Glamorgan teenager Tom Norton enters the record books with stunning hat-trick

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION ONE ROUNDUP: Somerset have control of the match in Cardiff ripped from their grasp after a remarkable over from the 18-year-old

ECB Reporters Network | 09/05/2026 at 18:42

Chelmsford (day two of four): Hampshire 235 & 58-2, Essex 273 - Hampshire lead by 20 runs with eight second-innings wickets remaining

Simon Harmer was the architect of a remarkable last-wicket partnership with Jamie Porter that eked out an unlikely first-innings lead for Essex in the County Championship against Hampshire at Chelmsford.

The pair reprised their 10th-wicket heroics that salvaged an equally surreal draw against Yorkshire last season by putting on 81 runs in 21 overs to establish a 38-run advantage. Coming together at a perilous 192 for 9, 43 runs adrift, Harmer and Porter ended up just three runs short of a 96-year-old club-record stand for the last wicket against Hampshire.

All-rounder Harmer, with 80 not out from 118 balls, managed to farm the bowling so expertly that Porter, an archetypal No.11, only faced 38 balls for his dozen runs as they were repeatedly able to take a single from the fifth ball of each over.

They were finally parted after the largest stand of the innings when James Fuller returned to knock over Porter's middle stump and claim his ninth career five-wicket haul. Wiaan Mulder had earlier scored his first half-century for Essex while passing 10,000 runs in professional cricket. In 28 overs in the evening, Hampshire crept back into the black, thanks principally to Nick Gubbins's watchful unbeaten 35, as they closed on 58 for 2, 20 runs in front.

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^{Simon Harmer stayed firm for Essex (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)}

Cardiff (day two of four): Somerset 354 & 32-6, Glamorgan 229 - Somerset lead by 157 runs with four second-innings wickets remaining

Glamorgan teenager Tom Norton became the youngest ever first-class debutant to take a hat-trick as Somerset were reduced to 32 for 6 in a thrilling final hour on day two at Sophia Gardens.

The 18-year-old from Abergavenny ended with figures of 4 for 22 after he removed James Rew for a 13-ball duck in the second failure of the opening batter experiment tried by Somerset in the two consecutive days. The debutant then found the edge of Tom Lammonby and trapped Archie Vaughan in front to also become the first debutant in the County Championship to take a hat-trick since 1906, making him Glamorgan's youngest player to take a hat-trick.

Somerset took earlier control in the day, which saw 17 wickets fall – including two in two from Migael Pretorius. Glamorgan having been bowled out for 229, gave the visitors a 125-run lead in their domination of the majority of the day before Norton's late surge, supported by Ryan Hadley.

Despite waiting 120 years for a debutant to take a hat-trick in the County Championship, the previous owner of the record, William Benskin claimed it after it had been broken just two weeks earlier.

Trent Bridge (day two of four): Nottinghamshire 415, Surrey 211-4- Surrey are 204 runs behind with six first-innings wickets remaining

Dom Sibley continued his impressive start to the season with a battling 77 in the heavyweight clash between last year's first and second in the County Championship, but his dismissal in the last half hour of day two at Trent Bridge felt like an important blow struck by the defending champions.

Sibley, whose form is making a case for a potential Test recall as England reset after the winter Ashes debacle, batted for more than four hours against a high-quality Nottinghamshire attack as Surrey closed on 211 for 4 in reply to the home side's first-innings 415, Dan Lawrence finishing unbeaten on 52.

The 30-year-old opener, who won the most recent of his 22 Test caps in August 2021, failed in his quest for a third century in as many matches after his 101 against Essex and last week's 187 as Surrey's win over Sussex, but his innings was vital in the face of the threat posed by England pace bowlers Josh Tongue (2 for 38) and Olly Stone.

He was eventually dismissed, caught behind off left-arm spinner Liam Patterson-White, shortly after Lawrence had survived a difficult chance on 43.

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^{Dom Sibley continues to impress (Michael Steele/Getty Images)}

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^{Josh Tongue chipped in with two vital wickets for the champions (Mark Dunn/)}

Hove (day two of four): Leicestershire 328, Sussex 386-8 - Sussex lead by 58 runs with two first-innings wickets remaining

Dan Hughes scored his first century of the season to place Sussex in a commanding position against Leicestershire at Hove before a series of poor strokes let the visitors back in the game.

At 196 for 2, Sussex were powerfully placed to gain a decisive lead.

But Leicestershire, led by on-loan fast bowler Tom Helm, and assisted by poor stokes from Jack Leaning, Hughes and James Coles, just kept themselves in the game.