County Championship Division One roundup: Century for Jordan Clark but Kent, Northants struggle

The Cricketer wraps up the best of the action on day one of the tenth round of LV= Insurance County Championship matches in 2023

Northwood (first day of four): Northamptonshire 219, Middlesex 23-0 - Middlesex trail by 196 runs with 10 first-innings wickets in hand

Middlesex's pace attack shared the honours as they bowled out fellow strugglers Northamptonshire for 219 on the opening day at Merchant Taylors' School.

Toby-Roland Jones, Tom Helm, Ethan Bamber and Ryan Higgins claimed two wickets apiece to ensure the visitors failed to add to their one batting point this season despite an excellent 49 from allrounder Saif Zaib.

The hosts sent Bamber in as nightwatch alongside regular opener Mark Stoneman and the pair batted through the five remaining overs with some comfort to close 23 for 0 in replay.

For any who'd had enough Bazball drama from the Headingley Test this was the antidote, or a day for the county cricket connoisseur – a day of line and length bowling with every run hard earned.

^{Oliver Hannon-Dalby picked up four wickets for Warwickshire [Stu Forster/Getty Images]}

Canterbury (first day of four): Kent 171, Warwickshire 155-2 - Warwickshire trail by 16 runs with eight first-innings wickets in hand

Warwickshire dominated the first day of their County Championship with Kent at Canterbury, reaching 155 for 2 at stumps, a deficit of just 16.

Rob Yates is unbeaten on 53, while Sam Hain is 29 not out.

Earlier, Oliver Hannon-Dalby took 4 for 56 as Kent were bowled out for 171, a score that would have been even lower had Grant Stewart not blasted 50 from 45 balls. The hosts' last three wickets added 93, more than half their total.

Australia's Glenn Maxwell, originally signed for the Vitality Blast, made a rare first-class appearance and bowled five overs, taking 0 for 17, having been awarded his Warwickshire cap in a short ceremony before the start.

Kent chose to bat in broad sunshine at The Spitfire Ground, but approached their innings as if they were still in T20 mode.

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Taunton (first day of four): Somerset 196-5, Hampshire

Young guns James Rew and Kasey Aldridge batted Somerset out of a deep hole created by Hampshire seamer Kyle Abbott on a rain-interrupted opening day of the County Championship match with Hampshire at Taunton.

The experienced Abbott, who boasts a prolific record against the Cidermen, claimed 4 for 10 from seven overs and a run out as the hosts slipped to 80 for 5 after winning the toss on what looked an excellent batting pitch.

But sixth-wicket pair Rew (77 not out) and Aldridge (55 not out), with a combined age of just 41, then showed impressive maturity to put together an unbroken stand of 116 in 26 overs before the weather had the final say with Somerset 196 for 5.

Abbott ended the day with figures of 4 for 20. Altogether, 39 overs were lost, including 19 at the end of the day, but what action there was provided positives for both teams.

^{Rain frustrated Lancashire and Essex [Lancashire Cricket]}

The Oval (first day of four): Surrey 339-8, Nottinghamshire

Jordan Clark struck his first century of the season as Surrey took advantage of Nottinghamshire's severely depleted bowling resources to build a strong platform in their County Championship clash at the Kia Oval.

The allrounder hit 107 and shared a seventh-wicket partnership of 97 with Sean Abbott to steer the home side, who had stuttered to 70 for 4 after being put in, to 339 for 8 at stumps.

Nottinghamshire lost seamer Jake Ball to injury in the first session and their problems were later compounded when fellow opening bowler Brett Hutton limped off with an apparent hamstring problem.

Hutton, who had earlier increased his season's tally of wickets to 36 – the joint-second highest in Division One – attempted to resume bowling towards the end of the day, but pulled up again after only a single delivery.

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Blackpool (first day of four): Essex 12-1, Lancashire

The first day of Lancashire's match with second-placed Essex in the County Championship match at Blackpool was badly affected by the weather with just 28 balls possible in which time Essex made 12 for 1 .

The day was split into two short tranches of play that book-ended this unusual day.

After a misleadingly sunny morning, Essex won the toss and elected to bat under increasingly gloomy skies, a mood probably shared by Nick Browne after he edged the fourth delivery of the day from Tom Bailey to Colin de Grandhomme at third slip without a run on the board.

In the 25 balls bowled in the morning there was time for Alastair Cook to punch a four off the back foot from Will Williams and Essex skipper Tom Westley to glance Bailey to fine leg for four off the first ball of the fifth over.

At that point the rain arrived to take the players from the field for more than six hours. Umpires Peter Hartley and Steve O'Shaughnessy to restart play at 5.30pm following several inspections, but only three balls had been bowled in Bailey's interrupted over before bad light halted play once again, with more rain minutes later ending a very frustrating day.

Related Topics

• Rain frustrates Lancashire and Essex with just 28 balls bowled on day one
• Glenn Maxwell makes rare first-class appearance for Warwickshire