Specsavers Championship, Tuesday, September 4, 2017
News from the grounds, supporter views and our unrivalled live county scores service
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Davies leaving for family reasons it appears. Wonder if he'll re-sign for Kent.
— Dan Kingdom (@DanKingdom96) September 5, 2017 -
No you're not. pic.twitter.com/ZdvuTbDmob
— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) September 5, 2017 -
UPDATE: Match start delayed (Start delayed due to rain), Derbyshire v Glamorgan at Derby -
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I wouldn't sign Ryan Davies expecting him to be a better batsman than Tim Ambrose. Talented kid but a lot of attitude problems, smoking and gambling among them.
As for Waller he's played every T20 for Somerset and is a bit rubbish in the longer formats. Could easily see him staying at Somerset, but I'd be very surprised if there's a single county prepared to offer him red ball cricket -
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Morne Morkel was apparently considering the Kolpak route with Warks named - www.espncricinfo.com
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- Team news
Can Ravi Ashwin halt Nottinghamshire's race the the treble? Division Two
Nottinghamshire v Worcestershire
Can Ravi Ashwin stop Nottinghamshire's match towards the treble of NatWest Blast, Royal London Cup and Second Division Championship? And would Peter Moores, Notts' director of cricket, agree that constitutes a treble? As Moores retorted after their victory in the Blast final at Edgbaston on Saturday: "Bloody right I would."
Ashwin played a key role in Worcestershire’s victory over Gloucestershire on his Championship debut last week to consolidate their position in the top two but taming Notts on a pitch unlikely to be receptive to spin will be a tougher task.
Nottinghamshire’s last home game of the season means a last appearance at Trent Bridge for their captain and wicketkeeper Chris Read. A seventh straight home win against Worcs might well clinch promotion back to Division One.
Durham v Kent
Durham have now climbed two places off the bottom of the table after starting the season with a 48-point penalty and their recent resurgence will concern Kent who need victory to maintain their promotion challenge.
Mark Wood should return for Durham, who claimed their third win of the season at home to Derbyshire in the last round, and Graham Onions, who passed 600 first-class wickets for his career in the Derbyshire game, is seven away from Simon Brown's existing Durham record held by Simon Brown.
Kent lost ground in the promotion battle with a draw at home to Leicestershire in their last match, but remain fourth with a match in hand on second-placed Worcestershire.
Northamptonshire v Sussex
Ben Duckett is set to return for Northants after missing last week’s defeat at Notts with a finger injury, and he struck 282 not out in the corresponding fixture last season. But Northants have lost Adam Rossington with a broken thumb and Ben Sanderson with a pulled hamstring, possibly for the rest of the season.
Luke Procter has joined on loan from Lancashire and could line up alongside his long-time Red Rose team-mate Simon Kerrigan.
Sussex claimed a fifth win in six matches against Glamorgan at Colwyn Bay last week, a bat-chewing affair which required some last-wicket heroics by Ollie Robinson, and are 19 points behind second-placed Worcestershire with a game in hand.
Leicestershire v Gloucestershire
The departure of head coach Pierre de Bruyn after player tensions came to a head at Canterbury last week leaves the former Derbyshire coaching duo, Graeme Welch and John Sadler, in charge for the rest of the season.
Leicestershire are bottom, the only team in either division without a win, but are already planning ahead with the signing of Ateeq Javid from Warwickshire. Michael Carberry makes his second loan appearance after representing Hampshire in NatWest Blast Finals Day.
Derbyshire v Glamorgan
Derbyshire’s only Championship win this season came at Glamorgan, where Afghanistan-born leg-spinner Hamidullah Qadri took five wickets on debut.
Glamorgan have suffered double disappointment in the last week, with a semi-final defeat on T20 Finals Day preceded by a one-wicket defeat against Sussex in the Championship at Colwyn Bay when they fielded seven Welsh-born players.
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Gareth Batty: Using his other thumb Division One
Lancashire v Essex
Second-placed Lancashire closed the gap slightly in the last round with their home win against Warwickshire, but Essex ensured it remains a commanding 36 points by skittling Somerset to extend their winning run to five matches.
They were not expected to have Mohammad Amir available, but he has been included in a 14-man squad.
Essex have a poor recent record against Lancashire, with seven defeats in 15 Championship matches since their last win against them, in 1997. They have the two leading wicket-takers in Division One in Simon Harmer (53) and Jamie Porter (52).
Hampshire v Surrey
Such is the tightness of Division One that even third-placed Hampshire, 37 points clear of Somerset, in eighth, are not entirely safe from relegation.
Hampshire aiming to bounce back from another Finals Day disappointment in the NatWest T20 Blast, but they will be without legspinner Mason Crane who is in England’s squad preparing for the Lord’s Test.
Surrey will again field a strikingly young side – they named four teenagers for last week’s draw against Middlesex at the Kia Oval – and hope to be bolstered by Tom Curran's return from a back injury.
Meanwhile, captain Gareth Batty is a contender for Quote of the Season after vowing to play despite a broken thumb. “I can manage it,” he says. “I’ve got another one.”
Yorkshire v Middlesex
Gary Ballance returns to lead Yorkshire for the first time since they were beaten by Middlesex at Lord’s in June. Ballance has 815 runs from his eight Championship appearances this season at an average of more than 100, although England appear to be determinedly looking away.
Australian batsman Shaun Marsh will make his Championship debut for Yorkshire, opening with Adam Lyth, as long as Lyth is not called away on paternity duty.
Middlesex have won the last four Championship matches against Yorkshire – three of them at Lord’s, including last September’s title decider, and one at Scarborough. But they have lost Toby Roland-Jones, the hero of Lord’s last September, to England and Nick Gubbins is still out with a hamstring injury.
Warwickshire v Somerset
If either of these bottom two sides are to escape relegation they need to start winning now which makes this match a massive relegation affair. Warwickshire, 12 point sadrift at the bottom, are in most jeopardy.
Warwickshire's shake-up of their squad has continued with the announcement that Will Porterfield and Ateeq Javid will be released at the end of the season, Porterfield to return to Ireland, Javid to join Leicestershire.
Peter Trego, who has played only five Championship matches this season, with one half-century, is in Somerset's squad.
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