Roses stalemate as bad weather dominates

The Roses match at Headingley ended in stalemate even though Lancashire took the one wicket they needed this morning to make Yorkshire follow-on. Matthew Wood fell shortly after lunch, but then Joe Sayers (75*) and Matthew Wood (81*) added an unbeaten 147 for the second wicket before the captains agreed to an early end. The loss of 124 overs to bad weather made the draw almost inevitable.

At Trent Bridge, most eyes were on Steve Harmison and his return to action, and he worked through 15 overs in two spells without alarm - and without a wicket - as Nottinghamshire avoided the follow-on after Durham had declared on 404 for 8. Darren Bicknell got the champions off to a good start with a brisk 40, and then Jason Gallian and Will Smith (41) took them to 163 for 1 before Gareth Breese (4 for 77) snatched three quick wickets to put Durham in the box seat. Gallian completed his hundred, the 34th of his career, but fell to Mick Lewis for 114 as Nottinghamshire ended on 255 for 6.

There was no play before lunch at Derby Where Derbyshire maintained their good early-season form by taking a commanding grip against Leicestershire. Declaring on 401 for 6 after two balls, Derbyshire reduced the visitors to 49 for 4 before John Sadler (52*) and Jeremy Snape (30*) finally offered some fight. By the time bad light brought a premature close, they had taken their fifth-wicket stand to 88 and the score to 137 for 4.

The weather also had a say at The Oval where overnight rain delayed the start, and when they did get going Worcestershire's batsmen frustrated Surrey. Phil Jaques (61) and Stephen Moore (75) put on 109 for the first wicket and all Worcestershire's top order got starts, with the spin of Ian Salisbury and Nayan Doshi accounting for the six wickets that did fall. Worcestershire, needing 352 to avoid the follow-on, closed on 314 for 6, and with heavy rain forecast for Saturday, a draw seems to be on the cards.