Hampshire 153 for 2 (Adams 56*) v Surrey (Div 2)
To say that not much has gone to script for Surrey over the last few years is a bit like suggesting England were a touch off their game in Australia last winter. But while the national side might start to put matters right this summer, there is a feeling Surrey may have to experience a few more lows before the good times roll again.
Thanks to morning rain delaying start of play by four hours and then returning for a time after tea to lop off another eight overs, this match is still in its early stages. Already, though, the visitors are some way short of where they hoped to be after Graeme Smith won what looked a useful toss and understandably chose to bowl.
Wickets were already tumbling elsewhere in the land and Smith hoped that a green-tinged pitch, cloud cover and his potent-looking pace attack would combine to prove a real handful for second division pace-setters Hampshire. Instead, the hosts built a promising platform with first Michael Carberry and then Jimmy Adams to the fore.
Carberry's days as an England opener may have ended - that seems to be the widely held belief, anyway - following his small part in England's Ashes humiliation, but the 33-year-old will be cherished by Hampshire supporters for as long as wants to play.
Here, he did most of the early scoring while fellow left-hander Adams took stock at the other end. And, probably to Smith's dismay, there were a few too many opportunities for Carberry to execute his shots after Jade Dernbach and Stuart Meaker had initially failed to make either opener play quite enough against the new ball.
Even with Chris Tremlett unable to face his old county because of a back injury, Surrey had enough firepower in the locker with Matt Dunn, who took a five-for against Essex last weekend, coming on first change. But this time he released the pressure valve, instead of tightening it, and Hampshire were up and away.
Dunn, strongly built, is a fine prospect - one of eight members of this team to have come through Surrey's academy. But the 21-year-old needs to be nurtured - and anyone expecting him, or any member of Surrey's crop of talented juniors, to be a match-winner, game in and game out, should prepare for a nasty shock.
Both Dunn and Tom Curran - even younger, at 19 - were deposited for sixes by Carberry, who pulled and cut them with the greatest of glee as Hampshire, far from being put into difficulty, reached 66 at four an over.
Curran it was, though, who stopped Carberry in his tracks by finding an outside edge that Smith snaffled low at first slip despite the chance brushing the glove of diving keeper Steven Davies on its way to Surrey's captain.
A second wicket should have come Curran's way with Liam Dawson being dropped by Davies - two hands away to his right. That missed opportunity mattered little with Dawson being pinned lbw by Meaker without addition but Hampshire were in no mood to surrender their early advantage.
Having already passed 50 twice in six innings this season, Adams made it three in seven following the evening interruption and walked away a happy captain, unbeaten on 56 out of 153 for 2. Smith, on the other hand, wandered off with a bit to ponder.
Leicestershire 221 for 4 (Cobb 49*, Boyce 49, Wagg 3-68) v Glamorgan (Div 2)
Leicestershire recovered from losing three quick wickets to Graham Wagg to finish in the ascendancy after an abbreviated first day against Glamorgan.
Wagg removed Matt Boyce and Angus Robson in successive deliveries and added the scalp of Ned Eckersley shortly afterwards. His colleagues in the attack at Grace Road were not as penetrative, though, and Josh Cobb and Niall O'Brien were able to see the home side through to an early close on 221 for 4, with no play possible after tea.
Glamorgan won the toss and chose to field, but Leicestershire openers Greg Smith and Boyce stood firm early on as 38 runs came in a wicketless first hour. With the score on 45, Boyce survived a strong caught-behind appeal off the bowling of John Glover having made 17.
The half-century partnership did not arrive, though, as Smith threw a loose drive at Jim Allenby and Wagg's diving catch in the covers made it 49 for 1, the batsman departing for 28. Boyce escaped after offering a straightforward slip chance to the usually reliable Stewart Walters and at lunch it was 82 for 1.
After the interval, and a brief rain stoppage, Boyce began playing with increasing fluency and finding the boundaries - but he was to miss out on a half-century.
The left-hander pushed half-forward to a Wagg outswinger and was taken by diving wicketkeeper Mark Wallace to end a partnership of 68. His 49 came from 122 balls, with eight fours.
Wagg struck again with his next ball, bowling Robson for a golden duck, but stand-in Leicestershire captain Cobb survived the hat-trick ball and hit the last of the over for four.
Eckersley reached 42 before edging behind to give Wagg his third wicket and new man Niall O'Brien unusually got off the mark with a five, substitute fielder David Lloyd throwing at the wrong end and the ball skipping on to reach the boundary.
The fifty partnership came up in the 54th over and O'Brien took 11 runs from Dean Cosker's sixth over - the veteran spinner's previous five having yielded just two in total.
There were few alarms and both batsmen were closing on half-centuries in an unbroken stand of 84 when more rain intervened. Cobb was just one run short, with O'Brien on 46 from 56 balls, but both were left to wait overnight as the post-tea session was wiped out in its entirety.
Middlesex 64 for 3 trail Yorkshire 178 (Plunkett 56, Finn 4-50) by 114 runs
A few years ago a fellow turned up for a job interview at the BBC and, in a series of misunderstandings that would have seemed improbable even for a Carry On film scriptwriter, found himself being interviewed live on-air about an on-going legal case.
While it would stretching the point to suggest that Joe Root could identify with such a case of mistaken identity, it does seem fair to question whether he is benefiting from the over promotion that seems to have come his way over the last year.
Root, making his first-class return after sustaining a broken thumb in Antigua, found himself promoted to the captaincy for this match. At 23, he is believed to be the youngest man to captain Yorkshire in a first-class match since Lord Hawke who, in 1882, was appointed to the position as a 22-year-old.
The logic was sound enough: Yorkshire's regular captain, Andrew Gale felt, characteristically selflessly, that he should be the man to make-way in a Yorkshire attack bursting with players of England potential. He also reasoned that Root was the sort of character who could well go on to be an option as England captain one day and thought he would benefit from this experience. So he might.
Equally, however, Root might benefit from a period where he was able to concentrate on his batting. He might benefit from a settled position in the batting order - he has batted in every position from No. 2 to No. 7 in his 15 Tests - and he might benefit from a spell without anyone trying to turn him into an opening batsman when, at present, most of the evidence suggests he is better suited to a middle-order role.
His talent and potential is undisputed but, just as it appeared his promotion to opening batsman did him few favours ahead of the Ashes series in England last year, it is debatable what he will gain from the extra pressure and complication of captaincy at a time he is trying to win back a Test place.
Gale admitted that he had endured "sleepless nights" before coming to the captaincy decision.
"It's a great opportunity for [Joe]," Gale told the Yorkshire website. "We see it as he's been targeted as a future England captain and there are a lot of people in the past who have captained without the experience of doing so in county cricket. So hopefully this will give him some experience going forward.
"We all know what type of character Joe Root is. He'll stick his chest out and absolutely love the experience. He's a good lad, commands respect of his fellow peers and I'm sure he will grasp this opportunity and do a great job in my absence."
It was noticeable here that Root batted at No. 4. While the identity of England's Test openers is becoming clearer - it looks as if Sam Robson will have first opportunity to build a partnership with Alastair Cook - the No. 3 position is still causing consternation.
With Ian Bell and Root both batting at No. 4 for their counties - Root confirmed after play that it would be his preferred position "in an ideal world" for England - there may yet be room for a return for the likes of Nick Compton or Michael Carberry. Indeed, in the unlikely event that Root does not win a recall, one wonders whether Gale's logic will see the experimentation with his captaincy extended further into the summer.
Here a rusty-looking Root - he has enjoyed only one second XI game since the broken thumb and, though he has regained full mobility, it still looks uncomfortable - was unfortunate to come up against a fired-up Steven Finn with a point to prove.
Finn generated good pace and generally maintained a nagging line and length in conceding under three-an-over and, in a particularly good mini-spell, trapped Root on the crease with one that seemed to beat him for pace.
"He's obviously a fantastic bowler and, if he bowls anything like he did today that then yes [he is an international bowler]," Root said.
Finn's other wickets came when Adam Lyth was caught down the legside, an unworthy end to an innings studded with fine strokes, before he accounted for two tailenders courtesy of his extra pace.
That Yorkshire, inserted in conditions that offered some assistance to the bowlers, surpassed 150 was due almost entirely to Liam Plunkett. Coming in with the score 98 for 6, Plunkett counterattacked intelligently. Having taken three singles from his first 15 deliveries, he then thumped nine boundaries in his next 40, throwing his hands at anything wide or over-pitched and providing another reminder of the all-round skills that may well interest England's selectors.
Confronted with a demanding bowling attack and tricky conditions, most of Yorkshire's batsmen appeared to lack the requisite application. Alex Lees was drawn into pushing at one that swung back into him, Kane Williamson was punished for attempting a loose drive to a wide ball on the brink of lunch, Adil Rashid and Andrew Hodd wafted at deliveries they could have left and Gary Ballance pushed hard at one and edge to slip.
Had Ryan Sidebottom, on 4, been taken by Ollie Rayner at second slip, Yorkshire would have been 117 for 8. But, as it was, he helped Plunkett add 48 for the eighth wicket and give their side some sort of competitive total.
While there has been plenty of attention about the international credentials of several of the players involved in this match - at least five players have realistic chances of inclusion in England's squad for the first Test - there might also be some on the Middlesex bowling coach, Richard Johnson. Judging by the improvement in both Finn and James Harris, who has added a yard of pace to a package of skills that was already attractive, Johnson is managing to coax skills out of his bowlers that have seemed beyond David Saker of late.
Middlesex found life little easier in reply. Chris Rogers, pushing outside off stump, fell to a slip catch before Robson, who had flirted outside off on a couple of occasions, edged a good one from the impressive Jack Brooks and Dawid Malan, after a pleasing innings, was beaten by a straight one after a series of balls that left him. By the time bad light and rain brought an early finish, 13 wickets had fallen in a day of only 76.2 overs.
"I'm really proud to have the opportunity to captain Yorkshire," Root said. "There's a lot of experience in that dressing room and they almost captain themselves. Things haven't gone to plan just yet, but it just makes it more exciting for tomorrow. I'm relishing it."
Northamptonshire 133 for 8 (Anderson 5-37) lead Lancashire 119 by 14 runs (Div 1)
Eighteen wickets fell at Wantage Road as Northamptonshire and Lancashire punched themselves to a standstill. These two sides were promoted together last year and began this round of the new Championship nestled alongside each other at the bottom of Division One.
Once again, there was not much between them and, on the evidence of some desultory batting, both may have to get used to being on the ropes this season.
That Northamptonshire took a slender lead was down to the tenacity of Matthew Spriegel whose unbeaten 43 was the highest score of the day.
After Stephen Peters had won the toss, his seam attack bundled out the visitors in less than two sessions before James Anderson's 5 for 37 ensured the visitors remained in the contest. More surprising was the fact that Lancashire were also indebted to Anderson for his efforts with the bat.
Lord Mancroft's famous aphorism about the English having invented cricket to "give themselves some conception of eternity" was turned on its head.
Batsmen instead seemed intent on offering the crowd an object lesson in brevity. In physics, the shortest measurable unit of time is known as a Planck. As 15 wickets went down before 4.30pm, it seemed as if the teams were trying to re-establish the fashion for Plancking, though rather than lying prone in public places this version involved getting back to the dressing room as quickly as possible to stare at the ceiling in private.
Lancashire's scorecard appeared as if it had been inverted, with No. 11 Anderson's 28 the top score. There was appreciable swing under frowning skies and enough assistance from the pitch to further fray the nerves of two fragile batting line-ups. When the sun did come out during the evening session, it was the cue for Spriegel and Ben Duckett to put on the most substantial partnership of the day. Their stand of 57 spanned 20.5 overs - more than twice as long as the next best - and helped Northamptonshire to eke out an advantage.
When Glen Chapple took his second wicket in the second over after tea,
Northamptonshire were precariously placed at 35 for 5. Chapple himself had come in with Lancashire 33 for 6 before playing a bustling innings of 26, the captain now doubly responsible for rallying his side in his first match as coach, after the departure of Peter Moores. Even after a career as long and eventful as his, this was quite a start to life as the gaffer.
"I think in the end, we've done really well to be somewhere near level with them," Chapple said. "I think if we're honest, it was a really bad toss to lose. It was damp this morning, and I've not seen a pitch seam around as much as that for a long time. Whilst we've got to be honest with ourselves and say we would always like to score more heavily, it was decking around and really difficult for batting up until about 4pm.
"I genuinely haven't seen a pitch do that much for quite a while. They've had a bit of rain down here. Their pitches tend to be flat in general, and tomorrow could be a different story. It's made for an entertaining day's cricket, and the big thing is we're still in the game."
For the faithful who did choose to spend Sunday at worship, it was an occasion to take a pew with the thermos under one arm and a spirit, holy or otherwise, in the hip flask. With a bank of grey clouds parked above the ground, one Northamptonshire member was vocally pessimistic about the chances of play. His face, in keeping with the skies, may have brightened a touch by the end of the day.
Chapple would not have been surprised to be asked to bat, with the light so poor that play was interrupted after less than four overs and the delay extended to around half an hour by light drizzle. When the teams came back on, Lancashire's batsmen continued to grope unavailingly in the gloom. Olly Stone and Azharullah initially did not force the batsmen to play enough but Lancashire's openers dug in so doggedly they were soon stuck a hole that would take some escaping.
Paul Horton lasted 22 balls for his duck, though he was outdone for excruciating crease occupation by Andrea Agathangelou, who was dropped at slip from his 29th ball, picking up a single to get off the mark, and then played on to his 30th. Luis Reece could at least console himself with the knowledge that he received a very good delivery from Stone, one that swung in and then seamed away to knock out off stump.
Luke Procter was first man into double figures with a driven four - possibly the first runs scored in front of the wicket - off Andrew Hall in the 28th over.
His partnership with Chapple was worth 29 and the lower order lifted Lancashire clear of total ignominy, though it required the highest partnership of the innings, 39 of 32 balls from the last-wicket pair of Anderson and Simon Kerrigan, to do so. Anderson smacked Steven Crook through the covers and Azharullah down the ground with the fury of a man who was not best impressed by what had gone before.
Nottinghamshire 43 for 6 (Wright 3-7) trail Warwickshire 263 (Bell 122, Porterfield 56, Carter 5-55) by 220 runs (Div 1)
The pleasures of watching cricket come in many shades and this was a day that could be enjoyed for high quality and high farce, although possibly not if your team happens to be Nottinghamshire.
The quality came from Ian Bell, whose 122 was witnessed, at least at various stages of it, by not one but three England selectors, not that his place in the side can be in any doubt. Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire's director of cricket, is wearing two hats for the first time, having been co-opted to the selection panel last week. James Whitaker, the head honcho, was also here, as was Peter Moores, taking in his first game since he resumed his role as head coach.
The farce was saved for last, a run-out muddle of the classic ingredients, with Luke Fletcher, the nightwatchman, going for a second run that his partner, Samit Patel, declined and both ending up at the same end before Fletcher, with an angry swish of the bat, accepted his fate, looked daggers at a team-mate by now contemplating the turf in front of him and trudged off.
It might have provoked laughter on the home balcony had it not left Nottinghamshire 43 for 6, although the real damage had been done in the overs before as Chris Wright and Keith Barker unleashed their well-honed skills on a pitch that was offering just enough movement and variable bounce to make batting a hazardous business all day.
Wright's eight-over opening spell in the evening session yielded three wickets for seven runs, the second aided by a superb slip catch by Bell to remove Steven Mullaney before Michael Lumb left one with a flourish facing Barker, only to find his off stump missing.
James Taylor, who had more reason than Bell to make a memorable impression, hit one cracking leg-side boundary off Barker but was then leg before trying to work one off Wright, at which point Nottinghamshire were 17 for 4.
After momentary calm, Riki Wessels was trapped in front by a ball from Oliver Hannon-Dalby that perhaps kept a little low before the run-out chaos brought the day to a close. Nottinghamshire are not making the heavy roller available and after 16 wickets on the opening it would seem unlikely that this contest lasts beyond Wednesday.
All of which provides a context that makes Bell's performance quite special. It was not flawless. Twice in the early stages, on 7 and then 15, he was close to being out caught at midwicket, the ball each time just failing to carry to Phil Jaques. "Perfectly judged," Bell said afterwards, tongue firmly in cheek.
Later, Mullaney was convinced he had him leg before, on 78, and risked incurring the displeasure of the umpires by lingering at the end of his followthrough, making his feelings plain to the batsman.
It is true also that he benefited from the pitch being cut well across on the Bridgford Road side of the square, bringing the boundary in front of the new stand close enough for a firm push or a well-timed clip to have a chance of getting four. Of Bell's runs, 75% were scored on that side of the ground, including 16 of his 18 fours and both sixes, the second of which, off Andy Carter, was smacked over cover.
If Bell stood out, honourable mention should be made too of William Porterfield, who has been given the chance to make a belated impression in four-day cricket in place of the stricken Jonathan Trott and is doing well so far. He made 77 against Lancashire last week and looked set to go on beyond his 56 today when he checked his shot after Mullaney, the fifth seamer, had introduced a change in pace and gave a simple return catch.
Peter Siddle, making his county debut on a ground where he took eight wickets in the Ashes Test last summer, claimed his first Nottinghamshire wicket at the end of his 11th over but the best of the home side's bowlers was Carter, tall and with good pace, who took his chance in the continued absence of Andre Adams to claim his first five-wicket haul for Nottinghamshire.
Somerset 83 for 3 v Sussex (Div 1)
Marcus Trescothick has been the mainstay of Somerset cricket for so long that any sign that he is beginning to rediscover some of his old poise is bound to quicken West Country hearts.
There were enough Trescothick clumps to record on an abbreviated first day at Hove, interspersed in an innings of staunch resistance, to encourage the belief that the old mastery can yet return and provide the sort of finish he deserves as the shadows lengthen on a grand career.
Sussex's seam attack has possessed an early-season potency that has carried them to the top of Division One, their first two matches won, and once the grouchy South Coast skies had finally relented, 32 overs represented a daunting proposition for Somerset: more than enough time, as events elsewhere in the country indicated, for carnage to ensue.
When Chris Jordan, in turquoise-backed boots, twinkled in with a loosener which may not be bettered all season, Chris Jones edging his first ball to the wicketkeeper, that impression was heightened, but their line was astray too often. It was only in the nick of time that Sussex made further inroads after Trescothick and Nick Compton gradually asserted themselves with impressive deliberation.
Compton was 14 balls away from seeing out the day when he became the second batsman to be caught at the wicket, this time off Steve Magoffin. Sussex looked at their most dangerous when Jordan had the slope in his favour in his second spell.
He made several deliveries bounce steeply and, from one of them, the nightwatchman Jamie Overton fell to a cracking reaction catch at second slip, low to his left, by Mike Yardy.
The Sussex keeper, incidentally, remains Ben Brown as Matt Prior's Achilles problems are yet to relent. A season in which he must have yearned to make heavy runs to re-establish himself in the England side has so far deepened concerns about his longevity at international level.
Prior habitually credits cycling with assisting his recovery, but this time his ailment has been so troublesome that he might have to put in enough miles to have an outside chance of a Tour de France spot when the tour comes to Yorkshire later this summer.
Trescothick stood firm to the close. Somerset's hopes must be that when he finally retires, his 2013 Championship season will be seen as an aberration: an average of 28 and, more strikingly, no Championship century for the first time since 1998, a shortfall which encouraged much chat about whether he should reduce the burden by relinquishing the captaincy.
The player himself saw no burden and remains, a player whose big presence on the county circuit continues to be prized by the crowds and whose wicket is still valued by the professionals he pits himself against.
Never particularly fleet of foot, he took his first run from a pushed drive a little slowly - setting off like a second-hand tractor on a damp morning. There are many farmers in Somerset who will tell you that a second-hand tractor is not to be trusted, but this particular variety has proved its serviceability more than most.
More than 20 overs elapsed before Trescothick's first belligerent moment - an overpitched delivery from James Anyon which he barndoored through cover. The old boy clearly got a taste for it and so nearly got out as he failed to connect with an attempted repeat against a wider delivery.
But his authority had been announced and when Anyon went in search of a similar dismissal in his next over Trescothick deposited him for three boundaries in a row. A sumptuous straight drive near the close was the highlight. Another tough examination lies ahead.
Derbyshire 3/2 (3.5 ov)
Worcestershire (Div 2)
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