County Championship team of the week: Ben Compton is in again but who else makes the cut?

Each week The Cricketer picks a team of the round from the LV= Insurance County Championship

The Cricketer selects a standout XI from the seventh round of the LV= Insurance County Championship.

Ben Compton (Kent)

The run machine keeps on chugging along: Compton finishes the first tranche of County Championship matches with a quite extraordinary record. His fourth hundred in six games was followed by an unbeaten half century in the second innings, at which point hands were shaken by Northamptonshire and Kent, unable to extract the late bloomer from where he has spent most of the last month and a half.

He has averaged 109.75 in the process and made 208 runs at Wantage Road for a single dismissal.

Adam Lyth (Yorkshire)

The opener started the summer not far away from discussions over an England recall but struggled for big runs in April and early May when others were churning them out.

Yorkshire couldn't get over the line against Warwickshire but their charge for victory was set up by Lyth, whose 145 came against a solid bowling attack, injected with the extra pace of Henry Brookes, who has plenty about him and is finally back in action after missing last year through injury. He impressed and was rewarded with Joe Root's wicket.

Azhar Ali (Worcestershire)

After a slow start at Worcestershire, the former Pakistan captain has found his range. He followed up scores of 92, 88 and 60 with a double hundred in the innings victory over Leicestershire that showed his indisputable class.

Alongside Jack Haynes, he shared a 281-run stand for the third wicket, and Haynes told The Cricketer in a soon-to-be-published interview that Azhar – "extremely wise and fascinating to talk to" – has had a major influence on a young squad. Haynes, who had never hit a first-class century until earlier this month, now has three.

^{Azhar Ali made a double hundred for Worcestershire in their win over Leicestershire (Michael Steele/Getty Images)}

Will Rhodes (Warwickshire)

Entering the final day at Headingley, Warwickshire's best-case scenario was escaping with a draw, having been placed under the pump by Yorkshire's batting effort. So, perhaps it was fitting that it should be their captain – a former Yorkshire allrounder, no less – who should lead their defiance.

Rhodes hadn't passed 29 in Warwickshire's first four games of the campaign and, with the signing of Alex Davies, might have been beginning to feel like the vulnerable batter in a stacked line-up. But he made 99 against Northamptonshire last week in a sedate draw, before producing an unbeaten 111 that safeguarded the reigning champions' position, batting through the fourth day unbeaten alongside Sam Hain, who also reached three figures.

Dan Lawrence (Essex)

It has been a frustrating time for the England man, whose early-season appearances have been restricted by hamstring trouble. Unfortunately, he is believed to have suffered a recurrence of the injury he suffered last month.

That news is especially disappointing, having just hit a fine hundred against Lancashire's excellent bowling attack – his first of the summer and comfortably his highest score since the second Test against West Indies in Barbados.

John Simpson (Middlesex)

No wicketkeeper has ever taken 10 catches in a first-class game at Lord's, but Simpson has now managed nine on two separate occasions. The Middlesex man is among the county's most important players, batting in the allrounder's role at No.6 and catching flies.

Jack Russell tweeted over the weekend that his long-time protégé might just be among the best in the world in his position. Of the nine, one in particular stood out, flinging himself full length over his left shoulder to have Brydon Carse caught on Friday evening.

^{Dan Lawrence has endured a stop-start season so far (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)}

Simon Harmer (Essex)

Given the weather, you'd have got long odds on the South African off-spinner needing until late May to pick up his first five-wicket haul of the summer. But wickets have been hard to come by for Harmer, who had six in four games ahead of Essex's trip to Emirates Old Trafford, where Matt Parkinson's success has at least shown that quality spin gets rewarded.

He made the most of conditions – as well as Essex's runs on the board – in dismantling the hosts after being asked to follow on. He ran through Lancashire's middle order, accounting for Josh Bohannon, Steven Croft and Dane Vilas, before picking up Matt Parkinson and Hasan Ali to complete his five-fer.

Keith Barker (Hampshire)

In a month for batters, Hampshire's seamers have put in a remarkable shift. It was Barker's turn to profit in the three-day win over Somerset, ending with figures of 6 for 27 as Tom Abell's men were bowled out for just 69 at Taunton.

The left-armer got through 31 overs at a cost of just 56 runs across both innings, helped by the brilliance of Kyle Abbott and Mohammad Abbas. Only two men have taken more wickets this summer than Barker, with Abbas just a single wicket behind him with 26. This was Barker's third five-wicket haul in six games.

Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex)

Back in action after a desperate struggle with injuries, Roland-Jones has rarely bowled better in his career than right now. It's no surprise that this kind of form has coincided with Richard Johnson's return as head coach.

He was the club's bowling coach when Roland-Jones was selected for England; his second-innings six-wicket haul in Middlesex's impressive win over Durham gave him a fifth ten-wicket match haul of his career, pushing the ball across the left-handers – doing for Alex Lees and Ben Stokes in the process – and darting the ball back into the right-handers. He has 30 wickets at 17.3 apiece in five matches.

^{Keith Barker has been in fine form for Hampshire (Harry Trump/Getty Images)}

Sam Cook (Essex)

The leader of Essex's attack these days, Cook was excellent in his county's win over Lancashire, setting the tone for what was to come by dismissing Keaton Jennings and Luke Wells with the new ball as the hosts were reduced to 14 for 4 inside 11 overs.

Alongside him for the first time since the first week of the season was Jamie Porter, who has been out of the side since then but returned with a bang, accounting Bohannon and Croft without scoring in consecutive deliveries. Cook finished with figures of 4 for 18 in 13 overs, before getting Wells a second time when Lancashire batted again. He has 21 wickets at 18.57 apiece this season.

Dane Paterson (Nottinghamshire)

The South African seamer has been tremendous for Nottinghamshire so far this summer. He added six wickets to his tally – three in each innings – in the 10-wicket win over Derbyshire, while hardly offering a scoring opportunity in the process.

His 24 wickets have come in just four County Championship matches, and at an average of just 15.12. Perhaps the least feted of the Broad-Pattinson-Paterson triumvirate, he has led the attack for the Division Two pre-season promotion favourites.