A round-up from the latest County Championship matches as the rain that hit the Test are Lord’s also disrupts a number of games

Cricinfo staff16-May-2008First Division
Steffan Jones helped put Somerset in control at Taunton as Sussex followed on © Getty Images
Nottinghamshire wrapped up a seven-wicket win against Lancashire at Trent Bridge as Adam Voges and Mark Wagh steadied them following an early wobble against Sajid Mahmood in his first over of the day. Mahmood trapped Paul Franks lbw with a marginal decision then demolished Matthew Wood’s stumps to give Lancashire a sniff at 36 for 3. But Voges shut the door on them with 14 boundaries in his 60-ball innings alongside the composed Wagh. The 18-point victory consolidates Nottinghamshire’s position at the top of the table, an unlikely situation given the pre-season talk of them being likely relegation candidates. Stuart Law, the Lancashire captain, wasn’t impressed with the pitch which saw 20 wickets fall on the opening day. “I wouldn’t mind playing on a wicket that doesn’t go up and down and round corners on day one,” he told “It sort of makes batting quite difficult, we probably didn’t bat well enough but things lead to our demise.”Hampshire have given themselves a chance of victory against Surrey at The Rose Bowl despite being a bowler down due to Chris Tremlett suffered from back spasms. He was unable to bat as Hampshire added a 23 more runs to trail by 51 on first innings, but the remaining bowlers made swift inroads to leave Surrey 202 ahead with three wickets in hand. Dimitri Mascarenhas took two, including Mark Ramprakash for 9, before Sean Ervine claimed three middle-order scalps. Mark Butcher played round a straight ball while Usman Afzaal was well caught by Tim Burrows, the second-team keeper standing in for the injured Nic Pothas. However, from 74 for 7 Surrey were given a lifeline as Jimmy Ormond and Matt Nicholson added 76 to frustrate Hampshire’s ambitions of an early run chase.Sussex, the reigning champions, were forced to follow on at Taunton, and an early loss in their second innings left them facing a major task to avoid defeat against Somerset. Michael Yardy made 57 and Chris Adams scored 52 as Sussex struggled to 203 – they trailed by 354 on the first innings – but neither of their half-centuries was overly convincing. Adams was dropped three times and Yardy once on a rain-affected third day. They had lost Chris Nash fourth ball late on the second day but recovered to reach 100 for 1, before slumping to lose their next four for 18 runs. Ben Phillips (3 for 34) did for the top order, including Adams who was finally snared at square leg, and Peter Trego grabbed the last three wickets to finish with 3 for 49. Remarkably Sussex’s second effort started in even worse fashion than their first, with Nash bagging a pair after he was lbw to Charl Willoughby from the first delivery. Yardy finished unbeaten on 14 and Carl Hopkinson had 16 as Sussex reached 36 for 1, but there is plenty of work ahead of them on the final day.Click here for John Ward’s report of Durham’s victory over Yorkshire inside three days at Chester-le-Street.Second DivisionBottom-of-the-table Gloucestershire took control on the third day at New Road, where their under-strength attack troubled Worcestershire, who struggled to 189 for 9, still trailing by 255. Things started badly for the hosts when Daryl Mitchell retired hurt at the end of the fourth over after copping a bad bruise to the left elbow thanks to a rising ball from Will Rudge. That sparked a mini-collapse as Worcestershire wobbled to 52 for 3, despite facing a Gloucestershire line-up without Jon Lewis and Steve Kirby. Graeme Hick, who was returning from an elbow operation, did his bit to keep the score ticking over on the two-paced pitch with 60 from 62 balls. He dispatched a long-hop from the erratic Rudge over the boundary and managed another six off Anthony Ireland before falling to the medium pace of Alex Gidman, who had him caught at short midwicket. Steven Davies (32) resisted for a while but the lower order struggled and Rudge improved his ugly analysis with a pair of late wickets to finish with 3 for 67 from 12 overs. At 184 for 9 the follow-on was looming when Mitchell returned, but bad light ensured he would have a night’s rest before his sore elbow was truly tested.Charl Langeveldt sparked a Derbyshire fightback against Glamorgan with a spell of 5 for 22 in 6.5 overs on a day when only 30 overs were possible at Sophia Gardens. Langeveldt’s burst with the second new ball reduced Glamorgan from 345 for 4 to 384 all out. Langeveldt began by beating Mark Wallace’s defences and quickly worked his way through the tail. David Hemp had only added one to his overnight 103 before falling to Nayan Doshi, but rain arrived early in the afternoon session and didn’t relent.4th dayOnly 30 minutes play was possible on the final day at Grace Road, but it gave Leicestershire the chance to save themselves from a three-point over-rate penalty and for Northamptonshire to earn a third batting point. Claude Henderson and Jacques du Toit raced through 14.2 overs in the half hour of play as David Sales and Rob White took their stand to 145.