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Sometimes winning cricket matches looks easy, as if there is a recipe or formula to be followed, but it\u2019s seldom as straightforward as it appears. Invited to bat by Kent captain Sam Billings and mindful of a grubby day on Friday, the Warwickshire<\/a> top order piled up the runs on day one, stayed warm on day two and raced to a declaration early on day three, bonus points secured. Sam Hain (165*), Rob Yates (128) and Dan Mousley (94) handed over to the bowlers, who pawed at the ground with Zak Crawley in their sights.<\/p>\n The England opener was in, out, in and out again (LBW Rushworth twice) on the same day after the follow-on was enforced, allowing the home side three whole sessions to secure the nine wickets they needed. But batters are seldom as obliging second time round and, as soon as Ben Compton found a partner in Jordan Cox, the bowlers felt the miles in their legs and the chill in their fingers. Joey Evison, an all-rounder with plenty about him, and Conor McKerr, on loan from Surrey<\/a> and a handy No 10, resisted for two hours but, deep in the last session of the match, Hasan Ali induced an edge in fading light to snare Evison for 99 and send Warwickshire top of Division One.<\/p>\n The Bears breathed a sigh of relief and another nail went into the coffin of that outdated cliche about soft cricket.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The 2021 champions lead for now, with 2022 champions Surrey looming large in their rear-view mirror. For some observers, the visit of Hampshire<\/a> felt like a showdown, even this early in the campaign. Spookily, the match played out like a mirror of the Warwickshire v Kent arm-wrestle.<\/p>\n Both first innings had a similar shape. Ben Brown forged a partnership for the seventh wicket with the estimable Keith Barker to get Hants up to a respectable 254 on a pitch that offered enough movement for bats to be beaten regularly. Then Ollie Pope turned the same trick with his No 8, Sean Abbott, and we had a two-innings match on our hands.<\/p>\n After a fivefer for Dan Worrall (what an acquisition he has proved to be), Rory Burns walked to the crease knowing his side needed 243 with time only a problem if they got bogged down and needed to consolidate. But Pope simply slaughtered one of the best attacks in the country, registering a fifth century at home against Hampshire as he bazballed over the line.<\/p>\n The return fixture will close the season in late September and Pope will miss the majority of matches between now and then as a contracted England player, but this was an emphatic statement of intent from the most savvy club in the land.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Essex and Lancashire<\/a>, two more of the fancied clubs, faced off at Chelmsford in another match that became a two-innings shootout. While many readers will object to the term Bazball, it does its job in identifying a philosophy to the game that embraces more than simply biffing the bowling, as Lancashire\u2019s curious approach to the fourth day illustrated.<\/p>\n At the start of the day, the visitors were four down with a handy, if not yet decisive, lead of 179. Both overnight batters (impressive young keeper George Bell and skipper Keaton Jennings) were gone in the first hour, but it wasn\u2019t long before Colin de Grandhomme had unsheathed the long handle and then Tom Hartley and Tom Bailey joined in, despatching 10 sixes between them.<\/p>\n Ben Stokes would have set about scoring 137 runs in 15.2 overs \u2013 except that he wouldn\u2019t exactly. He would have denied himself about half those deliveries with an aggressive declaration. Bazball is unlikely to ever embrace batting on to lunch to set 340 in two sessions, especially with Jimmy Anderson fit and firing. Once Anderson snared old pal Alastair Cook, Essex<\/a> shut up shop. Five of the seven wickets that fell on the last day were LBW with another bowled, which speaks to the nature of the pitch.<\/p>\n Had Jennings set Anderson free for half an hour before the interval, he would have been adhering to the strategy (another part of Bazball) to do what your opponent least wants and Tom Westley might have been tempted by a two-sessions target of 250. The Essex man will be the happier of the captains with the draw, having won last week at Lord\u2019s. Lancashire have drawn their first two matches and are in danger of finding themselves adrift of the big boys in a season that promised much.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Nottinghamshire got off the mark, breezing past a disappointing Somerset team even though Lewis Gregory took 11 wickets in the match. There was little sign of the carnage to come as Ben Duckett (another England man carrying his Test game into domestic cricket \u2013 though he pretty much did the reverse journey on his recall to the colours) and Haseeb Hameed added 125 for the first wicket of the match. No subsequent partnership added as much as 50, as the seamers partied like it was 1981 at Trent Bridge.<\/p>\nBall two: Pope immaculate against Hampshire<\/h2>\n
Ball three: Bazball according to Jennings<\/h2>\n
Ball four: Cruel, cruel summer ahead for Somerset?<\/h2>\n