County cricket: Yorkshire v Hampshire and more – live!

Bess to Rahane: see Dom, being stuck in the Championship isn’t too bad… and as I write that…Rahane has a huge swing and is stumped for 31!!!! Hampshire 80-3.

Stoneman out for duck at Edgbaston – Surrey 16 for one. It would be a turn up if Warwickshire rolled them over quickly…

Just heard via Will McPherson that the London Hundred team will be called the LONDON SPIRIT.

Thoughts?

For twelveses:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2019/may/28/the-spin-a-brief-history-of-the-cricket-world-cup?CMP=share_btn_tw

Warwickshire all out 293 – a super recovery from 186 for 8. Morkel took the last two wickets to fall, finishing with 3-87.

And at Headingley, David Willey takes the ball. Well done Hants for seeing off the new cherry.

Ben Brown, who seems like he’s got quite a stack of runs in his purse this season, currently 76 not out at Hove. Davie Wiese 23 not out in support as Sussex’s lead over Glamorgan passes one hundred.

Leicestershire are 85 for seven, still 54 runs behind Derby’s miserable 139. Poor Hasan Azad has nearly been in two and a half hours for 24 as things fall about him. Anyone at Grace Road? Is it the pitch? Or am I being generous?

Here is Tom Helm, for your observation:

And news from Cheltenham where there will be a further inspection at 12.30 – I guess they’re taking an early lunch there.

Kent have had bad start. 0-1. Porter strikes in his first over, Sean Dickson for a duck.

A Wicket! A wicket! at Headingley as Duanne Olivier ramps up and ramps up. Weatherly well caught by Adam Lyth at second slip off – of course – a short one. So we’re back to the Isle of Wight heroes of Rahane and Northeast.

Oh dear, that does look rather soggy at Cheltenham, like when your three year old piddles on your parents’ new carpet:

On the one hand, rain has stopped play at New Road (Worcs 85-5), but on the other, play will start at ten to noon at Edgbaston.

Essex all out 313, Matt Milnes 4-61. This could be an intriguing little game if Kent manage to get close.

And while I was looking that up, Helm got another! Tongue for seven. Worcester, whose batting doesn’t match up to the bowling, 77 for 5 with the two Ws left to do some emergency patching.

So, Tom Helm: just turned 25, played Bucks age group, England Lions and U19s, a loan spell a Glamorgan and Middlesex.Twenty-three first-class games, 58 wickets at 31. Ah – a fine fast bowling prospect but has suffered from injuries – stress fracture and ankle.

Worcestershire lose a fourth – Fell fell for 19, Worcs 75-4 – and third for Tom Helm at New Road. I don’t know enough about Helm, let me squirrel.

A hundred first-class wickets for Harry Podmore! Porter lbw 1 and Essex on the edge of all out – 303/9.

There’s a delayed start at Edgbaston due to rain and at Cheltenham (I’ll try and get it right this time) due to leaking covers. Here is the umpire’s eye view:

Division One

Yorkshire v Hampshire: Yorks 181 (Kohler-Canmore 45; F Edwards 5-49); Hampshire 14-1

Warwickshire v Surrey: Warwicks 275-8 (Norwell 58 not out; Dunn 3-59)

Essex v Kent: Essex 303-8 (Cook 125)

Division Two

Worcestershire v Middlesex: Middx 221 (Malan 45) ; Worcs 64-3

Sussex v Glamorgan: Glamorgan 186 all out (Selman 76 not out); Sussex 208-5 (Salt 103)

Leicestershire v Derbyshire: Derbyshire 139 all out (Abbas 3-38; Wright 3-39); Leicester 55-4 (Palladino 3-3)

Gloucestershire v Lancashire: Gloucs 205 (Hammond 82; Mahmoud 4-48); Lancs 47-2

RIP Les McFarlane

A lovely little bio from the Northants website:

Born in Jamaica, Les earned a reputation as a formidable fast bowler with United Social in Northampton Town League cricket during the 1970s, forming a much-feared pace partnership with his brother Carl.

Few if any club batsmen relished facing Les on the ‘sporting’ park pitches of the time – but he was too good a bowler to need that degree of help from the conditions and duly attracted interest from Wantage Road.

He turned out for Northamptonshire’s Second XI as early as 1974, and at the end of May 1979 – forty years ago this week – made his first-class debut for the County (player number 322) against Surrey at The Oval, sharing the new ball with Sarfraz Nawaz.

He took 13 wickets in eight matches that season – also playing in five John Player League games – but failed to make enough of an impact to persuade NCCC to offer him a full contract for 1980.

Then a superb season for Bedfordshire in 1981, claiming 62 wickets at 16.62, persuaded Lancashire to sign him. He made 35 appearances for them between 1982 and 1984 and took 73 wickets including a match-winning 6-59 against Warwickshire at Southport in 1982.

He subsequently left Old Trafford and spent the summer of 1985 with Glamorgan, for whom he picked up 16 wickets in 13 matches.

Latest news from Cheltenham: inspection at 11.30.

Good morning!

First an apology. My broken laptop has meant that I’m going to have to write on the home desktop, but Graham Hardcastle will be your guide tomorrow and Thursday in situ high up in the Headingley press box. But though I can’t lick my finger to taste the direction of the Headingley gale, Twitter says that it is overcast and dry.

All round the counties, batting was tricky, except at Edgbaston at the last (arise Liam Norwell!), Hove, when Sussex were batting, and at at Chelmsford where Sir Alastair managed to run himself out on 125. But bad news from Cheltenham this morning…