At a glance
- Four games this week, as Somerset and Hampshire have a bye
- Third hosts Second as Notts face Warwickshire
- Bottom side Yorkshire host Sussex
The latest round of County Championship games start tomorrow (Friday 24th), and there are some good match ups to look at. Leaders Somerset and their opponents last week Hampshire have a bye week, so there are four games to be played.
Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire
This is the game of the week for me, as third place Nottinghamshire face off against second place Warwickshire at Trent Bridge.
Nottinghamshire had their bye week last round, so should be good condition after a week’s rest. Nottinghamshire beat Glamorgan by 192 runs in their last game. Joe Clarke scored 136 in the second innings, but Ben Duckett will be looking to stake his claim for a place in the England team.
Nottinghamshire Squad: Hameed (c), Clarke, Duckett, Haynes, Hutton, James, Lord, McCann, O’Neill, Paterson-White, Pennington, Slater, Stone, Tongue, Verreynne
Warwickshire beat Essex by 41 runs last week, thanks to Keith Barker’s 4-29 in the second innings, with three wicket in an over. Sam Hain scored 88 in the first innings, and Beau Webster scored 91 in the second innings. This game looks finely poised and should be a close one.
Warwickshire Squad: Barnard (c), Bamber, Barker, Booth, Davies, Gilchrist, Hain, Malik, Mousley, Smith, Thompson, Webster, Woakes, Yates.
Yorkshire v Sussex
Both Yorkshire and Sussex had byes last week and will want to get back to winnings ways for very different reasons. Yorkshire haven’t won a game yet this season and were soundly beaten by Hampshire in their last match.
Yorkshire Squad: Bairstow (c), Bean, Bess, Coad, Duke, Hill, Luxton, Lyth, Revis, Richardson, van Beek, Wharton, White, Whiteman
Sussex on the other hand, are unbeaten and only sit in fourth due to their 12-point deduction. Sussex won their last game against Warwickshire at Hove, largely thanks to a unbeaten 144 run partnership between Jack Leaning (120*) and Tom Price (70*) to see Sussex home by five wickets.
Sussex Squad: Robinson (c), Carson, Clark, Coles, Crocombe, Haines, Hudson-Prentice, Hughes, Ibrahim, Lamb, Leaning, Price, Simpson, Tear
Surrey v Essex
Surrey had their bye week last week and will want to win a game, as they have two draws to their name so far. Their last game against Leicestershire was also at the Oval, so expect plenty of runs.
Surrey Squad: Burns (c), Abbott, Albert, Fisher, Foakes, Lawes, Lawrence, Pope, Sibley, Smith, Taylor
Essex played last week, but lost to Warwickshire after Keith Barker’s wonder spell and some tight bowling meant Essex ended up 41 runs short of their target. Essex will hope that the Oval is the batter’s paradise that it has been so far this season.
Essex Squad: Westley (c), Allison, Benkenstein, Cook, Critchley, Elgar, Harmer, Pepper, Porter, Snater, Thain, Walter, Akhter
Glamorgan v Leicestershire
Both sides had a bye last round, but with both sitting near the bottom of the table, they’ll be eager to secure their first win. Glamorgan’s previous match ended in a 192-run defeat to Nottinghamshire, after being set a daunting target of 477.
Glamorgan Squad: Carlson (c), Byrom, Cooke, Crane, Dickson, Gorvin, Hadley, Ingram, Kellaway, Tribe, van der Gugten, ul-Hassan
Leicestershire, on the other hand, played out a draw at the Oval, scoring 691 in their only innings. Centuries for Rishi Patel (164), Stephen Eskinazi (100) and Ben Cox (162), plus a 92 from Jake Weatherald secured the draw. Taking wickets was a problem on that pitch at the Oval as only 24 fell over the four days. I doubt the Sophia Gardens pitch will be the same.
Leicestershire Squad: Holland (c), Cox, Eskinazi, Green, Hill, Hull, R Patel, A Patel, Ahmed, Scriven, Singh,Weatherald, Wood
Stay up to date with all the latest County Championship news with at readcricket.com
