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Rothesay County Championship 2025 Round 3 Day 4 – All Matches - Live Cricket Streaming, Match Reports, Updates
Tom Scriven has Luke Wells LBW
©Cricket WORLD/John MallettThe Rothesay County Championship 2025 continues with Round 3 Day 4 action from April 18–21.
Stay connected with live cricket streaming, ball-by-ball scores, key match updates, and detailed match reports from Division One and Division Two across the county venues.
Rothesay County Championship 2025 Round 3 Previews – Division 1 and 2 - All Fixtures – April 18-21
Rothesay County Championship 2025 Division one
Sussex vs Surrey, Rothesay County Championship 2025, Division One,County Ground, Hove, Brighton
Champions Surrey are still looking for the first win of the season in the Rothesay County Championship after they drew with Sussex at Hove.
Surrey’s hopes of putting pressure on their hosts on the final day evaporated when they lost their last seven wickets for 100 runs in the morning session.
They still took a first-innings lead of 55 after being dismissed for 490, but Tom Haines followed his first-innings 174 with an unbeaten 69 (9 fours) and Dan Hughes contributed 49 to an unbroken first-wicket stand of 132. Haines took his aggregate for the season to 449 and is averaging 89.8.
Surrey needed early wickets to put pressure back on Sussex but the openers wiped out the arrears in the 17th over, by which time Surrey had to employ spin at both ends because of the poor light with skipper Rory Burns bowling three overs and Dan Worrall and Dom Sibley sending down some exploratory leg breaks.
Bad light stopped play at 3.25pm and there was never any chance that the players would return. In the end the loss of 83 overs during the first three days to bad weather and a pitch which hardly deteriorated ended up frustrating both teams. Surrey took 15 points and Sussex 14 and both sides remain unbeaten after three matches.
Surrey began the day on 390 for three with ambitions to go past Sussex’s 435 and make it an awkward second innings for their hosts.
But they lost momentum straight away. Ollie Robinson’s third ball of the day stopped in the pitch and Dan Lawrence gave mid-wicket an easy catch without adding to his 107, which came off 111 balls with ten fours and a six.
Robinson settled into a probing spell of 11-2-42-1 and Jayden Seales gave good support on a pitch that offered more seam movement than had been evident in the previous two days under low cloud cover and with the floodlights in use. And after conceding 162 runs during the afternoon session on the third day and incurring the wrath of coach Paul Farbrace Sussex were much more disciplined in the field.
Seales bowled at decent pace from the sea end and was rewarded with wickets in successive overs. Ben Foakes fenced at a ball of good length for 60 then Ryan Patel (29) fatally chased a widish one.
Left-arm spinner James Coles finished things off with the last four wickets. Jordan Clark heaved across the line before the left-arm spinner picked up the final three wickets in six balls.
Atkinson inside-edged a full toss onto his off stump, Matthew Fisher was bowled trying to guide his second delivery down to third man and Coles completed his maiden five-for when he fired one down the leg side and Ollie Sykes got a thin edge to John Simpson, who took his fourth wicket of the innings to ensure Sussex took maximum bowling points, an unlikely outcome at the start of the day.
Surrey coach Gareth Batty said: "It was a tough four days on a very good pitch. The weather intervened which stopped our momentum, especially on the third day, but there were some solid performances and we're probably getting to a nice place where players are starting to hit their straps. [The pitch] was what we expected, people started doing it to us at the end of last year - very flat, docile, placid surfaces. We're a couple of bits of ammunition who might help us take 20 wickets down at the moment but that's no excuse, we've had our opportunities but you just need to play the perfect game to get a result. That perfect game is what everyone is striving for - we certainly are."
Sussex captain John Simpson said: "It's been a really positive four days. We knew it was going to be a huge challenge against a fantastic Surrey team. We maybe left a few runs out there in the first innings but overall it's been a good game for us. Tom Haines' batting has come on leaps and bounds, he's playing some beautiful cricket at the moment and showing that desire to get some really big scores. He is reaping the rewards for the way he practices and goes about things behind the scenes. Him and Daniel Hughes are forming a formidable opening partnership and it certainly helps [batters] three onwards that they can come in when the ball is softer and batting is a bit easier."
Day 4: Durham 427 v Yorkshire 307 and 277-6, Banks Homes Riverside. Match drawn.
Durham 15 points, Yorkshire 13 points
By Graham Hardcastle, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
Captain Jonny Bairstow posted an unbeaten 86 as Yorkshire thwarted a depleted Durham attack to secure a Rothesay County Championship draw during a shortened fourth day at the Banks Homes Riverside.
Impressive Bairstow shared half-century partnerships for the fifth and sixth wickets with all-rounders George Hill and Matthew Revis during the morning session as Yorkshire, who started the day on 132 for four in their second innings - leading by 12, reached 232 for five at lunch.
With a lead of 112, Yorkshire had taken the sting out of the situation and continued to build their lead after lunch, when rain arrived just before 3pm with them at 277 for six from 105.3 overs and 157 ahead.
When rain hit the North East venue to leave them with a 13-point haul from this third round match, added to an earlier defeat and victory to start the season.
Durham will rue the loss of injured seamers Paul Coughlin and Brendan Doggett throughout this fixture, which saw them claim 15 points and end a two-match losing start.
Bairstow’s 167-ball effort included 11 fours and represented his second fifty of the summer.
Coughlin’s abdominal problem was sustained on day one and seems more serious. Australian overseas Doggett, however, went over on his ankle during day three and was not on the field purely as a precaution.
It meant captain Alex Lees, who scored a first-innings 172, was left with only four bowling options on day four - tireless new-ball seamers Ben Raine and Matthew Potts, medium pacer Will Rhodes and the part-time off-spin of Colin Ackermann.
Durham had to use their 40-year-old batting coach Will Gidman as a substitute fielder.
Bairstow started day four, which began with the floodlights on, with only two runs to his name.
But he was quickly out of the blocks with a couple of boundaries off Potts in the day’s opening over.
The situation meant that Bairstow, who played the last of his 100 Tests for England to date in March of last year, was never going to be wholly dominant. But he was far from becalmed against both the old ball and then the new.
He completed a fifth-wicket stand of 59 with Hill, who contributed 24 before pulling Ackermann to midwicket, leaving Yorkshire at 176 for five in the 73rd over, a visiting lead of 56.
Bairstow was strong on the pull against Potts and then Raine, either side of reaching his fifty off 91 balls, while he drove another eye-catching boundary almost arrow straight off Rhodes.
Revis also moved into the twenties with a couple of back-foot boundaries off Raine just before lunch at 232 for five with some light rain falling.
After lunch, Potts had a five-over spell which Yorkshire negated. But by then, it felt as if the sting had been taken out of the situation with the threat of rain increasing.
Potts has bowled 50 overs in this match - 20 in the first innings and 30 in the second - for three wickets and has sent down 139 in three matches so far this season. Raine, meanwhile, has bowled 141 overs - the most in Division One. He took six wickets in the match.
Ackermann had Revis caught behind off the inside-edge on 40, leaving Yorkshire 272 for six - a lead of 152.
That ended a 96-run partnership with Bairstow, who was denied the chance to post a 32nd career first-class century. But his number one objective of steering his side to safety had been achieved.
Umpires Martin Saggers and Surendiran Shanmugam called a close to the fixture at 4pm.
Durham head coach Ryan Campbell said
“I take a whole lot of positives out of this. The facts are that we came into this game losing the first couple but playing pretty well whilst not quite nailing it.
“This game, in all honesty, only one team could win from a long way out. That’s a pretty good position to be in.
“When you’re playing against a good team like Yorkshire, to be on top for most of those three-and-a-half days, it’s really pleasing.
“Things aren’t quite going our way. We had to battle in that second innings with two of our bowlers down, and it’s hard work. But there were glimmers of hope throughout the innings.
“I walk away from here so positive it’s not funny.
“Leesy and Emilio (first-innings centuries) are two really good players, and that’s why we’re really excited about the season. Our batting has depth, and generally we’ll score at a really good rate to put us in a position to win games of cricket. That’s always the goal.
“This is a tough competition and a great competition, and we have to be at our best every time we go out there.
“(Raine and Potts) They’re unbelievable competitors and have shouldered a workload more than what they should have to. But they never moan or complain and always ask for the ball again. They’re great competitors, and I’m glad they’re on my team.”
Yorkshire captain Jonny Bairstow said
“Really pleased to get out of that the way that we did. Obviously, losing the toss we would have had a look to bowl as well. We actually went alright there.
“We left a few out there (first innings), and a few softer dismissals. As a group, we'll look to improve on that. I think that's a fairly easy fix, if I'm honest. There's a lot of talent within the group.
“They put us under pressure. For two of their guys to get 150, it’s exactly what Division One cricket is about. It's probably the biggest difference between that and Division Two - when a teams's on top, they don't let you off. And that's a lesson we can learn as a group.
“I'm happy with the way that I've been striking the ball.
“Yes, it was a tricky day today, but the way in which we started the day with Hilly and then the way that Rev played as well, just to be out there for the whole day is something that you can draw upon.”
Essex vs Worcestershire, Rothesay County Championship 2025, Division One County Ground, Chelmsford
Essex (179 & 317) beat Worcestershire (202 & 266) by 28 runs
Points: Essex 19, Worcestershire 3
Jamie Porter helped wrap up a nervy first Rothesay County Championship victory of the season for Essex on the final day against Worcestershire with the 22nd five-wicket haul of his career.
The 31-year-old pace bowler, the leading wicket-taker in Division One last season, added three more wickets to the three he had taken the day before as Worcestershire were bowled out for 266, 28 runs short of their target. Porter finished with 6-52 from 24.4 overs.
However, the victory was not achieved without some belated anxiety. The 23-year-old all-rounder Ethan Brookes, patience personified earlier in his innings, threw caution to the wind when the ninth wicket went down and launched a one-man pyrotechnic show that included seven sixes in a scintillating 88 from 105 balls before becoming Porter’s final victim..
Both teams arrived on day four believing they not only could win but would win. Worcestershire needed 110 more runs and Essex required four wickets. They also needed to get it completed before forecast rain arrived during the afternoon.
That Essex had dug themselves out of a hole after being dismissed for 179 in the first innings and being able to set a target of 295, was largely due to Paul Walter’s century, the highest score on a hybrid wicket that was a seamer’s paradise.
To prove that point, Porter extracted some extra bounce from the pitch to claim his fourth wicket of the innings with the second ball of his second over of an overcast morning. Worcestershire had only added a quickly scampered single to their overnight 185-6 when Matthew Waite played on to depart for 27 after a painstaking two-hour stay.
Worcestershire were still 103 runs away from celebrating their own first win of the campaign when Tom Taylor got a thick edge to another Porter lifting delivery and was caught at first slip by Walter.
Rajitha, replacing Porter in the attack, then knocked out Ben Allison’s leg stump to leave Worcestershire on the precipice.
Once the game was all over bar the shouting, Brookes decided to have some fun, smashing Simon Harmer for six over cow corner and then scooping and sweeping Kasun Rajitha for maximums off successive balls. His fourth six, again off Harmer and over Snater’s head on the square-leg boundary, took him to a 73-ball fifty.
Another six, his fifth in five overs, landed in the Tom Pearce Stand at the River End before Porter returned to take the new-ball with Worcestershire still requiring 53 to win.
A sixth six, this one hit back over Snater’s head, brought up the fifty partnership for the last wicket, in 38 balls, of which Jacob Duffy had contributed exactly nought.
Even Porter came in for some treatment when Brookes deposited him over fine leg for six No7. But next ball, Brookes lobbed the ball up and Porter rushed in to take a caught-and-bowled right under the batsman’s nose.
Essex’s Jamie Porter took six wickets and said: “When we got them two wickets down early on I thought we’d get it done before the second new-ball. But that wat one hell of an innings by Ethan Brooke. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt about Worcestershire, it’s they don’t give in. They push you all the way to the end. So a lot of credit to them to a) get into the position they were at this morning where it felt we were slight favourites, and b) literally from the jaws of defeat to put themselves in a position where they almost won it.
“He [Brookes] was within his rights to question the wicket, but I was 100 per cent certain I’d taken it. I’ve never claimed a catch that wasn’t clean in my career, not that I’ve been in that position too often. But I’m 100 per cent certain it carried and the umpire at point confirmed it. He’s [Brookes] obviously disappointed because he felt like he deserved to be on the right end of that result, and I agree the way he played he did deserve to be on the winning side. But that’s the way it goes.
“Wickets are great and that’s my job, but ultimately all I can do is bowl the ball well, how I want to bowl it, and that’s been exactly the case the three games we’ve played so far. It’s felt really good the way it’s come out of the hand. I feel I’ve bowled really well and done a great job for the team and it’s nice to get the rewards today. But more importantly, it’s just nice to get the win on the board.
“I’m only looking for one thing this season and that’s to win the championship, that’s all I want before I finish playing. That is literally all I care about. I don’t care if I play 14 games and don’t take a wicket, as long as we win the championship.
“I am thinking about the championship already, yes, purely because I want it that bad. When you’ve won it a couple of times before you know what that feeling is like and nothing beats it. I just want to do it again.”
Worcestershire head coach Alan Richardson said: “It was a remarkable innings from Ethan. It just showed the skill level he has and the ability. It was amazing to watch from a position where for love and money it didn’t look like we were going to get so close. For him to produce something like that should give him a great deal of confidence.
“The coaching staff here have known Ethan for a long time so when he left Warwickshire we knew there was something there. He got his maiden first-class hundred against Hampshire last year on a spin-friendly wicket was also an am amazing innings, and very similar to that in the tempo he played. We believe we’ve got an exciting cricketer.
“I thought there were incredible measurements in his innings. Yes, he did throw the kitchen sink at a few but the way he conducted himself and the fact Jacob [Duffy] faced so few balls was real testament to an intellect cricketer, someone who knew how to go about it. You talk about throwing caution to the wind, I think there was an element of freedom about how he went about it. He’s an excellent cricketer.
“I thought the first half an hour, Ports and Snates bowled exceptionally well and gave us absolutely nothing and put us under a lot of pressure and picked up the wickets through that. This morning we were really hopeful, we pride ourselves on being able to bat all the way down and we thought we had an opportunity, we knew it would be hard work, but we had an opportunity to get over the line.
“There was a pretty low bar after the defeat at Yorkshire but there was a significant improvement in performance here, one we hoped to see.”
Hampshire vs Somerset, Rothesay County Championship 2025, Division One,The Rose Bowl, Southampton
Day 4 - Hampshire vs Somerset at Utilita Bowl
Somerset 184 & 163/2 drew with Hampshire 336
Points: Hampshire 13, Somerset 11
Hampshire continued their unbeaten start and Somerset their winless opening to the Rothesay County Championship season with a draw at Utilita Bowl.
Sean Dickson, Tom Abell, and the weather quelled any chances of a final day route to a positive result in either direction – with a total of 175 overs, or around five sessions, lost in the match.
Dickson ended up unbeaten on 77, and Abell 27, after a 56-run partnership which had wiped out Hampshire’s lead and taken Somerset away from any danger of losing.
Ben Brown’s side took 13 points from the match, to Somerset’s 11, to display a healthy 43 points from their opening three rounds and remain within touching distance of the Division One pacemakers.
The only thing stopping this match from becoming a day four draw was either an inspired morning of bowling or the forecasted rain blowing in the opposite direction.
Neither happened, with the first part largely down to Dickson and Abell’s stoic batting.
Hampshire had the ideal start as Tom Lammonby fell in the fifth over of the day having added two to his overnight score of 22.
The left-hander couldn’t control a guide to third after Kyle Abbott had extracted some bounce off a length, and edged to Tom Prest at first slip.
On three occasions, Abbott thought he had Dickson lbw but each time the South African, and his team-mates’, vociferous appeals were turned down.
Abbott was the pick of the Hampshire bowlers with his unerring accuracy with his eight morning overs only conceding 12 runs, with 83 per cent of the deliveries resulting in dots.
But he, nor Brad Wheal, James Fuller, Liam Dawson or Brett Hampton, could do anything to move the steadfast Dickson and Abell.
The duo blocked and left with a clean head while chipping away at Hampshire’s lead.
A Dickson pulled two took the visitors into the lead – having been behind the match since losing six wickets for 40 runs in the first innings – shortly before rain brought an early lunch.
Light and then heavy rain prevented a restart until after tea, and even then only three and a half overs - in which the only action of note was a dropped catch at first slip - were possible before bad light suspended proceedings again.
After two sessions had been lost on day one, and early finishes for bad light on the following two days, there was little surprise when the hands were shaken on a draw at 17:00 BST, with Somerset sweating over a minus over rate and a potential points deduction.
Hampshire captain Ben Brown:
"The game was ruined by weather. It always looked a dodgy forecast at the beginning of the week but I think we played the better cricket and we had great commitment to win the game.
"We probably took a few more risks with the bat than we ordinarily would have to win the game so credit to the guys for really embracing the week to try and get the win, but the weather took us down.
"It is not easy to win Championship games at the time of year we play so you have to take the weather into consideration, we did and tried to open up a chance to win.
"I thought we bowled brilliantly in the second innings without any luck. On a different day we could have got a lot of wickets there.
"I felt especially sorry for Abbott. He bowled incredibly well without luck.
"A couple of things didn't go our way this morning but the guys couldn't have committed any better and hopefully later in the season we will get our rewards - cricket always spins around.
"We would have taken our start to the season. We are really pleased and we are playing well."
Somerset head coach Jason Kerr:
"Overall we are pleased. We have played some really good cricket, especially the character after being six down overnight on the first day and then bowling them out on the third day to give us the opportunity to potentially win the game.
"We succumbed to the weather today but it was good to see Dickson, Abell and Lammonby take their opportunity in a pressurised situation. Unfortunately the weather won.
"Dickson has played brilliantly over the last two days. We know it is incredibly challenging opening the batting. He and Archie go through two quality bowlers, it is difficult, and looking at the context of the game it was worth more than the runs on the board.
"You are always disappointed because you want to win every game you play, but I am not disappointed with the cricket we are playing. Hopefully within the next four games of this block we can get a couple of wins."
Day 4. Warwickshire, 93 all out and 181 for six, drew with Nottinghamshire, 367 all out.
Dominant Nottinghamshire ran out of time and had to settle for a draw against Warwickshire after rain took out much of the final day of their Rothesay County Championship Division One match at Edgbaston.
Warwickshire, trailing by 274 on first innings, entered the final day on 163 for six second time around, with the visitors four wickets away from the win their command of the match deserved. But rain prevented play until 3.45pm, leaving Nottinghamshire's bowlers just 36 overs at their disposal on a flattening pitch.
Overnight pair Ed Barnard (40 not out, 149 balls) and Olly Hannon-Dalby (seven not out, 62 balls) blocked their way to safety as Warwickshire ended on 181 for six.
Warwickshire ended with much relief at a draw, having been outplayed. Nottinghamshire’s frustration, after seizing control with some brilliant bowling on the second day, was deep, though they did not help themselves with pedestrian batting on the third morning. With heavy rain always likely on day four, there was a clear case for pressing home their advantage in more proactive fashion and trying to force victory before the final day.
Nottinghamshire’s gamble on the weather allowing them sufficient time did not succeed as Barnard and Hannon-Dalby ‘parked the bus’ on an increasingly placed pitch. After play finally resumed, just three runs came from the first 14 overs.
The seventh-wicket pair survived 20 overs with few alarms when Nottinghamshire had their last throw of the dice – a new ball with 16 overs remaining. By that stage, however, the dark clouds had rolled back in and the floodlights were on and only four balls were possible with the new ball before the umpires took the players off for bad light, never to return.
Warwickshire were left mightily relieved to have drawn a match in which they were so emphatically second best. Nottinghamshire might reflect that county championship matches are very hard to win, so when you do build a winning position, it’s a good idea to stay positive and do everything you can to turn it into a victory.
Warwickshire bowler Olly Hannon-Dalby said:
"We were praying for rain all day really but when it cleared up we had to get out there with an obvious job that we just had to bat time. It was really nice to be out there with Ed Barnard who is a very cool, calm and collected character and it was nice that we could bat out the day.
"First Division cricket is incredibly tough with some great teams. No-one rolls over and we are glad that we have not rolled over. However we are aware that we have been outplayed here. With bat and ball, Notts have been better than us. Credit to them, they batted really well and bowled really well.
"We've got stuff to work on and now we have week off before we go up to Headingley against Yorkshire but we are glad that we have scrapped it out and got a draw. We are undefeated in this first little period of three games which is great.
"It's a bit of a new look side with some young guys and they have shown what they can do, notably Michael Booth who is a top human being, a lovely lad and it's great to see the hard work he's put in over the last few years coming to fruition. He is doing very well and I'm delighted for him."
Nottinghamshire head coach Peter Moores said:
"It's always frustrating when the weather stops you going for the win because we played really good cricket. What we will take from it it we played some excellent cricket to get into that position with the limited time we were on the field.
"Credit to Barnard and Hannon-Dalby today, they got stuck in. The pitch still had a bit in there but the ball was a bit softer and it was harder to get a wicket. There were a few play and misses and a couple of nicks that didn't carry but credit to them for the way they played.
"We can take a lot from the game. We batted very well on quite a challenging pitch to get 350-plus. Then the way Brett and Fergus bowled, and the way we bowled as a unit, was great to see.
"It has been a good start to the season because we had to really fight to put ourselves into strong positions in the first two games and this performance has backed that up."
Rothesay County Championship 2025 Division Two
Gloucestershire (16 points) 472 and 335 for five declared. Kent (14 points) 393 and 124 for six.
Gloucestershire were left to rue an over-cautious declaration when their Rothesay County Championship with Kent ended at Canterbury in a draw.
Tom Price almost single-handedly injected life into what was becoming a tedious final day by reducing Kent to 49 for four with 22 overs remaining, but despite some middle order tremors the visitors dug in to reach 124 for six. England’s Zak Crawley anchored the defence with an unbeaten 54 from 112 balls and Grant Stewart finished on 16 not out, keeping his head during a tense finale that went to the final over.
The visitors batted deeply, arguably too deeply, into the afternoon session before setting a notional target of 413 to win from 41 overs, after declaring on 335 for five, Miles Hammond making 89, Graeme van Buuren 58 and Ollie Price 56. Tom Price finished with figures of four for 33.
Few expected this game to go the distance after 36 overs were lost on day three and the word from the Gloucestershire camp on Sunday night was that they were reluctant to set a low target because of the way Kent chased down 316 last week to beat Middlesex.
They resumed on 112 for two, a lead of 191 and Ollie Price and Hammond at least began like a duo who knew they’d have to score quickly if there was any chance of forcing a result.
Hammond was the more expansive of the two, passing 50 from 79 deliveries with a cover drive off Jas Singh while Price was more pedestrian, taking 116 balls to reach the same landmark with a single off Jack Leaning.
The pace slowed however, until after and hour and fifty minutes of mounting tedium, a wicket finally fell when Leaning had Ollie Price caught behind by the sub wicket-keeper Chris Benjamin.
It was 233 for three at lunch, with the lead 312 and 66 overs remaining. Things threatened to get at least semi-interesting when Cam Green was lbw to Joey Evison in the first over after the resumption and Leaning then had Hammond caught by Tawanda Muyeye at first slip in the next over, but no further wickets fell until Gloucestershire declared at just after 3pm, by which time van Buuren had helped himself to a half-century against the part time spinners and a chase was no longer viable.
A collapse was however, and visiting hopes flared when Tom Price had first innings centurion Ben Compton caught behind off for one and Daniel Bell-Drummond lbw for two.
Kent were on a fragile eight for two at tea and with Crawley in what might be described as sub-optimal form Gloucestershire scented an opportunity, but they were frustrated for the next 10 overs and the game was drifting until Price took another couple of wickets, getting Muyeye lbw and Leaning caught by Cameron Bancroft at second slip.
That was enough to convince Gloucestershire to keep going after 5pm, the earliest time the teams could have shaken hands on the draw.
Just as Kent started to feel safe again Josh Shaw sent Joey Evison’s off-stump flying for a 36-ball 15 and Harry Finch, batting with a broken finger, was caught by Hammond at first slip off Ollie Price. At that point there were still 7.3 overs remaining but Grant Stewart survived, the only major scare coming from an inside edge off Shaw that went perilously close to the stumps.
Crawley endured a couple of alarms in Ollie Price’s penultimate over, leaving Shaw to try and take four wickets with the last six balls.
Stewart blocked the first and drive the next two for fours to ensure Kent survived.
Gloucestershire’s Mark Alleyne said: “From Gloucestershire’s point of view it was a really strong four-day performance I thought. Having had to make use of the pitch first, batting-wise when it was at its trickiest on the first was, I thought, a fantastic effort, from where we were with three down quite early and then to dominate and get to 470 we were in a strong position.
“We probably missed a couple of opportunities in their first innings when they batted and a bigger, healthier lead would have preferable of course, but then to back it up in the second innings, we batted really and took six wickets in their second innings, so it was a great effort over four days.
“We went in overnight, thinking what do we need to do try and win the game today. We were going to take a lot of reflection from how the pitch played first thing in the morning. It looked pretty batter-friendly and that coupled with the experience of the game before where Kent batted well probably made us slightly more conservative than we would normally be but a lot of things conspired, like losing our strike bowler (de Lange) so having played such good cricket we didn’t really want to give Kent any chance of getting in the game.
“At one stage he (de Lange) was going to bowl in the second innings but we decided not to take the risk. He’s going to be scanned tomorrow and we’ll have a more exact update on it but he seems quite happy that it’s nothing too serious.”
Kent’s Daniel Bell-Drummond said: “It was a really good game of cricket and obviously some things changed at the back end but there were some really good performances throughout and Gloucester pushed us hard.
“It was a good game for the neutrals and obviously it got a bit tricky at the end but there were a lot of good performance in there and some positives to take forwards for sure.
“Nathan has been brilliant this season, he’s shown his class and how good he can be. He’s come in with a lot of confidence and had a good winter and he’s really bowling some good spells, against some top quality players as well. Against Cam Green that was a good battle and it’s great to see how well he’s doing. Hopefully he’ll go from strength to strength.
“Ben has been excellent as well, just continuing a rich vein of form. He started the season extremely well and he’s a very good run scorer, clearly. In terms of his knock in this game he just how well he can score all around the ground, pressuring the bowlers and brilliant in defence as well, as he always is. He’ll take a lot from that and no doubt he’ll back it up, it’s been a great start from him.
“It’s a pretty calm dressing room so when things like this happen we make sure not to go overboard, but yeah, Gloucester did very well, they bowled well in that period and so they put us under pressure. They were ahead for most of the game and probably could have declared earlier, but happily for us they didn’t. I think Zak Crawley showed his class there, he really played well. The wicket was going up and down a bit on day four and he had so much time and showed his international class. It’s very good for him and it’s been a very good start from a team point of view with two wins and a draw.
“We were always going to get put under pressure in one of these games and that was today but the boys held strong and showed their fight.”
Lancashire 263 and 90-3 drew with Leicestershire 491-8 declared
Lancashire 11pts, Leicestershire 15pts
ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
The Rothesay County Championship match between Lancashire and Leicestershire ended in a draw after the home side’s fourth-wicket pair, Josh Bohannon and Marcus Harris, safely negotiated what could have been a tricky final session at Emirates Old Trafford.
Resuming on 16 for three at 4.30 after persistent rain had prevented play getting under way in the first two sessions at Manchester, Bohannon and Harris extended their stand to an unbroken 79 and had taken their side to 90 for three by the time the draw was agreed with a minimum of eight overs left to be bowled.
At that point, Bohannon was 45 not out and Harris was unbeaten on 34. However, the last session was not without its alarms for the home side. Bohannon was dropped twice in the opening seven overs by wicketkeeper Ben Cox off the bowling of Ian Holland, although neither chance was easy.
Leicestershire take 15 points from the game to Lancashire 11 and the visitors will have left the ground disappointed not to have had a longer opportunity to press home their advantage.
The home team had gone into the final day still needing 212 runs to avoid an innings defeat and Keaton Jennings’ players might be grateful for the week off they will have before their next game, at home to Gloucestershire on May 2nd-5th, when it is expected that James Anderson will make his first appearance of the season.
Leicestershire, on the other hand, are certain to remain among the Second Division leaders after this round of fixtures and will travel to Bristol for their match against Gloucestershire in good spirits.
Leicestershire head coach, Alfonso Thomas, said:
We’ve done some really good things in this game. There’s always room for improvement but I’m just so proud of the guys for how they’ve gone about things.
To a man, everybody in this team does his job and that to me is the sign of a really strong side. I was really chuffed for Tom Scriven that he got his maiden five-wicket haul and then the way Rehan and Sol batted set the tone for us going into day two.
It set things up for our pretty powerful middle order to take us nearly to full batting bonus points – but I’m happy with four.
We have a bowling team and people are ready to come in. I wanted a squad of about seven or eight bowlers for the season. It’s going to be tough to go through the season with the same bowling attack. I’m begging and pleading with the ECB to let me have Josh Hull in the squad.
Lancashire captain Keaton Jennings said:
I think when you look back at the four days, batting first on that surface was hard work. I thought actually to get to 263 was probably about par. We had opportunities to push ahead of the game and get above par, but let them slide. And the same with the ball. I don't think we executed well enough.
We chatted about it as a group. We missed too often. And obviously, they're going to get a big score as the wicket sort of levels out a bit. Last night was a crazy half an hour. Balls jumped and stayed low and all sorts. Where that came from, I'm not sure.
Today, we were pretty clear with what we had to do. I thought Harry and Boshy went about that beautifully. Overall, it was frustrating. You feel like a bit of a stuck record coming in saying the same thing.
I think with the ball we need to be more relentless, landing the ball in the right area often enough. You want guys getting hundreds, getting big hundreds, especially first innings. That's one where the points are.
We want to be playing that type of cricket first time round. We've seen Northampton and Leicester both put us under pressure with big first inning scores. We want to be the side doing that.
I think the good thing is, when you look at it from our point of view, I suppose a positive spin is we haven't played our best cricket, but we're not a million miles off (the top). We haven't played good cricket. We've got a week now to correct it.
Middlesex vs Glamorgan, Rothesay County Championship 2025, Division Two,Lord's, London
Glamorgan 199 & 329, Middlesex 470-9 & 59-1
Middlesex 21 points beat Glamorgan 1pt by 9 wickets
By Jon Batham, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
Middlesex overcame stubborn Glamorgan resistance and the rain to beat the visitors by 9 wickets on the final day of their Rothesay County Championship Division Two clash at Lord’s.
Chris Cooke’s stoic 213-minute 69 and Ned Leonard’s career-best 47 led the Welsh rearguard the pair sharing a heroic stand of 88 for the eighth wicket – this after Sunday’s half-centurion Kiran Carlson had fallen without adding to his overnight score.
Timm van der Gugten contributed a useful 28, but they were bowled out for 329 shortly after 3pm, Toby Roland-Jones returning three for 68.
Needing 59, despite a lengthy rain delay, Middlesex got home with 13 overs to spare, Leus du Plooy 27 not out finishing the game with a six.
Carlson’s dismissal in Roland-Jones’ second over of the day was highly controversial. The Seaxes’ skipper bowled a great line, and the ball bounced a fraction on the batter who appeared to hit the back of his pad with the bat rather than making any contact. Carlson shook his head all the way back to the pavilion.
Cooke and new batter Van der Gugten dug in, the latter twice driving the Henry Brookes straight to the pavilion rope. It took Dane Paterson’s second delivery with the ripe cherry to beat the outside edge and clip Van der Gugten’s off-stump to end the stand of 47.
The resolute Cooke, who survived a huge Roland-Jones shout for lbw, found another staunch ally in Leonard, the pair ensuring Middlesex would have to bat again when the latter top-edged Paterson to the fence at third in the first over after lunch.
Cooke reached 50 with a sixth four tickled to fine leg and the 50 partnership soon followed. By now rain clouds were amassing to add to the host’s frustrations, Zafar Gohar’s emotions boiling over as he flicked the bails off with his hand in the aftermath of another lbw appeal answered in the negative. By the time Brookes had one upheld to end the obdurate Cooke’s 151-ball vigil, the lead was 50.
Gohar’s mood wasn’t helped by Jack Davies dropping Leonard off the very next ball, but left with the tail, the 22-year-old missed out on a maiden first-class half-century when he attempted a reverse-sweep later in the following over and was castled.
Shoaib Bashir needed a concussion check after being struck on the helmet by a short one from Brooks and the innings ended two balls later when the England spinner skied the seamer to mid-wicket.
Middlesex promoted Holden to open and he promptly deposited Leonard’s first ball into the Tavern Stand, only to fall later in the same over trying to repeat the shot.
Bad light and rain drove the players off soon afterwards with the score 16-1, leading to a two-hour delay. However, when the clouds dispersed the hosts coasted home with no further alarms.
Players wore black armbands and the pavilion flags were lowered in memory of former Welsh umpire Jeff Evans who died yesterday aged 70.
Middlesex skipper Toby Roland-Jones said: "It's very pleasing to be stood here now with the win under our belts. It felt at times with the bad light that we might not get back out there, but certainly from our side we feel over the course of the four days we have played a really strong game of cricket and we are chuffed to come out with probably a deserved win.
"We've seen it here before on these wickets, the pace evened up a little bit if you like. They played very well and very stubbornly, but I think we knew if we stuck to it for long enough that we would have enough to take those wickets. Then it was a matter of what the weather was going to bring and fortunately we have come out on the right side of that.
"Over the three games the cricket we've played we've felt we've been good enough to compete and maybe come out with more than we have in those first two matches. It was maybe just a couple of key moments where we didn't get over the finish line or come out on the right side of them.
This game showed the squad is in a good place, guys bowled well over the two innings and the batting seems strong with runs coming from a lot of different angles."
Glamorgan Head Coach Richard Dawson said: "We knew we had to dig in hard this morning because we were under pressure and I thought how Cookey (Chris Cooke) and Ned (Leonard) went about that [partnership was really good. We talked about having plans to combat what they were going to come up with and I thought they did it really well after losing Kiran early. That put us on the back foot, but how we responded was good. If we'd have managed to hold on with the bat for another half hour who knows.
"We were 90-1 at lunch on the first day and had that second session where we lost all those wickets and it put us on the back foot. If that happens it is very hard to pull back. The work ethic and the effort was there.
"The first innings of games we have to try and put the opposition on the back foot, so that is one thing we have to improve. We are getting starts (from the top order)so it is not like people are out of form, but we are not converting them into big scores.
We have also got to keep looking at how we create chances for the bowling unit on flat pitches like this."
Day 4 Derbyshire 307 and 202 for 3. Northamptonshire 500 for 8 dec.
Match Drawn. Derbyshire 12 pts, Northamptonshire 16pts.
Nigel Gardner, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay.
Rain ruined any chance of a positive result on the final day of the Rothesay County Championship Division Two match between Derbyshire and Northamptonshire at Derby.
The players arrived at the County Ground to find the hover cover already in place and the rain got steadier throughout the morning.
Going into the fourth day, the state of the game was that Derbyshire were nine runs ahead with seven second innings wickets in hand but the pitch was playing well and the loss of the first session made it difficult for either side to push for a win.
With the rain set in and no prospect of an immediate improvement in the weather, the umpires took the decision to abandon the game following a post lunch inspection.
Looking back over the contest, Derbyshire head of cricket Mickey Arthur said: “It was disappointing. It wasn’t the standards we’ve delivered over the course of the season so far.
“We’ve got away with this one and certainly our skills weren’t at the level that we all expect. There were some good performances and you can never fault the effort but I thought we were just off it in terms of our skills.
“I thought day one we were exceptional and then from day two we started playing catch up and that was disappointing. We are a team that wants to play on the front foot and we were playing on the back foot from lunchtime on day two and that’s not where we want to be.”
Northamptonshire head coach Darren Lehmann said: “It hasn’t gone our way with the weather, Derbyshire played well yesterday and I thought it was an excellent game.
“The pleasing thing is we are playing a really good team based game. I was pleased with the batters yesterday that they scored so quickly to take the game on and give us more overs.
“From a bowling point of view I thought we were probably a little bit down in the first innings when Derbyshire got 300 and it was a 220 wicket I reckon so we were just a little bit short there but we caught everything and gave ourselves a chance to win the game which is all we can do and ask for.”
© Cricket World 2025
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