Ooooh! Kuldeep time.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n The BBC\u2019s Kevin Howells walks past with a coffee, \u201cit\u2019s all very well people getting excited about next week,\u201d he says, \u201cit\u2019s all being played out in front of our eyes right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Overton and Pretorius meanwhile have reduced the deficit to 75.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n And no century for Zak Crawley, who by all accounts has played outstandingly for his 84. This was Matt Milnes last night: \u201cthe way Zak batted was incredible, really. I thought, on that pitch and in the situation, that was worth 160 rather than 60 or whatever it is. So, yeah, it was a serious knock.\u201d<\/p>\n Kent, now 200-9, have a gold-dust lead of 40 over Lancs (28 of them extras).<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n No! No century for the other Ollie Robinson, who must be satisfied with his highest score of a (relatively) lean year. Last man out for 97. Good luck Worcestershire for the coming onslaught.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Is this the morning that secured the title for Warwickshire? We don\u2019t know. We can\u2019t know. But what we do know that their slim 17 runs lead overnight, nine wickets down, has since swelled to 57 before finally being bowled out for 191 by Essex. Sam Hain went from 58 not out to 88 not out, OHD gave it the barn door for 28 balls and then edged the 29th to slip. Tall Paul Walter snaffling the catch, having given OHD a life – and his only runs of the innings – with an earlier drop.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n (a glorious four by Pretorius off Cliff, cracked down the ground). And a missive has dropped from Ali Martin\u2026.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.21 EDT<\/p>\n While Overton and Pretorius calm things down a bit here at Headingley, time to wander around the grounds. First, division two.<\/p>\n Ollie Robinson has an unbeaten 95 and Durham maximum batting points at Chester le Street. Hang on in there Callum Parkinson, Durham 259-9.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A sobering read from Daniel Gallan. And a blow to read that AI can write cricketing waffle.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Pretorius is being attended to after he gets hit on the hand from a nasty Ben Cliff ball. Cliff, 23 and with a few England U19 appearances under his belt, has his best bowling by a long way in this innings: six for 37. Somerset 87 for eight.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Look away, and Cliff has another, a searing ball which spits and Leach gets an edge through to Bairstow. Somerset 86 for eight and floundering after a pretty catastrophic first 25 minutes.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Non rhythmic applause as Ben Cliff approaches his hat-trick, but no cigar this time.<\/p>\n But some good news for Somerset and Warwicks, Notts have missed out on a batting point at Hove by ten runs, the hard-grafting Hutton last man out for 60.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n And next ball, the dream gets a little smaller. Gregory takes off his gloves and with tiny steps drifts away, lbw and given out with a flourish. Five wickets for Cliff who is on a hat-trick. Somerset 74 for seven.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A huge Headingley roar as James Rew edges behind to Jonny Bairstow, a fourth wicket for young Cliff. Craig Overton cowboys down the pitch to talk tactics with the incoming Lewis Gregory. Somerset 74 for six.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The skies over God\u2019s Own County are dazzling, though there\u2019s a fair wind. I\u2019ve been pointed towards these comments by Somerset\u2019s bowling coach Steve Kirby about the Headingley pitch.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not the best surface. If I\u2019m completely honest, I thought the pitch was doing considerably more than when we got done against Durham (July 25, Taunton, four-point penalty). I\u2019m bit a disappointed with that and thought it would be a lot, lot better.\u201d<\/p>\n And here come the players.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>“There\u2019s enough going on without it being the other end of crazy”<\/p>\n Some thoughtful chat about pitches in the Reporters\u2019 Network quotes last night:<\/p>\n Glamorgan\u2019s Zain ul Hassan, who took four for 26 in Surrey\u2019s 115 all out at The Oval:<\/p>\n \u201cThere have been a lot of result pitches around in these final weeks of the season and that\u2019s I think because there are quite a lot of teams either going for the Championship, trying to avoid relegation or get promoted.<\/p>\n \u201cMore pitches have been greener and it has been really hard for batting around the country.\u201d<\/p>\n And Hampshire\u2019s Scott Currie at Grace Road:<\/p>\n \u201cThe pitch is doing a bit but when you\u2019re at the bottom of the league, I think teams earn the right at home to do what they like with the pitches. As bowlers, we\u2019re not going to complain – I had a season on loan here and I wish the pitches had done as much then.<\/p>\n \u201cWe never had a wicket with shaved ends while I was here but credit to Alfonso Thomas, Claude Henderson and the ground staff here for trying to produce wickets that are doing a bit. Some balls have gone up, some have gone down, but no one\u2019s been hit. There\u2019s enough going on without it being the other end of crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Now bright sunshine as we wheeze past Slaithwaite.<\/p>\n More chaos at Middlesex:<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Tuesday’s round-up<\/p>\n A brow-mopping 123 wickets fell on the first day of the penultimate round of matches as the season hurtled towards the autumn trapdoor. It was difficult to know what to make of it, though title-hunting Somerset might repent at leisure the last half of the evening session at Headingley, which they finished on 68 for five. Jonny Bairstow\u2019s busy 79 had hauled Yorkshire to 212, though he was dropped twice. Much rests on the oaken shoulders of Craig Overton.<\/p>\n With clouds building and floodlights on, Nottinghamshire crawled towards a precious batting point at Hove against Sussex\u2019s parsimonious bowlers, something that seemed risible until a ninth-wicket stand of 74 between Brett Hutton and Tom Giles. Hutton\u2019s two-and-a-half-hour 59 was the highest score of the innings.<\/p>\n A career-best six for 26 by Ethan Bamber helped keep Essex down as Warwickshire drove for points at Chelmsford. Essex were whistled out for 134, though that was riches from the ashes of 33 for seven, thanks largely to an unbeaten 61 from the on-loan wicketkeeper George Bell, who has jumped out of the Old Trafford frying pan to find his boots burning again. But Warwickshire<\/a> wouldn\u2019t have it all their own way as they too collapsed, 151 for nine at stumps, a slender lead of just 17 runs.<\/p>\n Zak Crawley curated the only half-century at Canterbury to bring Kent in touching distance of Lancashire\u2019s 161.<\/p>\n There was a cascade of 20 wickets at the Oval, where neither Glamorgan nor Surrey could reach the heady heights of 140. Matt Fisher limped out of the game with a groin injury.<\/p>\n Ian Holland\u2019s career-best six for 38 dismissed Hampshire for 214 in the Division One battle for the wooden spoon. Ben Brown\u2019s unbeaten 80 saved his side too many blushes. Leicestershire, who are still waiting for the Cricket<\/a> Regulator to rule on their pitch, shuffled to 148 for seven, thanks to fifty from Hamza Shaikh.<\/p>\n At Chester-le-Street the runs ran freely as India\u2019s Mayank Agarwal blazed Worcestershire\u2019s bowlers around the ground with a dazzling 177. For once, Ben Stokes had to play second fiddle, though his thunderbolt 50 off 40 balls delighted the faithful who had come to wallow in autumn sunshine and the warmth of promotion. Durham were cruising to a full set of batting points before the setting sun spoiled their fun.<\/p>\n Hundreds for Derbyshire\u2019s Ben Aitchison and Wayne Madsen stayed Northamptonshire\u2019s promotion push.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Scores on the doors<\/p>\n Division One<\/p>\n Chelmsford: Essex 134 v Warwickshire<\/a> 151-9<\/p>\n Grace Road: Leicestershire<\/a> 148-7 v Hampshire 214<\/p>\n The Oval: Surrey 115 v Glamorgan<\/a> 132 and 30-0<\/p>\n Hove: Sussex v Nottinghamshire<\/a> 232-9<\/p>\n Headingley: Yorkshire<\/a> 212 v Somerset 68-5<\/p>\n Division Two<\/p>\n Chester-le-Street: Durham 437-7 v Worcestershire<\/p>\n Bristol: Gloucestershire<\/a> v Middlesex 324-9<\/p>\n Canterbury: Kent 151-7 v Lancashire<\/a> 161<\/p>\n Wantage Road: Northamptonshire<\/a> 15-0 v Derbyshire 372<\/p>\n![\"Ali](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Ali_martin3,_L.png\")
Ali Martin<\/p>\n