Find out what happened on the first day of the latest round of action from the County Championship
Essex v Nottinghamshire
Chelmsford (first day of four): Nottinghamshire 187, Essex 68-0 - Essex trail by 119 runs with 10 first-innings wickets remaining
Jamie Porter found form in the County Championship for the first time in 2019 as Essex’s formidable fast bowler helped bowl Nottinghamshire out for 187.
Porter has enjoyed incredible hauls of over 50 wickets in the previous four campaigns, which included plundering 75 wickets in 2017’s title-winning season and 58 last year.
Those returns had caught the eyes of the England selectors last summer, but with an Ashes berth potentially on the horizon the early stages of 2019 had failed to prove profitable.
But having accumulative figures of 2-276 from the opening two games, against Hampshire and Surrey, he burst into life with analysis of 4-75, which included his 250th Championship notch in a typical destruction against Nottinghamshire.
Fellow bowlers Sam Cook, Peter Siddle and Simon Harmer all chipped in with two wickets-a-piece as Essex dominated the first day’s action at Chelmsford.
Kent v Yorkshire
Canterbury (first day of four): Yorkshire 210, Kent 130-4 - Kent trail by 80 runs with six first-innings wickets remaining
An engaging and hard-fought opening day to this 204th first-class battle between Kent and Yorkshire ended with the hosts edging proceedings courtesy of a gritty, unbeaten half-century from Zak Crawley.
By stumps at a bright, breezy yet chilly Canterbury, Kent closed on 130 for 4 to trail by 80 runs going into day two.
Kent’s first day of top-flight cricket at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence in almost nine years went well from the off as they dismissed Yorkshire for 210 within two sessions.
Matt Milnes, with 3-63, and Harry Podmore, who took 2-33, were the pick of the home attack as the visitors succumbed inside 57 overs.
Somerset v Surrey
Taunton (first day of four): Surrey 330-6
Centuries from Rory Burns and Dean Elgar put Surrey in a strong position before a determined Somerset fightback on the opening day of the Specsavers County Championship match at Taunton.
Having won the toss on a day of unbroken sunshine, the visitors ran up 330 for 6, with skipper Burns contributing 107 and Elgar making 103 against one of his former clubs.
Surrey were 265 for 2 at one stage, but then lost four wickets for 30 runs as Lewis Gregory struck twice on his way to figures of 3-44 from 17 overs at the River End.
Ryan Patel (25 not out) and Riki Clarke (28 not out) steadied the ship and by the close Surrey had regained momentum going into day two.
Warwickshire v Hampshire
Edgbaston (first day of four): Hampshire 291-6
Tom Alsop's second first-class century lifted Hampshire to a solid 291 for 6 on the opening day at Edgbaston.
Hampshire were looking for leaders in their batting, having lost Aiden Markram and James Vince to international duty and seen India batsman Ajinkya Rahane's debut delayed due to a BCCI player engagement.
Alsop, 23, rose to the challenge in polished fashion. After Hampshire chose to bat, he compiled a career-best unbeaten 131 (273 balls, 21 fours) to steer his side away from uncertain positions at 44 for 2 and 171 for 5.
A depleted Warwickshire attack missing the injured Olly Stone, Liam Norwell and Ryan Sidebottom, and the unavailable Chris Woakes persevered well, led by the excellent Olly Hannon-Dalby (4-58).
But Hampshire got away from them in the final session when Alsop was joined by the aggressive Aneurin Donald (75, 56 balls, 12 fours, two sixes).
Glamorgan v Gloucestershire
Newport (first day of four): Gloucestershire 360-6
James Bracey, the highly rated 22 year-old Gloucestershire left-hander, again showed his fondness for Glamorgan’s bowlers, by scoring his fourth first-class hundred, and his third against the Welsh county.
Bracey was given valuable support by Gareth Roderick, who made 88, the two adding 199 for the fourth wicket, while Bracey fell three runs short of surpassing his career best, made against the same opposition at Sophia Gardens two years ago.
He was eventually dismissed for 152.
At the end of the first day’s play at Spytty Park, the latest Welsh ground to host Championship cricket, the visitors had reached 360 for 6, a useful score on a pitch that is expected to turn later in the game.
Lancashire v Northamptonshire
Old Trafford (first day of four): Northamtonshire 230, Lancashire 29-1 - Lancashire trail by 201 runs with nine first-innings wickets remaining
Richard Gleeson seized the opportunity to play his first competitive cricket of the season and took five wickets against his former county as Lancashire had the best of the opening day.
Gleeson finished with 5-63 as Northamptonshire were dismissed for 230 and by the close Lancashire had reached 29 for 1 in reply.
Despite the departure of Haseeb Hameed, who was caught behind when pushing forward to Ben Sanderson for seven, Lancashire appear well placed for the game’s second day, when the Old Trafford pitch often eases.
However, the home side by no means had things all their own way. Luke Procter made 48 against the side he once represented with honour and added 70 for the seventh wicket with Luke Wood who top-scored with 66 in the first game of his second loan spell with the Wantage Road club.
Middlesex v Leicestershire
Lord's (first day of four): Middlesex 325-8
Mohammad Abbas claimed four wickets on a topsy-turvy first day of Leicestershire’s County Championship fixture with Middlesex at Lord’s.
The Pakistani Test bowler looked a class above the rest in returning 4-57 to restrict the hosts to 325 for 8 on decent batting surface.
Half-centuries from Nick Gubbins, debutante Tom Lace and George Scott – the latter’s highest first-class score - kept the home side in the hunt, but they will be frustrated no-one was able to kick on and make a truly telling contribution
Worcestershire v Durham
New Road (first day of four): Durham 272, Worcestershire 1-1 - Worcestershire trail by 271 runs with nine first-innings wickets remaining
Worcestershire paceman Charlie Morris continued his renaissance while Jack Burnham made his first significant contribution with the bat for Durham since returning from a 12-month drugs ban on a see-saw opening day.
Morris followed up his career best 7-45 against Leicestershire in the opening County Championship match with 6-53 as Durham were bowled out for 273 in 92 overs.
But the Worcestershire attack were held up for a lengthy period by Burnham, who missed the entire 2018 campaign through suspension after testing positive for cocaine in a third failed drugs test.
The 22-year-old has made an unspectacular return to action this summer with scores of 31,32, 0 and 5 in two Championship matches and a top score of 45 in four Royal London One-Day Cup knocks.
Here the former England Under-19 player showed glimpses of the potential evident from an early age as a Durham academy product.
He top-scored with a resolute 76 to help rescue Durham from 14 for 3.
Burnham shared in a century stand with Durham captain Cameron Bancroft who registered his first fifty in the Championship for his adopted county after his own nine month ban, for ball-tampering, while on international duty with Australia.
Bancroft’s Worcestershire counterpart, Joe Leach, also had reason to be satisfied with his day’s work in his first senior appearance for 11 months after a stress fracture of the back and he showed no ill effects in finishing with 3-57 from 19 overs.
Article regularly updated
Reports courtesy of the ECB Reporters Network
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