Here’s a look at how England players – those who have played Test cricket since the start of 2021 and/or were part of the squad on the recent tour of the Caribbean – fared in the most recent round of the County Championship.
Rory Burns – Surrey
12 & 17 v Somerset
Burns has made it into double figures in all five of his innings in this year’s County Championship but is yet to reach 50. Against Somerset, he fell to two good catches: first by a diving Steve Davies behind the stumps and then by Josh Davey in the deep after top-edging a pull.
Ollie Pope – Surrey
47 & 5 v Somerset
Pope’s incredible first-class record at The Oval took a hit as he failed to reach fifty – but he still averages an astonishing 94.19 at the venue.
Ben Foakes – Surrey
63 & 48* v Somerset
Foakes continued his strong start to the season, following up his first-round century with more than a hundred runs in the match against Somerset. Late on day three he looked like he had suffered a nasty injury after colliding with Jamie Overton whilst taking a catch, but thankfully he was declared fit to play on day four and guided his team to a three-wicket win.
Sam Curran – Surrey
80 & 33 v Somerset
This was Curran’s first professional game of cricket since October after suffering a stress fracture. He went wicketless in the 10 overs he bowled in this match as he continued his recovery from injury but impressed with the bat, scoring 80 and 33 from No.6. Curran has 19 first-class half-centuries in 75 games but is yet to reach three figures.
Craig Overton – Somerset
2-83 & 1-58 v Surrey
A low-key outing for Overton compared to his heroics the previous week against Essex, as he took just three wickets in the match. However, of those three wickets two were the prize scalps of England teammates Rory Burns and Ollie Pope. With the bat, Overton managed scores of three and zero.
Jack Leach – Somerset
0-25 & 0-33 v Surrey
No wickets for Leach in a match that saw just one fall to spin.
Zak Crawley – Kent
7 & 29 v Hampshire
A tough match for the England opener who edged behind off the bowling of Mohammad Abbas in the first innings and was lbw to Kyle Abbott in the second.
Dan Lawrence – Essex
30 & 44 vs Warwickshire
Lawrence suffered a hamstring injury on the opening day of the match and showed resolve in batting for more than two hours as Essex tried to save the game in their final innings.
Dom Sibley – Warwickshire
33 & 41* v Essex
A golden duck against Surrey had been the worst possible start in Sibley’s attempts to get back into the England side, but a 33 and a 41 not out in Warwickshire’s 10-wicket win represented a solid performance from the Bears opener.
James Bracey – Gloucestershire
5 & 14 v Lancashire
A quiet game for Bracey after he had opened his season with two centuries in the opening two rounds. Against Lancashire he was clean bowled in both innings, first by George Balderson and then by Pakistan international Hasan Ali, who broke middle stump.
Saqib Mahmood – Lancashire
2-44 & 2-46 v Gloucestershire
Lancashire recorded a fantastic last-session win over Gloucestershire, and Mahmood took four wickets across the match, including the prized scalp of Australia opener Marcus Harris.
Matt Parkinson – Lancashire
1-36 & 3-79 v Gloucestershire
Another match in which Parkinson increased his stock with two fantastic dismissals in consecutive balls on day four.
James Anderson – Lancashire
0-30 & 2-25 v Gloucestershire
A relatively low-key return to action for Anderson, who was controversially left out of England’s tour of the Caribbean. Just the two wickets this match, one of which was Harris in the second innings, but his control was as exquisite as ever, with just 55 runs conceded from his 41 overs.
Dawid Malan – Yorkshire
64 & 75 v Northants
Malan continued his strong start to the season with a pair of half-centuries to go along with his match-winning contribution in Yorkshire’s win the previous week over Gloucestershire. After losing his Test place in the winter, it has been almost the perfect response from the left hander.
Dom Bess – Yorkshire
2-31 & 1-48 v Northants
A solid outing with the ball for Bess who had an economy rate below two for the match and picked up three wickets along the way. Batting at seven he was only required once in the match and recorded a duck.
Haseeb Hameed – Nottinghamshire
33 v Durham
Hameed only batted once in Nottinghamshire’s innings victory against Durham, recording a decent start before falling lbw to Matty Potts. It has so far been an underwhelming return to the county game for Hameed, with scores of 5, 12*, 34, 0 and 33 his returns so far.
Honourable mentions
James Vince is only ever a handful of innings away from being in the conversation for international selection and the Hampshire captain scored a remarkable 111 off 118 balls in his team’s victory over Kent. Likewise, Lancashire’s Josh Bohannon, who toured with the Lions to Australia in December and is considered one of the next cabs off the rank for England selection, bolstered his claims with a maiden double century. His first-class average now stands at 47.50 after 39 matches.