Jake Weatherald made an instant impact with his new side, Leicestershire<\/p>\n
Jake Weatherald has made a strong start to his county cricket career by top-scoring for Leicestershire in their season opener against Sussex.<\/a><\/p>\n Weatherald, who this week earned his maiden Cricket Australia contract<\/a> after playing all five Ashes Tests over summer, creamed his first ball for the Foxes for four on his way to 83 from 107 balls.<\/p>\n His knock included 13 boundaries but he was severely lacking in support from his teammates as no other batter passed 50 after Sussex had made 361 on the first day.<\/p>\n The Australian opener was eventually the seventh batter out, when he chopped onto his own stumps from an Ollie Robinson delivery. Robinson, the former England seamer, took 5-42.<\/p>\n Holding a 116-run lead, the Sharks came out with aggression and former NSW opener Daniel Hughes extended that advantage with a free-flowing 72.<\/p>\n The 37-year-old Hughes didn’t play at all for NSW last season after being left off the state contract list but did play eight Big Bash games for Sydney Sixers, including the final loss to Perth Scorchers.<\/p>\n Down at the Rose Bowl in Southampton<\/a>, Jake Lehmann went to stumps on 30no in his first innings as a ‘local’ county player.<\/p>\n Lehmann qualifies due to his mother’s British passport and the two-time Sheffield Shield winner holds the key for his new side with Hampshire 3-48, trailing Essex’s 7(dec)-461.<\/p>\n At Edgbaston,<\/a> Sean Abbott played a big hand in Surrey’s revival from a disastrous start against Warwickshire.<\/p>\n The Bears had title favourites Surrey in all sorts at 6-65 on day one but scores to Ben Foakes (128), Tom Lawes (83) and Abbott (40) saw them recover to post 328.<\/p>\n Beau Webster’s Warwickshire however passed that score only two wickets down, and sit comfortably at 2-330 at stumps. Abbott (1-37) took one of the two poles with Webster listed to bat at No.7.<\/p>\n Nathan McSweeney survived a classic spell from James Anderson (5-64) but was out shortly after for 32 in his Northamptonshire debut<\/a>.<\/p>\n Teammate Harry Conway, in his second season for Darren Lehmann’s Northants, took 2-94 in Lancashire’s first innings and survived 26 balls at the end of day two to see Lewis McManus (54no) to his half-century but the deficit currently sits at 169 with one wicket remaining.<\/p>\n