- Round Two starts Friday 10th April
- Early leaders Essex face Somerset
- Sussex take on Warwickshire
Round two of the Rothesay County Championship begins on Friday 10th April, and with only two sides winning their first games, the table is pretty tight.
Essex v Somerset
Essex beat Hampshire by an innings and 137 runs last week, so will be looking to continue that impressive form. A massive 173 from Matt Critchley, as well as match bowling figures of 6-9 from 5 overs, Essex will be keen for him to continue.
Essex Squad
Westley (c), Elgar, Pepper, Critchley, Mulder, Thain, Walter, Cook, Harmer, Porter, Snater, Allison
Somerset on the other hand, had to settle for a draw with Nottinghamshire in a high scoring game. Tom Abell scored 108 in the first Innings, and Tom Kohler-Cadmore (104) and James Rew (122) scored centuries in the second innings. Migael Pretorius took 4-65 in the first innings so they will be key to success for Somerset.
Somerset Squad
Abell, Kohler-Cadmore, Rew, Overton (c), Goldsworthy, Lammonby, Thomas, Ball, Leach, Ogborne, Pretorius
Nottinghamshire v Glamorgan
Both sides had to settle for draws in their first matches. Joe Clarke scored 92 in Nottinghamshire first innings against Somerset, and Jack Haynes scored 55. Dillan Pennington took 5-65 in Somerset’s first innings, so Notts will be looking to these players to continue their form.
Nottinghamshire Squad
Hameed (c), Clarke, Haynes, James, Lord, McCann, Patterson-White, Pennington, Slater, Stone, Verreynne
Glamorgan had a tight draw with Yorkshire, as Glamorgan needed 3 wickets and Yorkshire required 55 runs at the close of play on day four. Colin Ingram scored a match total of 178 (103 and 75), so the Welsh side will be looking to one or two others to contribute. With the ball, Mason Crane took 8 for 154 over the two innings, with Ryan Hadley taking 6 for 97. Glamorgan will want to see those names in the wickets again.
Gloucestershire Squad
Carlson (c), Byrom, Cooke, Crane, Dickson, Gorvin, Hadley, Ingram, Kellaway, Tribe, van der Gugten
Surrey v Leicestershire
Surrey scored a total of 775 in both of their innings in their draw with Warwickshire. Ben Foakes scored 128 in the first innings. Jamie Smith (132)and Dan Lawrence (161*)made sure of the draw. Pick of the bowlers for Surrey was Ralphie Albert, who took 3-80, but Warwickshire only batted once, so Surrey will want to make Leicestershire batt twice.
Surrey Squad
Burns (c), Abbott, Albert, Fisher, Foakes, Lawes, Lawrence, Pope, Sibley, Smith, Taylor
Leicestershire will want to get their first win of the season after they fell to a 222 run defeat at the hands of Sussex. Australian Jake Weatherald scored 83 in the first innings, and Ben Cox scored 60 as they tried to bat for a draw, but no one else really contributed. Skipper Ian Holland took 6-159 in the match, so the Foxes will need others to step up if they are going to trouble a strong Surrey side.
Leicestershire Squad
Holland (c), Cox, Eskinazi, Green, Hill, Patel, Ahmed, Scriven, Singh, Weatherald, Wood
Sussex v Warwickshire
Despite a 12-point deficit, Sussex romped to a 222 run win against Leicestershire, with runs from Tom Clark (101), Ben Haines (56) in the first innings, and Jack Carson (85) and Tom Price (73) so lots of contributions with the bat will benefit Sussex again at Hove. Henry Crocombe starred with the ball, as he took his best figures of 9-69 in the match. Skipper Ollie Robinson also chipped in with four in the first innings. It will need to be another strong effort to beat Warwickshire.
Sussex Squad
Robinson (c), Carson, Clark, Coles, Crocombe, Haines, Hudson-Prentice, Hughes, Leaning, Price, Simpson
Warwickshire drew with Surrey, only batting once in the match. The Bears scored 544 in their only innings, with Dan Mousley top scoring with 144, and Sam Hain scored 94, but everyone chipped in with scores, so Warwickshire will want the same again. However, Skipper Ed Barnard will expect more from his bowlers, as no one stood out as Surrey amassed over 750 runs in their two innings.
Warwickshire Squad
Barnard (c), Bamber, Davies, Gilchrist, Hain, Mousley, Smith, Thompson, Webster, Woakes, Yates.
Yorkshire v Hampshire
Yorkshire came close to winning their first game against Glamorgan, needing just 55 with three wickets in hand at the end of the game. Adam Lyth scored 97 in that run chase, but no one else stayed with him to see them over the line, something that will need to improve against Hampshire. Dom Bess starred with the ball, taking 7-129 in the match, with four in Glamorgan’s second innings. Yorkshire will need the other bowlers to chip in as well, if they want to pick up their first win.
Yorkshire Squad
Bairstow (c), Bean, Bess, Coad, Hill, Luxton, Lyth, Revis, van Beek, Wharton, White, Whiteman
Hampshire suffered an innings defeat to Essex in the first round, being bowled out for 156 and 168. So runs will be very important for Hampshire this week. The bowling was not much better so they will need everything to fall into place if they are to stop Yorkshire.
Hampshire Squad
Brown (c), Abbott, Baker, Yusuf, Dawson, Gubbins, Jack, Lehmann, Mayes, Prest, Weatherley
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