Key events
There’s about to be an inspection at Blackpool with the weather looking a little more perky
Ignore me, they’re on at Trent Bridge. Early wickets at Northampton, where New Zealand’s Krisitan Clarke, signed on a two-match contract with Glos, has bowled Vasconcelos for 2; and Hove, where Sean Hunt has got rid of Zain ul Hassan.
Delays at Grace Road, Trent Bridge and Blackpool, but all up and running otherwise.
Shoaib Bashir though is playing for Derbyshire up at CLS, and ex Derbyshire bowler Duanne Olivier for Durham, but no sign yet of Ben Stokes.
Kent rest Zak Crawley
After a torrid spring with Kent, and losing his England place, Crawley has stepped away from CC cricket for the next two matches, despite the temptations of the Blackpool pitch
A Kent statement read: “This period will allow him to recharge so he can fully commit and give his all for the remainder of the season, with his immediate focus shifting to T20 cricket through to the end of the Vitality Blast.”
Live stream of Robin Smith’s memorial service
Those who would like to watch the service at Winchester Cathedral in memory of Smith, forever square cutting fast bowlers with joy and abandon, and who died aged 62 in December, can join the link here at 2pm.
And an early email lands from Tim Maitland.
“I can’t shower you with the statistics, because I’ve got to get one of my dogs to the vet, but before we dive into the rest of the County Championship matches, we need to talk about the Oval.
”If Lord’s producing a two-day pitch that got spread over four by the weather is on one end of the scale, then firmly sat right on the outer limit of the opposite end of the spectrum of undesirable is that green sward in SE11.
”Surrey’s County Championship challenge is dying on their inability to squeeze more than one victory out of the roads they’ve been playing on in Kennington (and yes they might have been denied victory against Hampshire by the weather, but then I would counter with Leicestershire 691 all out against THAT Surrey boling line-up).
”Which makes next week’s Test match at said venue a perfect case of the immovable object meeting the irresistible force. It’s like Godzilla vs King Kong. The Oval’s refusal to deliver results except under extreme duress against modern cricket’s rebuttal of all we have learned about the longest form of the game.”
Interesting! I absolutely get your point though actually thought it was quite a spicy pitch last week, it was only Lawrence, who played so outstandingly, who really had the mastery of it. I know Lee Fortis has said how the lack of rain in the south east this spring has made it very difficult this year.
And a naughty-boy alcohol ban lies in wait for the rest. Though I’m slightly surprised that they don’t mostly keep off the sauce during a Test series anyway.
The ever humane Emma John throws some persepective on the Ben Stokes saga.
I was going to head to Blackpool to watch Liam Livingstone’s first Championship game since 2021 and Joe Moore’s CC debut behind the stumps, but I’ve put it off for an hour or so thanks to an early rain update from Paul Edwards and a sad photograph of the covers from Ken Grime. Both are bravely sitting things out in a soggy tent. So no play there for a while, and probably not till after lunch.
Today’s fixtures
Division One
Grace Road: Leicestershire v Essex
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire v Somerset
Hove: Sussex v Glamorgan
Scarborough: Yorkshire v Warwickshire
Division Two
Chester-le-Street: Durham v Derbyshire
Blackpool: Lancashire v Kent
Northampton: Northamptonshire v Gloucestershire
New Road: Worcestershire v Middlesex
Preamble
Hello again, so soon! After the soggy Dan Lawrence show at The Oval, we’re once more back into the full swing of Championship cricket – though the rain may yet disrupt the best of plans. This is the first of two June games before things go into storage once more until August. So revel in it while you can. Play starts at 11am around grounds, but bring a cagoul.