County Championship Roundup: 12th-15th May 2022 – rain has the final say in most games

Rain marred the final day of the latest round of County Championship matches, with Division One leaders Surrey in with a good chance of wrapping up victory against Kent at Beckenham before the rain intervened.

The leaders made a massive 671-9 declared in their first innings, incredibly with nobody reaching three figures. Three players perished in the nervous nineties- Ollie Pope 96, Jamie Overton 93 and Ben Foakes 91. There was also half centuries from Ryan Patel, Sam Curran, Colin de Grandhomme and an unbeaten 54 from Jordan Clark.

Kent were bowled out for 230 with Will Jacks taking 4-65. Surrey elected to enforce the follow on with Kent making 114 for 1 with Ben Compton 63 not out when the match was called off with a session and a half remaining.

The draw meant that Surrey stretched their lead at the top of the table to 24 points over Hampshire who didn’t feature in this latest round of championship matches.

In Division One’s other fixtures, only ten wickets fell in four days at Edgbaston in the match between Warwickshire and Northamptonshire with a total of over 1,100 runs scored as batsman filled their boots.

Northants declared their first innings on 597-6 with centuries from Ricardo Vasconcelos 156, Will Young 134 and an undefeated 100 from Luke Procter.

Warwickshire responded with 568-4 with Sam Hain hitting an unbeaten 202, with the match petering out to a draw, with both sides echoing the point that at the start of this season it has been one for the batters, not bowlers.

Somerset took advantage of the fine weather around the country on Saturday by picking up their second consecutive innings victory in a row after beating Gloucestershire at Bristol.

A magnificent 142 from captain Tom Abell led the way for Somerset’s total of 591-7 declared with Matt Renshaw making 94 and Lewis Gregory 89.

Gloucestershire were always struggling and subsequently were bowled out for 186 with Jack Leach picking up 5-49. Following on, Gloucestershire were then dismissed the second time around for 159 with another three wickets for Leach.

In the Roses Match at Headingley between Lancashire and Yorkshire, the game finished in a draw.

Lancashire made a massive 566-9 declared in their first innings with Keaton Jennings returning back to form with 238. Steven croft made 104 with skipper Dane Vilas scoring a half-century.

Yorkshire were dismissed for 379 with former England captain Joe Root making 147. Following on Harry Brook guided the Tykes to safety with an unbeaten half-century.

In Division Two, rain saved leaders Middlesex from defeat at the hands of Nottinghamshire at Lords.

Notts made 415 in their first innings with a century from Haseeb Hameed and 92 from Steven Mullaney. Middlesex were dismissed for 195 with James Pattinson finishing with figures of 4-49.

Notts decided not to enforce the follow on and declared their second innings on 295-5 with Mullaney this time making three figures.

Middlesex were left an improbable 516 for victory and finished on 133-3 with Sam Robson 101 not out when the game was called off due to persistent rain.

In other Division Two games, Durham picked up their first victory of the season after beating Glamorgan at Chester-le-Street by 58 runs.

Glamorgan were left a total of 196 to win but fell short after Matthew Potts took 7-40 to wrap up victory after earlier Durham were bowled out for 249 with Alex Lees top-scoring with 61.

At Leicester, the hosts clung on to a draw against Sussex after the visitors had posted 450 in their first innings in reply to Leicestershire’s 210. The home side batted better the second time around and finished on 333-9 with half-centuries from Rishi Patel, Hassan Azad and Harry Swindells.

The division’s only other match saw a high scoring draw between Derbyshire and Worcestershire at the Incora County Ground.

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