Emilio Gay's hundred puts Durham in charge, Josh Bohannon puts Northamptonshire to sword

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION TWO ROUNDUP: Durham's position was strengthened by the end of the first day when they removed Kent opener Zak Crawley for just nine

ECB Reporters Network | 03/04/2026 at 18:59

Chester-le-Street (day one of four): Durham 335, Kent 50-2 - Kent trail by 285 runs with eight wickets remaining

Emilio Gay made the first century of the County Championship season as Durham edged ahead of Kent on a closely contested first day of their Division Two clash.

Gay was fluent and positive in a chanceless century, his 11th in first-class cricket, on a day when his teammates struggled to cope with Kent's impressive overseas duo, Glenton Stuurman and Keith Dudgeon.

Durham were bowled out for 335, with Dudgeon picking up four scalps and Stuurman three on his Kent debut.

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^{Zak Crawley fell cheaply to Matthew Potts (Stu Forster/Getty Images)}

Kent's reply got off to a bad start, with England's Zak Crawley dismissed cheaply, and they finished the day on 50 for 2, trailing by 285 runs.

Northampton (day one of four): Lancashire 346-7 v Northamptonshire

Josh Bohannon again defied Northamptonshire with a well-crafted 90 as Lancashire made the most of winning the toss, closing on 346 for 7 on day one of the County Championship match against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road

Bohannon struck 14 boundaries, sharing an untroubled second wicket stand worth 132 with opener Luke Wells, who contributed a fine 87. Bohannon's knock came a year after his valiant 155 to save Lancashire after they followed on at Old Trafford.

Michael Jones also smashed an aggressive 71 off 91 balls, which included 11 fours, although he was fortunate to survive two dropped catches.

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^{Luke Wells and Josh Bohannon combined for the telling stand of the day for Lancashire (David Rogers/Getty Images)}

The bowlers stuck to their task all day. Australian quick Harry Conway (2 for 80) and Ben Sanderson (2 for 55) fought back with three late wickets for 10 runs in five overs with the second new ball to keep the hosts firmly in the game.

With Lancashire electing to bat, Saif Zaib was unable to impress watching England men's managing director Rob Key with the bat, but made the key breakthrough with his left-arm spin when he bowled Bohannon. Legspinner Calvin Harrison, who toured with England Lions in the winter, also struck to remove the dangerous Wells.

Earlier, Lancashire had the better of the morning, although Sanderson and Conway troubled openers Wells and Harry Singh (18) in the first hour with plenty of balls nibbling off the seam, both bowlers having shouts for lbw turned down.