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The opening day of the third round of Specsavers County Championship matches threw up plenty more headlines. Below are a selection of the biggest.
Division One
Durham v Middlesex 358-7 (close)
Surrey 394-5 v Somerset (close)
Warwickshire v Yorkshire 177-4 (close)
Division Two
Derbyshire v Glamorgan 308-6 (close)
Essex 335-3 v Northants (close)
Gloucs 336-5 v Worcs (close)
Leics v Kent 227-7 (close)
Curious case of handball
It’s been an extraordinary start to the Specsavers County Championship, but nothing compares to the unusual event that took place at the beginning of the match between Kent and Leicestershire. Two balls into his innings, Kent opener Sean Dickson dropped the ball at his feet and instead of kicking it away, reached down and pushed the ball off its course towards the stumps with his hand. Loud appeals by wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien followed and Dickson had to trudge off, out handling the ball. Not since 1872 has a Kent player been dismissed in such a way. But Dickson is in esteemed company, with Ben Stokes, Graham Gooch and Cheteshwar Pujara all guilty of this misjudgement…
Alastair cooks up another
Alastair Cook is a run machine. The England opener added 65 runs to his summer tally against Northamptonshire, making him the leading run-scorer in Division Two (at least until Ben Duckett in second place gets a go with the bat). Cook’s trademark cut shot ruthlessly put Northants to the sword, as the left-hander continued his exceptional early season form. England’s highest ever Test run scorer will not have you jumping out your seat, but he will guarantee runs on any surface, against any attack.
Sanga epic
Much has been written about Kumar Sangakkara over the years. More than 40,000 career runs demand it, so we won’t witter on too much. But when he’s dispatching bowlers to all corners for Surrey it’s hard not to get all superlative about his 171-run innings. So sit back, relax and enjoy his phenomenal, stunning, outstanding, sumptuous, masterful, fantastic knock. You won’t regret it.
Stumps smash
Despite runs flowing with ease, when the bowlers did get in on the action, they left quite an impression. Especially on the stumps…
Ferocious Foxes
Not too long ago, Leicestershire were looked upon as the runt of the litter, failing for over two years to win a match in Division Two. Now they have more than enough bite to back up their bark. With confidence restored and a thoughtful strengthening of the side during the winter – bringing in Paul Horton, Mark Pettini and Neil Dexter – Leicestershire look rejuvenated under coach Andrew McDonald. They finished the day with opponents Kent seven wickets down on 227 and forged themselves a position from where they could become the first side to secure back-to-back victories in the Championship this season. What a year it would be if the city celebrated three league title victories!
Source: ECB