And two balls later, Bartlett is trudging back for a duck in sunshine so bright the shadow of the floodlights marks the grass like a stamp. Four for Parky, well snaffled by that Ollie Robinson. Northants 27 for six.
Make that 27 for five, as Potts takes a super grab at short cover off Callum Parkinson to send Harrison on his way.
Northants seem to have suffered a slight hiccup while Sussex were polishing Essex off – 26 for four. Parky, opening the bowling as he did in the first innings, has two; Potts the other two.
A smiling Matt Critchley tips his head back and shakes hands with John Simpson after trying to steer James Coles through the slips but is snaffled by Tom Haines. A sixth win for Sussex who can relax a little. Essex, though, slip into teeth-grinding time.
Seven wickets and an important second-innings 79 for James Coles.
Chelmsford : S ussex 275 and 230 BEAT Essex 177 and 281 by 47 runs.
Switch streams to find James Coles peering over the seating for the ball as Critchley heaves Crocombe for six. Critchley moves to 96, Eseex need 49.
All hail the tail. Scriven (25), Davey (21) and of course the promoted Josh Hull (97).
Leicestershire need one to avoid the follow-on.
Henry Crocombe spoils the fun and has Snater snappily caught at slip by Leaning, above his head, for 35. Essex, one wicket left, need 58.
A Scriven punch through the covers beats a sprinting HH to the boundary. Three needed.
Back to Trent Bridge, where Leicestershire need seven to avoid the follow-on.
And Critchley steps and slaps a nother six off Carson – Essex need 60.
Critchley shovels another six at Chelmsford. At Trent Bridge, Olly Stone takes off his jumper again – Leicestershire need 12.
At Chelmsford, Critchley and Snater are keeping things perky. Snater has whacked three fours and a six in his 23 since arriving. The equation is still hugely in Sussex’s favour though – 79 needed, two wickets left.
A glance at the other promotion-chasing game. Kent have winkled out t heir first Worcestershire batsman of the day, Hasan Mahmud honing in on Adam Hose’s pads, gone for 38. Worcs, 121-4, need another 259.
Unfortunately for Leicestershire, here comes Olly Stone, and he nearly grabs a wicket immediately but a diving Jack Haynes can’t quite hold on at full stretch at slip. Leics 279-9.
Meanwhile, things are hotting up at Wantage Road. Chahal (5-84) is too much for the tail and Durham are all out for 261.
I wonder if Scriven and DAvey will have to deal with Olly Stone soon if they get any closer. 31 to avoid the follow-on.
And there goes Cox, pad and bat propped forward but the ball screams into the back leg, lbw Giles. Leics 259-9.
It looks gorgeous at Trent Bridge. A diagonal shadow is coming off Cox at the non-striker’s end as he watches Holland bat a ball from Pennington (4-44) into the ground. Ah, make that 5-44, as Holland edges to slip next ball. Leicestershire 259-8 – 43 to avoid the follow-on.
Chahal with the wicket of the morning, a Fabarge egg screaming from outside leg to take off stump. Watch and wonder here . Durham 248-8.
Ominous skies outside my window, but play has started on time everywhere.
The Met Office is optimistic: “A bright and breezy start. Chilly in places too. A few showers around during the day, mainly in the north, otherwise plenty of fine weather with some sunny spells. Feeling pleasantly warm in the sunshine, and as winds ease.”
All eyes to Trent Bridge, where Leicestershire need 52 to avoid the follow-on, but lost anchor-man Josh Hull for 97.
“I’ve never been in that situation before, playing an innings like that. I haven’t really had the opportunity, so it was all pretty new to me. At the start, the message was just about taking it spell by spell, just bat time, trying to get the ball a bit softer, get the bowlers tired.
“I never felt it got easier, to be honest. There were times when I was seeing the ball a bit better, getting used to the bowlers and I was, like, okay, this is quite fun. And when the second new ball came along, it was dark, under lights, and the ball was nipping and zooming around a lot and it was tough.
“Obviously, I’m a bit gutted not to get to the hundred, but it was something I never really thought about the whole way through. I never really thought I had it in me to play that kind of innings. When I got to 50, and I was like, oh, this is quite cool, I’m happy with that.
“The same coming back out at 60, and then it happened pretty quick, I was suddenly on 90. When I was about 95, I started to think it could happen. But I was trying to very much just think about the game still and what got me to that position. That was my process, just trying to just face as many balls as I could.”
Round-up: Somerset's Championship dream alive as Surrey sneak thriller
Somerset ’s dreams of a first Championship pennant continue to bubble and squeak, for now sitting pretty at the top of the table with just three rounds to go. The innings victory over Glamorgan , while Nottinghamshire were hamstrung by the weather and a stoical Leicestershire , put the spring in a west country step.
There were three wickets each for the on-song Jack Leach, Craig Overton and Lewis Gregory, the main resistance coming from Asa Tribe and Sean Dickson, who both made forties, but it was all over before tea.
But Warwickshire were close on their tails after mopping up at Southampton. A match that had started grubbily for Hampshire with the signing and unsigning of Scott Kuggeleijn finished with them dismissed for 115 and 154 to lose by an innings, flailing below the pack at the bottom of Division One. Chris Woakes whipped out both openers cheaply in Hampshire’s second innings and Manav Suthar pocketed four.
There was a high-wire finish at the Oval as Surrey snookered Yorkshire by one wicket and with it the spoils of 19 points to leapfrog them and out of the relegation zone. Surrey’s pursuit of 185 was stop-start-stop and when Ollie Pope went for a 12 that contained only two scoring shots and Ben Foakes was done by a Ben Coad chestnut before lunch, Surrey looked shot. But while Josh Blake’s stoical 43 off 183 balls blocked one end, the tail played shots at the other. With Surrey eight wickets down, and eight runs needed, Auqib Nabi trumpeted Coad out of the ground but was out next ball. Ten scoreless deliveries followed until Dan Worrall finally hoiked a boundary to win.
The wretched season at Old Trafford rolled on, as Tom Helm (four for 36) and co bowled Middlesex to victory. After a promising start in pursuit of 297, Lancashire crumpled, losing seven for 39. George Balderson had earlier grabbed five for 54 as Middlesex spiralled in a similar manner, buoyed up by a sing-song 37 from Toby Roland-Jones.
Nottinghamshire’s campaign was held up by the unlikely figure of the Leicestershire fast bowler Josh Hull, who came in as nightwatcher at Trent Bridge on Thursday night, and had only reached double figures three times in 34 innings. He was finally out after more than five hours at the crease for 97.
Chelmsford : Essex 177 and 197-7 v Sussex 275 and 230 Essex need 132 to win
Southampton : Warwickshire 398 BEAT Hampshire 115 and 154 by an innings and 129 runs
Trent Bridge : Notts 451-8dec v Leicestershire 250-7
Taunton : Somerset 441 BEAT Glamorgan 194 and 183 by an innings and 64 runs
The Oval : Surrey 83 and 187-9 BEAT Yorkshire 185 and 82 by one wicket
Bristol : Gloucestershire 237 and 149-3 v Derbyshire 278
Canterbury : Kent 238 and 358 v Worcestershire 217 and 84-3 Worcs need 296 to win
Merchant Taylors’ Schoo l: Middlesex 247 and 200 BEAT Lancashire 151 and 136 by 160 runs
Wantage Road : Northamptonshire 263 v Durham 205 and 246-7
Good morning! Après le déluge, we still have five cracking games on our hands, the most intriguing at Trent Bridge. Can Leicestershire hold on against Stone, Pennington et al? We’ll be here all day, do join us.
Make that 27 for five, as Potts takes a super grab at short cover off Callum Parkinson to send Harrison on his way.
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · Tanya Aldred. Published 5 Sept 2026, 11:04 am.
