The Cricketer wraps up the best of the action on day three of the seventh round of LV= Insurance County Championship matches in 2023
Bristol (third day of four): Durham 445 & 272-4d, Gloucestershire 292 & 181-6 - Gloucestershire need 245 runs to win with four second-innings wickets remaining
Matthew Potts did his prospects of featuring in the upcoming Ashes series no harm at all as Durham put Gloucestershire under the pump.
On a day when Sussex paceman Ollie Robinson joined Jofra Archer and James Anderson on the treatment table, Potts claimed 2 for 21 in an impressive five-over burst with the new ball to issue a timely reminder to the England selectors.
Building on a first-innings lead of 153, Durham posted 272 for 4 declared second time around thanks to a fine innings of 121 not out by Michael Jones and a quickfire half-century from Ollie Robinson, setting Gloucestershire a notional victory target of 426 in 142 overs on a deteriorating pitch.
Potts then went to work, removing left-handers Chris Dent and Ben Charlesworth with successive deliveries in the third over to commence a slide which saw Gloucestershire subside to 58 for 4.
Although Marcus Harris registered 71 not out to see the home side through to 181 for 6 at the close, they still trail by 244 and, with the weather set fair for the final day, the overwhelming likelihood is that Durham will complete a fourth victory in six outings to cement their position at the top of Division Two.
Ollie Robinson celebrates a wicket against Glamorgan [Getty Images]
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Hove (third day of four): Glamorgan 123 & 118-1, Sussex 481
Worried speculation surrounded the fitness of Ollie Robinson at Hove after the England fast bowler failed to take the field after lunch.
Robinson didn’t open the attack in the morning but when he came on to bowl after half an hour’s play he put in an eight-over spell without looking quite as dangerous as he had the day before, when he bowled seven overs. But he did bowl for a full hour. Robinson failed to take a wicket, though he did have Glamorgan captain Kiran Carlson dropped at third slip by James Coles. When asked about Robinson’s absence Paul Farbrace, the Sussex head coach, refused to comment.
With the Ashes series just a month away, the fitness of England’s cadre of fast bowlers – of which Robinson is arguably the steadiest – is is being carefully monitored. When Sussex took the new ball in the afternoon session, desperate for a breakthrough with Glamorgan 309 for 3, Robinson was off the field.
Meanwhile, there was good Ashes news for Australia. In Robinson's absence, key batsman Marnus Labuschagne, in his final innings for Glamorgan this summer, hit 138 from 244 balls, with 16 fours and four sixes – following Steve Smith's 89 for Sussex - as he and Glamorgan captain Kiran Carlson put on 288 for the fourth wicket.
It was a Glamorgan fourth-wicket record against Sussex. At the close of the third day they led by 141, with Carlson 187 not out.
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