Cricket News

Ned Eckersley's unbeaten 99 enabled Leicestershire to keep alive their hopes of avoiding a heavy defeat by Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl.

Everywhere you look at Edgbaston, there seems to be a picture of Chris Wright and Keith Barker, grinning broadly, one hand each on the LV= Championship trophy, but Varun Chopra had an equal part to play.

Phil Jaques' half-century and a feisty eight-wicket partnership held up Sussex in their pursuit of victory but most of the Yorkshire top order failed

Luke Procter's runs and wickets for Lancashire in their opening championship match of the season has vindicated the faith of his director of cricket, Peter Moores

A recurring theme has developed at Essex with several young, talented players only flourishing after they've moved on from Chelmsford

Craig Kieswetter has had a fine match, taking everything that came his way behind the stumps and playing an instrumental role with the bat to put Somerset in a position from which they are well placed to win

James Tomlinson's four wickets helped Hampshire skittle Leicestershire and make them follow-on at the Ageas Bowl

Neither Alan Richardson nor Glen Chapple were ever capped at Test level. But, even aged 37 and 39 respectively, England's loss remains county cricket's gain.

It is probably only natural that a club based in the middle of one of the most ethnically diverse cities in Europe will reflect the community it serves. But, even by the standards of London, this Middlesex side is a cosmopolitan bunch.

At the end of the second day, Yorkshire were 233 runs in arrears with nine wickets standing and facing a battle to save the match

Gloucestershire put themselves on the path to redemption after two wickets late on the second day gave them control at Chelmsford after they had declared their first innings on 409

Durham stumbled to 92 for 8 - a lead of 210 - in their second innings after Chris Rushworth's best figures had helped blow Somerset away

Northamptonshire's hopes of taking full control of their Championship match against Glamorgan were held up by rain and the swing bowling of Jim Allenby on the second day

Ben Stokes' restrained 49 for Durham exhibited a willingness to buckle down after a winter in which he was sent home early from the England Lions tour for disciplinary reasons

Warwickshire, the defending champions, relied upon a "mad 20 minutes" to subdue newly-promoted Derbyshire on the opening day of the season

There are different ways to react to setbacks. Some players, like Adil Rashid, resort to bemoaning their lot in public. And some, like Toby Roland-Jones, let their performances do the talking

Bowled out for 96 in 46.2 overs, Yorkshire then watched as Chris Nash stroked a pleasing 80 off 87 balls

Australian newcomer George Bailey marked his debut by making 93 as Hampshire recovered to 286 for 4 after losing both opening batsmen without a run on the board.

Saj Mahmood was left of Essex's first match of the season but Gloucestershire's unbroken, fourth-wicket partnership of 229 carried the day

Steven Crook claimed four wickets and captain Stephen Peters cracked a half-century to put Northamptonshire in a strong position at the end of the first day in Cardiff.