh late in the day, getting dark and bowled nicely.
“It’s a bit frustrating and it’s a change to face a young speedster and it certainly felt like that and we unfortunately lost those two wickets to him.”
I want to eat all my breakfasts on the North Bay drinking coffee out of a cornflower blue cup, in the shadow of a ruined castle, to the rhythm of the waves. Delicious cheese scone too.
Carse "feels he's let England down."
Durham coach Ryan Campbell told BBC sport last night thatBrydon Carse was mortified by events in Derby, but would play for Durham unless they were told otherwise.
“The England team are trying to restart their whole way of going about it and he feels he’s let them down,” said Campbell. “At the end of the day, he will have to live with that.”
“I’m not going to stand here and say I’ve never made a mistake but what we can do is get our arms around him and make sure he doesn’t make those mistakes again.”
“[The regulator] is going to do their job, we’re going to listen to what they say.”
“When they give us a result, we’ll act accordingly.Until then, everyone is free to play, he’s free to play for Durham, and he’ll continue to play.”
Inspections at Scarborough
Early news from North Marine Road – the umpires will be inspecting at 11am and noon.
Political mastications at the Test.
Roundup: Carse gets back down to business, Surrey toil again
Durham’s Brydon Carse, last pictured in handcuffs outside a Derby nightclub and subsequently dropped from England’s Test squad, took his emotions out on Gloucestershire early. He truncheoned Joe Phillips’s middle stump with his sixth ball and induced Miles Hammond into a flamboyant drive by a couple of overs later. With Matthew Potts snaffling Cameron Bancroft, Gloucestershire were on the precipice at 13 for three. A classy 60 from James Bracey enabled them to limp to 137, but Kasey Aldridge mopped up most of the rest with five for 16. Durham then lost two quick wickets, until an unbeaten half-century from David Bedingham sailed them to calmer waters.
It was another dud day for Surrey on what is turning into a miserable Championship summer. After losing the toss and being asked to bat, they were soon in trouble on a verdant Chelmsford wicket. Sam Cook, who swapped into the Essex side after being released by England, picked up three wickets alongside Zaman Akhter, as Surrey were dismissed for 183. Adam Thomas top scored with 43, but there were few consolation runs for Ollie Pope, also surplus to requirements at Lord’s. There was just time for Essex’s Paul Walter to be caught behind before bad light stopped play.
Honours were fairly even at North Marine Road where the rain blew in mid-afternoon. Leicestershire’s Josh Davey plucked out both Yorkshire openers cheaply, but Sam Whiteman and James Wharton, unbeaten on 70, restocked the shelves. Jonny Bairstow flashed hazardly and was caught behind for one, to Scarborough sighs.
Zak Crawley’s highest score of the season gave Kent a boost on a long day waiting for the rain to stop at Wantage Road. His unbeaten 82 dominated an unbroken opening stand of 154 with Ben Compton in the promotion nose to nose against Northamptonshire.
Sonny Baker ripped up Glamorgan’s rebuilding plans, with two wickets in his first over after being subbed into the Hampshire side. It was a typically Tiggerish entrance on a damp day designed for bowlers – 17 wickets fell, including Glamorgan’s top three all for ducks. Sussex’s Henry Crocombe grabbed a hat-trick at Hove as Somerset lost their last five wickets for 11 runs.
Scores on the doors
Division One
Chelmsford: Essex 10-1 v Surrey 183
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 111-7 v Hampshire 162
Hove: Sussex 77-2 v Somerset 202
Edgbaston: Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire
Scarborough: Yorkshire 144-5 v Leicestershire start delayed
Division Two
Derby: Derbyshire v Middlesex
Chester-le-Street: Durham 100-3 v Gloucestershire 137
Northampton: Northamptonshire v Kent 154-0
New Road: Worcestershire v Lancashire
Updated
Preamble
Good morning from a damp Scarborough. The sky is sigh-grey and the sea furious. Today could follow in Thursday’s wet footsteps, with the Met office promising heavy rain in northern England and increasingly widespread showers elsewhere.
But don’t give up just yet, there is still much to chew over after wickets tumbled yesterday. Can Surrey fight back? Will Zak Crawley make his first red-ball hundred of the year? Have Glamorgan been Bakered? Play might start at 11am round the grounds, but we’ll be here anyway. Do join us.
