Jamie Smith bounced back from a disastrous winter Ashes tour of Australia with a hundred to help rescue a draw for Surrey in their opening match of the County Championship season against Warwickshire.
Smith, who averaged 23.44 over the five Tests in Australia, served the England selectors a reminder of his talents as he hit 132 batting at No 3 in Surrey’s second-innings score of 447-4 at Edgbaston.
Surrey still trailed by 47 runs, three down, at the start of day four after Warwickshire’s massive first-innings total of 544 but Smith’s century, along with a sublime 161 from Dan Lawrence – the pair putting on 217 of the fourth wicket – ensured the match would end in a stalemate.
Elsewhere in Division One, Somerset and Nottinghamshire played out a draw at Taunton, as did Glamorgan and Yorkshire in Cardiff, while Sussex wrapped up an opening win on the road at Leicestershire.
James Rew, who many consider a rival for Smith’s spot as wicketkeeper in the England Test team, too scored a second-innings hundred for Somerset but added only 14 to his overnight 108 not out, while Tom Kohler-Cadmore (104) followed him through to his century as the hosts ultimately declared on 407-5.
James Rew hit a century for Somerset but added only 14 to his overnight score on day four against Nottinghamshire
Set 417 to win, Nottinghamshire comfortably held out for a draw as they reached 140-3 through 45 overs, opener Ben Slater top-scoring with 60.
It was a bit more of a nervous finish for Yorkshire as they held out on the final evening of their match with Glamorgan, the visitors finishing on 239-7 from 67.4 overs after being set 295 to win.
Glamorgan had earlier declared on 218-5 – Colin Ingram following up his first-innings ton to top-score with 75 – before hunting for wickets.
Leg-spinner Mason Crane (3-99), who took a first-innings five-for, claimed another three to reduce Yorkshire to 139-3, but Adam Lyth proved a thorn in their side as the veteran opener cracked a crucial 97.
His wicket, three short of his century, gave Glamorgan renewed hope at 174-5 and while they added a couple more scalps before the close they ultimately run out of overs.
Sussex joined Essex – who beat Hampshire by an innings on day three – as the only top-tier teams to register a win on the opening week of the season as they clinched a 222-run victory over Leicestershire.
The hosts, resuming on 125-5 – still 356 short of their target – were eventually bowled out for 258 after some early resistance from Stephen Eskinazi (54) and Ben Cox (60) in a century stand for the sixth wicket.
Seamer Henry Crocombe took 4-36 to finish with sensational match figures of 9-69, as financially-challenged Sussex immediately wiped out their 12-point deduction from the ECB with the victory, which puts them now 10 points to the good.
Anderson’s Lancashire denied by one wicket
In Division Two, there was a solitary positive result at Lord’s as Middlesex triumphed by an innings and 14 runs over Gloucestershire.
They took Gloucestershire’s last seven wickets for 83 runs on day four – Ryan Higgins with 3-18, as the visitors were bundled out for 215 after following on.
Elsewhere, England’s record wicket-taker, 43-year-old James Anderson, missed out on victory in his first match as Lancashire’s first-class captain by a single wicket.
James Anderson took three wickets in the second innings and eight in the match but couldn’t quite see Lancashire to victory
Northamptonshire looked certain to succumb as they lost their seventh wicket with just under 50 overs remaining in the day but their tail hung on valiantly for the draw.
Anderson (3-45) removed Lewis McManus (27) and Louis Kimber (1) to put his side within one ball of victory but nobody could get the best of a battling George Bartlett. He ended up 95 not out for his four-and-a-half-hour rearguard that saved his side.
Durham too ran out of time to force home their advantage over Kent after losing the third day’s play at Chester-le-Street to the impact of Storm Dave.
Zak Crawley was dismissed lbw by Matthew Potts for a second time in Kent’s draw with Durham
Declaring on 218-9, with a lead of 356, they removed under-fire England opener Zak Crawley for 20 – out lbw for the second time to international team-mate Matthew Potts – but finished five wickets short of finishing the job.
Tawanda Muyeye hit an unbeaten 109 as Kent reached stumps on 254-5 from their 57 overs.
Worcestershire also held on for a draw at Derbyshire, closing on 314-7 after being forced to follow on, with England off-spinner Shoaib Bashir claiming 1-55 from his 27 overs. But he and his team-mates couldn’t quite get their side over the line.
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