Durant National Counties Championship - Week 1 Review: Day 2

Cambridgeshire became the first winners in this season’s Durant Cricket National Counties Championship with a crushing innings and 38 runs victory over Northumberland in their Eastern Division Two opener at Tynemouth. 

The match was done and dusted with more than four sessions to spare with slow left-armer Zain Latif spinning Northumberland to defeat with career-best figures of seven for 64. Latif, who plays his club cricket for Wollaton in Nottingham, took five wickets on his Cambridgeshire debut against Cumbria last summer. 

Northumberland’s second innings was an improvement on their first – they were shot out for 93 on the opening day – but it still comprised a series of promising cameos when they required something more substantial to take the match into a third day. 

Jack Jessop (33), Ben Robinson (24), Stuart Poynter (38), Luke Doneathy (23) and Max Williamson (33) all got starts but failed to capitalise. 

Seamer George Gowler, who is on Northamptonshire’s staff, gave Latif excellent support by taking two for 29 in his first bowl for Cambridgeshire. 

Bedfordshire’s push for a two-day win over Cumbria in the other Eastern Division Two match was frustrated by rain at Furness. 

Callum Guest completed his third Championship century – a career-best 114 not out – before Cambridgeshire declared their first innings on 230, a lead of 123. 

Former Kent, Essex and Hampshire seamer Matt Coles then took three wickets, including Ben Walkden and JJ Fielding in four balls, to reduce Cumbria to 66 for four before ended play for the day. 

Coles now has match figures of nine for 58 with power to add on the final day. 

Defending champions Berkshire fought back hard against Devon at the Falkland club in Newbury with slow left-arm bowlers Rhodri Lewis and Luke Beaven and pace bowler Toby Greatwood all making vital contributions with the bat. 

Berkshire looked like conceding a hefty first innings lead to Devon when the Lincoln brothers, Dan and Josh, were dismissed in quick succession and they were 159 for eight. 

But Lewis, who has been trialling with Glamorgan, and Greatwood both made maiden half-centuries - having previously amassed 65 Championship runs between them – and Beaven chipped in with 38 not out, one short of his career-best. 

Greatwood, a Middlesex staff man, and Beaven added 77 in Berkshire’s highest last wicket partnership against Devon which meant that they trailed by three runs at the halfway stage of the match. 

Devon extended that lead to 48 for the loss of Adam Small before the rain arrived and brought an early close. 

Play was only possible before lunch at Eastnor where Herefordshire soon wrapped up Oxfordshire’s first innings for 271 then reached 84 for one when rain arrived during the interval and prevented further play. 

Jujhar Johal was bowled by Tommy Rex for six but his opening partner, Conor Smith, was unbeaten on 49. 

Norfolk pair Brett Stolworthy and Callum Metcalf followed up their first day heroics with the bat to share six Buckinghamshire wickets between them which gave their side a first innings lead of 48 in Eastern Division One at Tring. 

Half-centuries from Alexei Kervezee and Alex Woodland, who shared a third wicket partnership of 126, helped Buckinghamshire to recover from a shaky start to their innings. 

But they wobbled again when they lost four wickets for 12 runs and required a seventh wicket stand of 72 between Ed Bragg (42) and debutant Jake Tarling (35) to lift them to 251. 

Two wickets from Cameron Parsons and another from Woodland had Norfolk 60 for three before former Leicestershire wicketkeeper Tom New (15 not out) and Hudson de Lucchi (32 not out) saw them to 105 for three when bad light ended play. 

Staffordshire were indebted to captain James Kettleborough for preventing their second innings from disintegrating against Suffolk at Bury St Edmunds. 

Kettleborough followed up his first innings century with a run-a-ball 92 out of 149 while he was at the crease as Staffordshire struggled against spinners Freddie Heldreich, Jack Beaumont and Josh Cantrell. 

Slow left-armer Beaumont snared Callum Hawkins and Nils Priestley in three balls with Sam Atkinson (21 not out) being the only other batter to reach 20 as Staffordshire closed on 167 for eight. 

Staffordshire did have the insurance of a first innings lead of 106 after former Lancashire seamer Liam Hurt took three for 69 on his Championship debut and slow left-armer Anis Raza a competition-best three for 48 on his first county appearance in five years to dismiss Suffolk for 281. 

Josh Cantrell top-scored with 67 with Heldreich adding a breezy 36 to go with his seven wickets in the match so far. 

The two Western Division Two matches were badly affected by rain with no play at all in the Wales NC v Shropshire match at Brymbo. 

Only 30 overs were bowled between a late start and early finish at Truro where Cornwall added 104 runs to extend their lead over Dorset to 144. Dorset seamer David Scott took three of the four wickets to fall. 

Durant Cricket National Counties Championship  

Second day of three 

Eastern Division One  

Tring: Norfolk 299-9 (Callum Metcalf 100, Brett Stolworthy 66 not out, Sam Arthurton 52, Conner Haddow 5-105) & 105-3, Buckinghamshire 251 (Alexei Kervezee 76, Alex Woodland 55). 

Bury St Edmunds: Staffordshire 387-8 dec (James Kettleborough 141, Zen Malik 81, Matthew Morris 54, Freddie Heldreich 5-117) & 167-8 (James Kettleborough 92), Suffolk 281 (Josh Cantrell 67). 

Western Division One  

Falkland CC: Devon 272 (Fin Hill 90) & 45-1, Berkshire 269 (Rhodri Lewis 53, Toby Greatwood 52). 

Eastnor: Oxfordshire 271 (Tom Hinley 52, Jamie Harrison 54), Herefordshire 84-1. 

Eastern Division Two  

Furness: Cumbria 107 (Matt Coles 6-28) & 66-4, Bedfordshire 230. 

Tynemouth: Northumberland 93 (Ashleigh Cox 6-26) & 199 (Zain Latif 7-64), Cambridgeshire 330-8 dec (Callum Guest 114 not out). Cambridgeshire (24pts) beat Northumberland (3pts) by an innings and 38 runs. 

Western Division Two  

Truro: Dorset 176 (Luke Webb 82, Ed Ellis 56), Cornwall 320-8 (Alex Blake 102, Karl Leathley 71). 

Brymbo: Shropshire 43-2 v Wales NC. No play Monday – rain.