Weather the big winner in latest County round as Aussie veteran and England Test hopefuls impress
England bats stand up despite snow, rain
Unseasonably frosty weather prevented results in six out of the seven County Championship matches finishing on Wednesday but that didn’t stop a host of England batsmen push their case for Test selection.
The shock retirement of James Taylor along with question marks over the form of Alex Hales and Nick Compton means there are potentially three spots up for grabs in England’s Test batting order, with the first Test of the summer against Sri Lanka less than three weeks away.
Rain, hail, sleet and snow dampened some of the candidates' chances of pressing their claims in the Championship but there were a number of eye-catching batting performances despite the inclement weather.
Quick Single: Snow hits 'the summer game' in England
Dumped England batsmen Gary Ballance, Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott all compiled half-centuries in the Warwickshire-Yorkshire match at Edgbaston as Bell and Trott’s Warwickshire took first-innings honours in the rain-affected draw, with the Bears tipped as Yorkshire’s biggest Division One title-challengers this season.
England captain Alistair Cook, meanwhile, continued his strong early-season form with a patient 65 and Test prospect Nick Browne made 60 as Essex’s top five all passed 50 and amassed 316 of their side’s first-innings of 441.
In response, Northamptonshire’s top five bats made just six runs between them as they were skittled for 119. Following-on, they could only muster 230 as Essex won by an innings and 92 runs to record the only result of the round.
England allrounder Moeen Ali capped an excellent game for Worcestershire in their match against Gloucestershire, as young Western Australian opener Cameron Bancroft continued to struggle.
2️1️0️ runs in total ✔
Brutal hitting ✔
Joy to watch ✔#ProperCrickethttps://t.co/rJOlxnKqiE
— County Championship (@CountyChamp) April 27, 2016
Ali crashed 136 off just 144 balls to follow up his first innings of 74, although the off-spinner was less effective with the ball, going wicketless from his 16 overs.
It’s been suggested by some that Ali, who has mostly batted at No.8 for the Test side, may be better suited batting higher up the order to potentially accommodate another bowler and his performance in this match has provided further justification for that theory.
Meanwhile, Bancroft made 15 and 29 for the match and the 23-year-old is yet to pass fifty in his five hits for the Bristol-based club.
A superb century from recently-axed South Australia batsman Mark Cosgrove gave Leicestershire a glimmer of hope of victory against Kent, the veteran finishing with 122 off 152 balls as he and Neil Dexter (131) helped the Foxes to a 137-run first-innings lead.
Quick Single: Cosgrove surprised at Redbacks axing
And when fellow Australian Clint McKay picked up two early second-innings wickets to leave Kent 112 runs in arrears, Leicestershire looked a chance to claim their second win in as many games.
But Kent captain Sam Northeast and opener Sean Dickson, who was dismissed handled the ball in their first-innings, steadied the ship as the match, which lost almost two days lost to bad weather, ended in a draw.
Quick Single: Dickson makes history with rare dismissal
Elsewhere, Chris Rogers and Somerset will be having nightmares about Sri Lanka legend Kumar Sangakkara.
After his close to a run-a-ball first innings of 171, Sangakkara continued his dominance with a composed 71 as Surrey declared 291 runs ahead with just one session to play. Despite the efforts of both sides to achieve a result at The Oval, the match ended in a draw.
Sanga's entry for 'straight drive of the season' #shot 🙌 https://t.co/jCuOV5PszP
— County Championship (@CountyChamp) April 27, 2016
Rogers, a regular opener who’s begun the season in the unfamiliar No.3 spot, made 11 and 24 in his second match for his new county.
Former Western Australia fast-bowler Michael Hogan was the pick of Glamorgan’s bowlers in their match against Derbyshire, helping the Welsh county take a 32-run first-innings lead before a severe hailstorm on the final day brought an early end to proceedings, Glamorgan finishing two wickets down and 119 runs ahead in their second dig.
Just 189.4 overs of play, including just three on the final day, were possible in the Durham-Middlesex game at the Riverside Ground.
Middlesex captain Adam Voges reached 50 before becoming one of Ben Stokes’ four victims while Durham opener Mark Stoneman pushed his case for England selection with an unbeaten 141.
The next round of County Championship matches gets underway on May 1.