The Cricketer wraps up the best of the action during day one of the 16th round of LV= Insurance County Championship matches in 2023
Southampton (day one of four): Hampshire 219, Surrey 47-2 - Surrey are 172 runs behind with eight first-innings wickets remaining
Tom Lawes claimed back-to-back five-wicket hauls as Surrey claimed three of the five points needed to be crowned LV= Insurance County Championship winners.
All-rounder Lawes pulled out the Hampshire middle-order for his third five-for of the season – worth 5 for 27 – with Kemar Roach picking up 3 for 41.
Hampshire built their below-par 219 around Ben Brown's positive 78 before Mohammad Abbas pinned back Surrey to end the day on 47 for 2 - a deficit of 172.
Surrey needed five points to be confirmed county champions for a second year in a row – even if they failed to do so all they’d need to do is avoid defeat to prevent Essex from overtaking them.
Rob Keogh gave Northants fans something to shout about (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Canterbury (day one of four): Lancashire 327, Kent
There was a frustrating day for relegation-threatened Kent in the County Championship at Canterbury, as Lancashire recovered from 18 for 3 and 240 for 8 to reach 327 all out at stumps.
Josh Bohannon scored 113 and put on a crucial 121 for the fifth wicket with George Balderson, who made 54. Matthew Hurst also cashed in after being dropped on seven to finish unbeaten on 76.
Kent at least took the full compliment of bowling bonus points, with Matt Quinn and Aron Nijjar both claiming three wickets.
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Northampton (day one of four): Northamptonshire 279-2, Essex
Rob Keogh gave Northamptonshire supporters a rare moment to celebrate with a stunning century against Essex at Wantage Road, scoring 154 off just 147 balls. With the county already relegated and playing for pride after a nightmare season, Keogh put on a show with boundaries all around the ground as Northamptonshire claimed their first batting bonus point at home this summer and closed on 279 for 6 on day one of this County Championship match.
Keogh batted with a sense of freedom, taking the positive, attacking route, but timing the ball to perfection and not offering any chances. Strong on the drive and cut and punching firmly off the backfoot, when Essex resorted to bowling short, he dismissively hooked and pulled the ball away to the ropes, hitting 23 fours and four sixes.
He ticked off milestones along the way too, passing 6,000 career first-class runs and becoming Northamptonshire's highest run scorer in the Championship this season. The innings neatly bookends his season following 116 in the Steelbacks’ opening fixture against Kent in April.
Keogh came to the wicket after Jamie Porter (2 for 82) had struck twice, finding plenty of movement outside off-stump and immediately took the positive route against the Essex seamer, sharing a stand of 107 with Saif Zaib (28) in exactly 25 overs.
Ryan Higgins struck a ninth fifty of the season for relegation-threatened Middlesex (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Trent Bridge (day one of four): Middlesex 162-3, Nottinghamshire
Relegation-threatened Middlesex closed a truncated opening day of their County Championship match against Nottinghamshire on 162 for 3 as they began the last round of the 2023 season with one eye on Kent’s progress against Lancashire in Canterbury.
Middlesex have to better Kent's result or match it with at least one more bonus point than their rivals if they are to avoid joining Northamptonshire in Division Two next season.
Given that they have won only two batting bonus points all season, skipper Toby Roland-Jones might have taken a few by surprise with his decision to bat first, although he might argue that his players are at least close to the four-an-over run-rate required in the 42 overs possible after rain delayed the start until 2pm.
Whether they turn that into a substantial hand of points is another matter, especially since they have also lost Stevie Eskinazi, at least for the moment. He was hit on the head by a ball from Lyndon James on 23 and was not deemed fit to continue.
It looks vital that the partnership between Ryan Higgins (60) and John Simpson (26), currently worth 69, turns into something substantial on day two.
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Edgbaston (day one of four): Somerset 180-8, Warwickshire
Somerset were bailed out by their lower after choosing to bat against Warwickshire on the opening day of their County Championship game at Edgbaston.
After rain wiped out the first session, the visitors plummeted to 37 for 6 against a disciplined seam attack led by the evergreen Chris Rushworth (4 for 33).
But captain Tom Abell (22, 84 balls) and Lewis Gregory (39, 48) added 56 for the seventh wicket and, after they perished with the total still short of 100, Neil Wagner (55 not out, 50) and Josh Davbey (28 not out, 53) added an unbroken 84.
The comfort with which the ninth-wicket pair scored their runs must have embarrassed their top-order colleagues. It also suggests that, on a good batting pitch, despite Somerset’s recovery, Warwickshire remain strongly placed.
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