Vic quick hits high notes in England

Victorian Ryan Sidebottom has claimed the first 10-wicket haul of his career as Warwickshire thumped Northamptonshire by an innings in their Division Two clash.

Sidebottom added second-innings figures of 4-61 to his 6-35 in the first, finishing with 10-96 to claim player-of-the-match honours.

The 28-year-old has been in terrific form for the Bears since cementing his place in the side in the back half of 2017, when he finished the season with 23 wickets in six matches.

The victory puts Warwickshire top of the Division Two ladder after just two matches played, with 32 points.

"I thought the guys put in a lot of hard work," Warwickshire captain Jeetan Patel told the BBC. "It was very attritional, in terms of how we went about it.

"To bowl them out for 147 in the first innings was outstanding and then to pile on 400, we haven't done that for a long time.

"It was nice to put them under some serious pressure, and contributions from everyone all through that order, is what we're about.

"We're embarking on a new future, and how we get back to (consistent) dominant performances is key to what we do, but along the way we're going to have to find other ways to get wins."

The older brother of AFL player Steele Sidebottom, Ryan played one Sheffield Shield match for Victoria back in 2013 but has rejuvenated his career in the UK; his first-class career now tallies 34 wickets from nine matches at 20.76.

Sidebottom isn't the only Australian quick plying his trade in the UK without also taking part in Shield action, with veteran trio Michael Hogan (36), Steve Magoffin (38) and Mitch Claydon (35) playing for Glamorgan, Worcestershire and Kent respectively, and 25-year-old former WA quick Matt Dixon on the books at Essex. 

In County Championship Division One matches to conclude overnight, Essex beat Lancashire by 31 runs, despite a valiant 56 for South Australian Joe Mennie, who rounded out an impressive all-round performance, having earlier taken six wickets.

At Taunton, Matthew Renshaw's day one hundred proved decisive in the end as Somerset prevailed over Travis Head's Worcestershire by 83 runs, with the Redbacks skipper making nine in the run chase to go with his first-innings 49.

Five other fixtures across the two divisions head into their final day of action this evening.

County Championship Division One

At Chelmsford: Essex 150 and 313 (J Foster 69) beat Lancashire 144 (S Harmer 5-46, J Porter 5-26) and 288 (A Davies 71, J Clark 59, J Mennie 56, J Porter 4-54) by 31 runs

At Taunton: Somerset 202 (M Renshaw 101 no, E Barnard 5-52) and 255 (J Hildreth 111 no, E Barnard 6-37) beat Worcestershire 179 (E Barnard 50, L Gregory 4-51) and 195 by 83 runs

At The Oval: Surrey 211 (L Dawson 4-30, F Edwards 4-38) and 9-407d (O Pope 145, B Foakes 81, S Borthwick 74) v Hampshire 147 (H Amla 55, R Clarke 4-39, S Curran 4-39) and 4-116

At Headingley: Yorkshire 256 (A Hodd 62, L Fletcher 4-47) and 334 (G Ballance 82, T Bresnan 68 no) v Nottinghamshire 188 (L Taylor 57, B Coad 4-49) and 8-181 (B Coad 4-55)

County Championship Division Two

At Northampton: Northampton 147 (R Sidebottom 6-35) and 218 (A Rossington 58, R Sidebottom 4-61) lost to Warwickshire 413 (T Ambrose 103, S Hain 85, H Brookes 70) by an innings and 48 runs

At Derby: Derbyshire 265 (G Viljoen 60 no, J Harris 4-68) and 3-333d (L Reece 157 no, B Slater 99, W Madsen 52) v Middlesex 157 (D Olivier 4-26) and 3-86

At Bristol: Gloucestershire 236 (M de Lange 5-62) and 5-133 v Glamorgan 9-526d (D Lloyd 119, S Marsh 111, M de Lange 50 no)

At Grace Road: At Sussex 8-438d (M Burgess 101 no, L Wright 88, I Sharma 66, B C Brown 64) and 0-11 v Leicestershire 9-422d (C Ackermann 186, M Cosgrove 64, L Wells 4-81)