Several of England’s Test mainstays and fringe players have been in action in the latest round of the County Championship. With rain affecting many of the matches, here’s how they got on when play was possible.
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Ollie Pope
Surrey made it back-to-back wins before lunch on day four, with a considerable amount of time having been lost to rain against Hampshire at The Oval. While Pope didn’t make much of an impact with the bat – he was bowled by James Fuller for 13 under-edging a ball onto his stumps – he made a big impact in the field. He took eight catches in the slips, six in the second innings and five in total off Dan Worrall, equalling the Surrey record for the most catches off the same bowler in a match.
Dan Lawrence
Lawrence was quiet in Surrey’s win – the only result of the round. He took two catches, and was trapped lbw for two by Mohammad Abbas in Surrey’s only innings. He also didn’t bowl a ball, with only 8.4 overs of spin used across the entire match.
Gus Atkinson
Atkinson was instrumental across both innings for Surrey. He blew through Hampshire’s middle and lower order along with Jordan Clark on day one, getting the wickets of Liam Dawson, Fuller and Brad Wheal in the first innings. He also caused problems in the second, bowling a fearsome spell of short-pitched bowling to the Hampshire tail and picking up two wickets, including Fuller for the second time in the match.
Ben Duckett
Duckett built on his first half-century of the season in the last round to go big at Edgbaston. His double-century underpinned Nottinghamshire’s first innings, in which they lost wickets in clusters, and he only fell once the score had ticked past 400. On 197* overnight after day one, he reached 200 off the 240th ball of his innings, and finished with a strike rate of 82.58.
Ben Duckett turned his first century of the season into a double against Warwickshire at Edgbaston yesterday 💯💯#CountyCricket2024 pic.twitter.com/mDUzqR80si
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) April 28, 2024
Shoaib Bashir
Spin was far less effective in this round than it was in the earlier games, but Bashir still managed to find ways to take wickets in Kidderminster. He broke through a 177-run partnership between Jake Libby and Gareth Roderick, bowling Libby, and also pinned Kashif Ali in Worcestershire’s only innings.
Rehan Ahmed
Aside from returning figures of 2-64 in the first innings, in which he bowled Luke Procter and saw the back of nightwatchman Chris Tremain, Ahmed underlined his credentials with the bat against Northants. He scored 85 off 105 in the second innings, combining with Peter Handscomb who went on to make 99. He was eventually dismissed by Ben Sanderson.
Joe Root
Root scored his first Yorkshire century in almost two years in their fixture against Derbyshire. Coming in at 92-2, Root combined with Harry Brook to set Yorkshire up for a declaration. While, by his own admittance, he was far from his fluent best in the first part of his innings, he looked more and more comfortable as the innings progressed. After reaching his century on day two, he brought out his trademark reverse-scoop to Zak Chappell, sending the ball between slip and gully and over the rope for six. He was out to Chappell in his next over, bowled with his off stump ripped out of the ground. He also took three wickets in Derbyshire’s only innings.
Joe Root and Harry Brook were both back in the runs for Yorkshire on day two at Headingley 💪#CountyCricket2024 pic.twitter.com/7pHpm37kIF
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) April 28, 2024
Harry Brook
Brook made it a pair of centuries for the Yorkshire-England duo. He shared a 201-stand with Root and reached his second Championship hundred of the season following his rapid ton at Headingley in the opening round. His innings was rapid, reaching three figures off the 102nd ball he faced, with 17 fours and two sixes in his final score of 126*. He then dedicated the hundred to his late grandmother.
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