A change in approach paid off for Caleb Jewell as he led the way for Derbyshire
Caleb Jewell has benefited from a move down the order to produce his best batting of the county championship summer for Derbyshire, closing in on his first century of the season.
On a Friday where Hampshire batter Jake Lehmann was also in the runs with a fifth consecutive championship half-century, Jewell’s return to form against Northamptonshire at Derby after a rare lean spell took pride of place among the Australian batters in action.
On the opening day of the latest round of games, Derbyshire took the decision to move the left-hander from his normal opening spot after he’d managed only 58 runs in his last six innings.
Coming in at No.4 after the fine foundation laid by Harry Came (73) and Matthew Montgomery (54), Jewell, after an uncertain start, rattled off eight boundaries in his unbeaten 91 with Derbyshire powering on to 3-342.
Harry Conway (1-77) took one of the three wickets to fall.
Lehmann’s prolific season for Hampshire in the first division continued as he battled to 89 over more than three hours to top-score in their 235 all out after being put in by Essex at Chemsford.
His century partnership with captain Ben Brown (73) propped up the innings, with his only frustration, after adding his 89 to previous knocks of 76, 92, 76 and 50, being that he’s yet to progress to three figures.
“Probably a little bit disappointed not to make that a real big partnership with Ben,” Lehmann said, after they’d put on 105. Essex finished on 2-51 in reply.
Dan Worrall made a familiar expert return to action for Surrey after missing the start of the season with a calf injury, taking 5-61 off his 20 overs against champions Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.
But Joe Clarke’s unbeaten 129, belatedly aided and abetted by Jack Haynes’ 82 and Australian allrounder Fergus O’Neill’s very handy 31no, helped power Notts to 7-317 in the eagerly awaited division one fixture.
Lancashire were bowled out for 201 by Middlesex at Old Trafford, with Marcus Harris (5) suffering a rare failure, but they were grateful for their returning Aussie allrounder Chris Green, who’d been starring in the Pakistan Super League, cobbling together a valuable 35.
Two quick wickets for the 43-year-old James Anderson then helped reduce Middlesex to 2-38.
England captains Ben Stokes and Harry Brook made their first appearances of the county season, tuning up for the New Zealand Tests.
Stokes, handed new-ball duties, looked sharp with his 2-40 for Durham at Worcester, while Yorkshire’s Brook filled in for the resting Joe Root, reaching 29no of their 4-110 by stumps at Edgbaston after Warwickshire had been knocked over for 147, with Beau Webster bowled for four.
