Hussey first to a thousand runs

Mike Hussey, the Australian captain of Northamptonshire, has won the race to become the first batsman to score a thousand first-class runs this season. He began the day on 930 runs, eight behind Mark Ramprakash of Surrey and nine in front of Graeme Hick of Worcestershire - Northamptonshire's opponents in the current round of matches.

Ramprakash was denied the opportunity to reach the magic thousand mark first when Kent won the toss against Surrey at Canterbury and elected to bat first. It was Hussey who called correctly when Hick tossed the coin in Worcester and wasted no time in scoring the 70 runs he needed. He did not stop there, either, going on to his fourth century of the season.

Gone are the days when the race was on to score a thousand runs by the end of May. The shape of the season now means that it is virtually impossible for that to be contemplated. Hussey himself only had the possibility of batting 11 times in first-class cricket before June 1st.