Sir Alastair Cook struck his 74th first-class century as Essex took advantage of perfect batting conditions in their LV= Insurance County Championship clash with Somerset.
Former England captain Cook converted to three figures in 210 balls before reaching 128 as Essex racked up 360 for four on the opening day with Matt Critchley adding a sublime 119.
A stand of 115 between makeshift opening partnership Phil Salt and George Balderson saw Lancashire take charge against Hampshire at Southport.
Having dismissed the visitors for just 142, helped by three wickets apiece for Tom Bailey and Will Williams, Salt and Balderson made light work of Hampshire’s much-vaunted bowling attack as they powered their way to 139 for one at the close, trailing by three runs.
A stellar century by Jordan Cox rescued Kent as they faced champions Surrey at Canterbury.
The hosts recovered from 41 for five to 301 all out after losing five top-order wickets for seven runs in the space of 31 balls.
Cox led the fightback with 133, exactly 100 of which came after he was dropped by Ben Foakes.
Surrey’s Sean Abbott took four for 52, but the visitors were 18 for two at stumps, trailing by 283 after Agar claimed two late wickets.
Sam Hain’s third century of the season helped Warwickshire get off to a strong start against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.
The visitors ended day one on 361 for five after Hain shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 171 with Dan Mousley (87), opener Alex Davies having earlier scored 93.
In Division Two, Matthew Fisher delivered a timely demonstration of his international potential on a day of Yorkshire domination against Derbyshire at Chesterfield.
Fisher – who played a Test Match in the Caribbean 15 months ago and could come into Ashes reckoning if England’s fast bowlers sustain injuries – returned career-best figures of five for 30 to skittle Derbyshire for 111.
Yorkshire skipper Shan Masood heaped further misery on his former county with 67 – his highest score of the season – and Dawid Malan made an unbeaten 76 before rain ended play early with the visitors 272 for five, 161 ahead.
Only 36 overs were possible between Gloucestershire and Leicestershire at Bristol because of heavily overcast skies and rain.
By the close of a frustrating day, Gloucestershire had posted 108 for three, Ollie Price unbeaten on 26.
Kiran Carlson scored a brilliant century to allow Glamorgan to post 390 with the bat against Durham at Seat Unique Riverside.
Carlson was dropped on 67 and 107, and he duly made the hosts pay with his knock of 162 supported by 60 from Sam Northeast and a quickfire 45 from Billy Root.
Tailenders Jack Carson and Henry Shipley helped Sussex mount a respectable score after an early stumble against Worcestershire.
Sussex recovered from 142 for six to reach 338 for nine at stumps thanks to some late-order hitting from Nathan McAndrew, Carson and debutant Shipley, the latter two putting on 85 for the ninth wicket.
Worcestershire’s Joe Leach finished the day with figures of six for 73.
Kevin Wickham and Academy bowlers combine to crush Emerging Ireland by 432 runs at Coolidge
As was expected, West Indies Academy inflicted a soul-crushing defeat on Emerging Island in their four-day match at the Coolidge Cricket Ground on Wednesday to take a 2-0 lead in the series. Having been set a nigh-impossible target of 575 runs, the tourists wilted under the pressure and we bowled out for 143, thus losing by a mammoth 432 runs.
Having resumed from their overnight total of 172-4, for an already significant lead of 432 runs, West Indies Academy, spurred by Kevin Wickham’s unbeaten 105 and contributions of 32 from Nyeem Young and 22 from McKenny Clarke, eventually declared on 321-8.
The spark in the dark for Emerging Ireland was the haul of 5-75 by Tom Hayes, who got some support from Michael Frost whose two wickets came at the cost of 136 runs from 32 overs.
With a target of almost 600 runs, Emerging Ireland were never up to the task against a rested and confident West Indies Academy bowling attack led by Joshua Bishop who snagged 4-36 and Clarke, who bowled miserly for 2-16 from six overs.
Lower-order batter Liam McCarty offered the most resistance with a knock of 35 not out. Otherwise, opener Stephen Doheny was the only other batter who got into the 20s, with 23.
Hosein stars as NY Strikers go top of the table after Bulls sink to record low
Delhi Bulls sank to the lowest total in the Abu Dhabi T10's seven-year history, folding for just 31 despite having Quinton de Kock, Johnson Charles, James Vince, Rilee Rossouw, Rovman Powell, Ravi Bopara and Dwayne Bravo in their ranks, to give New York Strikers their third win and a spot at the top of the table for now.
If you score 98 for 4 in a ten-overs-a-side tournament where three figures are breached quite often, you expect to have it tough in the second half, but it was certainly not the case on the day for Strikers at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Monday.
Two wickets fell in the first over of the chase, to Akeal Hosein (3 for 7), one each in the second and third, and three in the fifth to Chamika Karunaratne (3 for 6). That was the end of the specialist batters bar Bopara, who was the only Bulls batter to get into double-digits with 16.
The Bulls were bowled out with three balls left in the innings after four batters fell for ducks.
In the first half, Rahmanullah Gurbaz dominated proceedings with a 24-ball 49 not out, as Strikers reached what was a just-about-par score of 98… it proved more than three times what Bulls could manage on the day.
Bulls have now lost two on the bounce after starting with three wins in a row, and are still up at No. 3 on the table, while Strikers, after starting with a loss, have now won three in a row.
Rehan Ahmed rejects Sir Alastair Cook’s criticism of Jos Buttler’s captaincy
Rehan Ahmed defended Jos Buttler’s captaincy following criticism of his tactical acumen by Sir Alastair Cook after England started their tour of the Caribbean on a losing note.
Several of Buttler’s decisions were scrutinised during a calamitous World Cup defence and England’s new era in ODIs made a false start as they were beaten by a Shai Hope-inspired West Indies on Sunday.
Having been strangled by spin duo Ahmed and Liam Livingstone, the Windies needed 101 in the last nine overs but they feasted on England’s pace bowlers to win with four wickets and seven balls to spare.
Cook, the former England captain and their record Test run-scorer, wondered on TNT Sports afterwards whether Buttler could have juggled his resources better during the Windies’ successful chase and deployed Will Jacks’ off-spin in the middle overs to take the pressure off the seamers at the death.
But 19-year-old leg-spinner Ahmed said: “Jos is an unbelievable captain. It’s just his call.
“We were in a great position by the end of it. It wasn’t like there was bad decisions throughout the game.
“I don’t think you can put anything down to Jacksy not bowling. I felt like we were always in the game even right to the end.
“We just didn’t execute at the end. We were always still in the game.”
Buttler’s lean patch with the bat also continued at the weekend after being dismissed for three, his fifth single figure score in eight innings while he is averaging 14.1 since the start of the World Cup.
Ahmed said: “Every time I bowl to him in the nets, he smacks me everywhere. Some people can be short of runs sometimes but he’s still Jos Buttler. He’s probably the best white-ball player I’ve bowled to.”
Sam Curran felt the full might of the Windies’ power hitting as he leaked 98 from 9.5 overs and the most expensive ODI figures by an England bowler came with the extra indignity of being pummelled for three sixes in four balls as unbeaten centurion Hope got his side over the line.
Curran’s fortunes have nosedived since being named player of the tournament in England’s triumphant T20 World Cup campaign last year.
Dropped after three innocuous showings at the 50-over World Cup – averaging 11.66 and 70 with bat and ball respectively – the 25-year-old made an important 38 off 26 balls at the weekend, although that was overshadowed by what followed.
Ahmed, who was the pick of England’s attack with two for 40, has backed Curran to demonstrate his resilience in the second ODI of the three-match series on Wednesday.
He said: “After losing a game and if you’ve been hit around then I don’t think you’ll be very happy with it.
“The thing is, Sam is an unbelievable player – everyone knows he is as well, so I’m sure the next game he’ll probably get a five-for, he’ll be good.”
It is understood Ahmed’s younger brother Farhan will be selected on Tuesday in England’s squad for the Under-19 World Cup, which is set to be held in South Africa from January 13 to February 4 next year.
The 15-year-old is an off-spinner by trade and although his elder sibling cracked a couple of jokes at his expense, there is the prospect of two Ahmeds in an England side in the future.
Ahmed joked: “He bowls a lot of dot balls so he’ll be quite boring and I don’t expect (him to hit) too many sixes. But no, I’m very happy for him, he’s very young and he’s been picked for such a big thing.
“He’s quite exciting for an off-spinner, which is quite surprising. But I think he’ll go well. I’m very chuffed for him.
“I play with my older brother and younger brother and dad in club cricket and it’s the best ever feeling.
“As many of us that can play together it’s always going to be good. Whether it’s for England for county for school for a club, anything.
“Playing alongside family is always a great feeling.”
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