At a glance
- Leaders Durham go to Worcestershire
- Lancashire host Middlesex
- Derbyshire host Northamptonshire
All eight teams will be in action over the next two weeks before the break for the Vitality Blast, and there are some cracking games to look forward to along the way. With the table starting to take shape, every result could prove crucial. You can see the full standings here.
Worcestershire v Durham
Worcestershire were beaten by an innings and 177 runs last week by Northamptonshire, in a match they will want to forget. However it doesn’t get any easier as they host the league leaders Durham this time out.
Having got to 88-2 in the second innings, the side then capitulated to 114 all out, with ReadCricket player of the week Ben Sanderson taking 7-31.
Worcestershire Squad: D’Oliveira (c), Brookes, Finch, Hannon-Dalby, Hose, Ali, Lategan, Libby, Roderick, Swanepoel, Taylor, Waite
Durham drew with Middlesex at Lord’s last week, only batting once. Former ReadCricket POTW Emilio Gay and David Bedingham were in the runs again, with Gay scoring 129 and Bedingham with 147.
With the ball, Ben Raine took match figures of 8-81. There are rumours that England captain Ben Stokes will play for Durham, although this in not confirmed.
Durham Squad: Lees (c), Ackermann, Aldridge, Bedingham, Clark, Conners, Gay, McKinney, Minto, Parkinson, Potts, Raine, Roach, Robinson, Stokes
Lancashire v Middlesex
Lancashire had a much needed break last week. Their last game ended in an eight wicket defeat to leaders Durham, after setting them 335 to win. Two early wickets would have given Lancashire a bit of hope, but Gay and Bedingham put pay to that with a match-winning partnership of 290.
Lancashire Squad: Anderson (c), Bailey, Balderson, Bell, Bohannon, Coughlin, Singh Dale, Harris, Singh, Hartley, Hurst, Jennings, Jones, Shetty, Stanley, Sutton, Wells
Middlesex draw at home to Durham last week. Ryan Higgins scored 131 in the first innings. Max Holden is also in form with the bat, after scoring 65 and 77* in the match. Durham only batted once in that game and Higgins took 4-117.
Middlesex Squad: du Plooy (c), Bosch, Cracknell, De Caires, Geddes, Helm, Higgins, Holden, Morgan, Robson, Roland-Jones, Sharma, Gohar
Derbyshire v Northamptonshire
Derbyshire suffered a 225 run defeat to Kent last week. Needing 383 to win, they were bowled out for 158. Luis Reece had a good week with the bat, with scores of 84 and 67. No one else scored over 50 in either innings. With the ball, Rory Haydon had match figures of 10-163. Derbyshire will have to improve or they will be in for a long season.
Derbyshire Squad: Came (c), Aitchison, Andersson, Chappell, Dal, Guest, Jewell, Madsen, Abbas, Montgomery, Reece, Bashir
Second place Northamptonshire destroyed Worcestershire last week inside of three days. Batting once, centuries from Ricardo Vasconcelos (115), James Sales (146*) and Lewis McManus (104) set them on their way to victory. With the ball, Ben Sanderson took 11 wickets in the match, to put him atop the leading wicket takers list with 25 wickets.
Northamptonshire Squad: Procter (c), Bartlett, Conway, Guthrie, Harrison, Kimber, McManus, McSweeney, Sales, Sanderson, Vasconcelos, Weatherall, Zaib
Gloucestershire v Kent
Gloucestershire had their bye last week, after their 10 wicket win over Derbyshire. Miles Hammond scored 145, and Will Williams was run out for 98, as they amassed 498. With the ball, Gabe Ball took 6-128 in the match, but every bowler chipped in with wickets, as they enforced the follow-on and then bowled Derbyshire out again to only need 35 to win.
Gloucestershire Squad: Bancroft (c), Bell, Boorman, Bracey, Brookes, Charlesworth, Hammond, Middleton, Miles, Phillips, Price, Taylor, van Buuren, Williams
Kent had picked their first win of the season last round, after a dominant display against Derbyshire. Kent won by 225 runs after an impressive spell of bowling by Matt Milnes.
Milnes took 6-12 from 15 overs, to go with 3-87 in the first innings. With the bat, skipper Daniel Bell-Drummond scored 129 in the first innings, and Chris Benjamin scored 123 in the second innings. Kent will be looking to build on that win this week.
Kent Squad: Bell-Drummond (c), Benjamin, Cohen, Compton, Crawley, Dawkins, Denly, Dudgeon, E. Singh, Evison, J Singh, Milnes, Muyeye, Northeast, Parkinson, Stewart, Stuurman
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