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Century stand between Ollie Price and Ben Charlesworth proves decisive before Jack Taylor secures win with unbeaten 50

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay17-Aug-2025Gloucestershire 240 for 4 (Price 66, Taylor 50*, Charlesworth 50) beat Worcestershire 237 for 8 (Kashif 36, Cullen 35, Ahmed 2-21) by six wicketsGloucestershire maintained their 100 percent record in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup with a powerful six-wicket derby victory over Worcestershire at Visit Worcestershire New Road.Jack Taylor’s side ended their opponents’ unbeaten record after restricting them to 237 for 8 with an excellent display with the ball. Josh Shaw set the tone with an opening spell of 6-3-6-0 on his way to 10-3-27-1 as six Rapids batters reached 25 but none made it to 40.As the pitch eased for batting, Gloucestershire advanced comfortably to 240 for 4 with 43 balls to spare. The only century stand of the match, from Oliver Price (66) and Ben Charlesworth (50), proved decisive before skipper Taylor saw his side to victory with an unbeaten 50 off 36 balls, posting his half-century with the winning runs.Gloucestershire chose to bowl and did so impressively with the new ball, led by Shaw’s superb opening spell. On a pitch assisting the seamers, Worcestershire weathered the new ball unscathed but then lost three wickets for 18 runs in 22 balls as they sought to accelerate.Daaryoush Ahmed, on only his second List A appearance, had Isaac Mohammed caught at deep midwicket and trapped the in-form Jake Libby lbw. Brett D’Oliveira struck the first six of the match but edged Craig Miles to wicketkeeper James Bracey in the next over.Kashif Ali (36) and Ethan Brookes (31) added 62 in 13 overs before falling in successive overs. Kashif edged Graeme van Buuren to Bracey and Brookes hoisted Shaw to deep midwicket where Tommy Boorman took a brilliant catch.The pattern of batters getting in then getting out continued. Henry Cullen (35) edged Miles behind, Matthew Waite (28) drilled a low return catch to van Buuren and Tom Taylor (25) was caught right on the deep midwicket boundary off Matt Taylor. It was sharp, strong work in the field from Gloucestershire, though Fateh Singh finished the innings with a flourish when he struck the last two balls, from Miles, for six.Gloucestershire lost Bracey, who edged Khurram Shahzad behind, in the sixth over, and Cameron Bancroft was run out by Libby when he was slow to respond to Price’s call for a single, but Price and Charlesworth produced the day’s most fluent batting. They added 105 in 16 overs before departing in the space of six balls. Price nicked a pull at Shahzad to wicketkeeper Cullen and Charlesworth pulled Waite to deep midwicket.With 80 still needed and two new batters in, the Rapids had a glimmer of hope but those new batters were the vastly experienced Jack Taylor and van Buuren. With the home attack unable to call upon Brookes due to a back niggle, the fifth-wicket pair added an unbroken 82 in 60 balls to take their side to a fifth win out of five and the brink of qualification with three games still to go.

Quick bowlers on top on grassy tracks, with Sumon Khan picking up cheapest nine-for by a pacer in Bangladesh’s domestic first-class history

Mohammad Isam14-Oct-2022Defending champions Dhaka Division made a solid start to the 2022-23 National Cricket League (NCL) with an innings-and-62-run win over Rangpur Division. The game ended in a day-and-a-half as Rangpur slumped to 92 and 56 [with Naeem Islam retired hurt in the first innings and absent in the second] in the face of some hostile fast bowling, of the sort not seen at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in close to a decade.Elsewhere, Sylhet Division got the better of Chattogram Division, who earned promotion to Tier 1 last season, by nine wickets. Captain Zakir Hasan and veteran Nabil Samad starred for the winning side.In Tier 2, Dhaka Metropolis snuck past Khulna Division by two wickets in another low-scoring contest, while rain forced a draw between Barishal Division and Rajshahi Division in Rajshahi.The NCL is missing many top players, as the Bangladesh senior team is away, currently in New Zealand for the T20I tri-series and then in Australia for the T20 World Cup, while many others are in the BCB XI squad for their tour of Tamil Nadu.Best batters
No centuries in a full round of NCL matches is a rarity, but BCB’s policy of keeping more grass than usual on some of the pitches and introducing the Dukes ball looks like it made batting difficult.Nadif Chowdhury’s 90 for Dhaka Division against Rangpur Division on a spicy Shere Bangla pitch was the highest individual score. After Rangpur finished on 92 in their first innings, Dhaka were early trouble, at 61 for 5. Nadif struck ten fours and three sixes in his innings, with Dhaka stopping at 210 when he was the last wicket to fall.In a hard-fought game in Chattogram, Sylhet Division captain Zakir made a crucial 87 to ensure they led the home side by 171 runs after the first-innings exchanges. Zakir added 154 runs with Amite Hasan, who made 79, for the third wicket. He struck seven fours and a six in his four-hour stay, but as soon as he got out, Sylhet collapsed from 275 for 4 to be bowled out for 312.Sumon Khan picked up nine wickets in Dhaka’s win over Rangpur•BCB

Best bowlers
Sumon Khan’s match haul of nine wickets played a big part in Dhaka Division’s win over Rangpur Division. His 9 for 41 is the cheapest nine-for by a fast bowler in Bangladesh’s domestic first-class competitions. The only consolation for Rangpur was Musfik Hasan becoming only the third fast bowler to take a five-wicket haul [5 for 48]in first-class debut in Bangladesh.Sylhet Division’s Naeem Ahmed, an offspinner, had a more productive debut as his match figures of 8 for 70 added to Nabil’s nine-wicket haul in their side’s big win over Chattogram Division.Left-arm spinner Hasan Murad took career-best figures of 8 for 119 in the same game for Chattogram.Sharifullah’s seven wickets, including a second-innings five-for, was crucial in Dhaka Metro’s win over Khulna Division. In the rain-affected match in Rajshahi, pacers Nahid Rana and Kamrul Islam took four wickets each.Best match
Dhaka Metro picked up their closest win in the NCL since coming into the competition in the 2011-12 season. Manik Khan’s four-wicket haul helped them bowl out Khulna Division for just 131, but Dhaka Metro only took a 25-run lead. Sharifullah’s 25 was their top score, but when Khulna batted again, his five-for kept them down to 191.Dhaka Metro ran into trouble when they were 139 for 8 in the chase, still 28 runs short. Tailenders Abu Hider and Qazi Onik survived close to an hour to get them home, making 18* and 11* respectively.Points to ponder
Dhaka Division and Sylhet Division have got off to good starts, leaving Rangpur Division and Chattogram Division with a lot to do in Tier 1. Dhaka Metro have also done well to start off with a win in a tight Tier 2 field, which includes former champions Rajshahi Division and Khulna Division.Players to watch
Amite, who was the second-highest scorer in last season’s NCL, made a sound start this time too, with that 79 against Chattogram Division. Dhaka Division’s Sumon taking nine wickets was a good sign, while debutants Musfik and Naeem Ahmed also made impressive forays into the first-class game.

This will be the only international match – men’s or women’s – played in South Africa this summer to not have DRS

Firdose Moonda14-Dec-2024There will be no DRS for the one-off Test between South Africa and England in Bloemfontein, the first women’s Test in South Africa in 22 years. The match will be the only one out of the 21 internationals played by both men and women in South Africa this home summer without DRS.This was the first season where DRS – a technology that costs millions of dollars – was used for women’s bilateral internationals in South Africa. CSA said it has opted to prioritise DRS in white-ball women’s internationals for now.”The inclusion of the DRS for the ongoing inbound tour against England was agreed upon at the planning stage of the tour, noting that it will be the first time it was used for women’s bilateral tours in South Africa in recent history,” Enoch Nkwe, South Africa’s director of national teams and high performance, said in response to a query about the absence of DRS for the Test.”The white-ball formats were prioritised with regards to DRS for this tour as it directly impacted the Proteas Women’s rankings in T20I cricket and the Women’s Championship as well as the overall CSA strategy for the senior women’s national team.”While the development of the red-ball format is important, it is worth noting that resources are currently being directed at the white-ball formats due to the significance of ODI and T20I cricket in the current women’s international cricket landscape.”South Africa had already qualified for the ODI World Cup before the series against England but aimed to finish as high on the Women’s Championship points table. In the ICC rankings, they are currently ranked fourth in ODIs and fifth in T20Is. There was one instance during the ongoing England tour when DRS malfunctioned. In the third over of South Africa’s chase in the first ODI in Kimberley, Tazmin Brits was pinged on the pad by Lauren Bell and was given out lbw. She wanted to review the decision but could not because the technology was down.ESPNcricinfo understands that, in a home summer where India men’s T20I series was the only profit-making visit, the expense of using the technology was deemed too much for this match. This, despite CSA announcing a profit of US$45.6 million from the last financial year and benefiting from two successive years of India visits.The Test match will be produced on a budget with only seven manned cameras (some matches are broadcast with as many as 30) and two run-out cameras on one side of the field (as opposed to the usual four, two on each side). That means that if there is a fielder in the way of a run-out decision on one side, the TV umpire may not be able to make a decision.The two on-field umpires for the match – Kerrin Klaaste and Lauren Agenbag – will be officiating a Test for the first time.DRS has become the norm in international cricket but there are still matches played without it. At this year’s men’s ODI World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe, DRS was only in place from the Super Six stage. There was no DRS at this year’s women’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers in the UAE, or in the recently completed Ireland Women’s tour of Bangladesh.

The preparation for the T20 World Cup in the middle of next year will be more exhaustive, with a tour of South Africa, home games against Zimbabwe, and a tri-series in Ireland also including West Indies

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2025Pakistan will play three ODIs at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore against South Africa from September 16 to 22 in the build-up to the 2025 ODI World Cup before leaving for Sri Lanka, where they will play all their group matches – as well knockout matches, if they qualify for that stage.There is no other cricket scheduled for the team for the rest of 2025 apart from a three-match T20I series in Dublin in early August.The major part of the build-up to the T20 World Cup in England in June-July 2026 will be in South Africa, where they play three ODIs and three T20Is in February-March next year, and the same number of ODIs and T20Is against Zimbabwe at home in April-May. That series was supposed to include five T20Is in addition to the three ODIs according to the future tours programme, but has been trimmed to three.

Women’s international calendar 2025-26

International calendar
Three T20Is vs Ireland, Dublin, Aug 6-10, 2025
Three ODIs vs South Africa, Lahore, Sep 16-22, 2025
Women’s ODI World Cup, India and Sri Lanka, Sep 30-Nov 2, 2025
Three ODIs and three T20Is vs South Africa in South Africa, Feb 7-Mar 2, 2026
Three ODIs and three T20Is vs Zimbabwe in Pakistan, Apr 24-May 11, 2026
T20 tri-series in Ireland, May-June, 2026
Women’s T20 World Cup, England, June 12-July 5, 2026

Domestic calendar
National One-Day Tournament, Karachi, Nov 6-24
National T20 Tournament, Karachi, Mar 24-Apr 17, 2026
Inter-University, Oct 2025

Pathways
Under-19 T20 Tournament, Karachi, Sep 15-Oct 6, 2025
Pakistan U-19 tour to Bangladesh, Dec, 2025

Pakistan will then travel to Ireland for a triangular T20I series also involving West Indies in May-June before travelling to England for the World Cup.The women’s Under-19 team is scheduled to play a national T20 tournament in Karachi from September 15 to October 6. The PCB has said in a statement that the tournament’s top performers would be invited to a three-week skills development camp afterwards too. This, and a conditioning camp, will lay the foundation for the team for their tour of Bangladesh for a five-match T20 series in December this year.On the domestic seniors’ front, the PCB is “actively engaging in discussions with various departments to introduce a departmental tournament for women’s cricket” and “this initiative will provide additional playing opportunities for our women cricketers”, PCB’s head of women’s cricket, Rafia Haider, said.The tournament, if it comes to pass, would slot into the domestic calendar alongside the women’s one-day tournament, which takes place in Karachi from November 6 to 24. The international players are expected to take part in this event, played on a double-league basis and featuring 15 matches.The women’s T20 tournament will be staged in Karachi from March 24 to April 17 next year. An inter-university tournament is scheduled for October 2025 as well, though no schedule or venues have been announced for it yet.

Former India fast bowler weighs in on the Hardik-Rohit situation from the IPL

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-20246:18

T20 WC: How should Dravid handle the Rohit-Hardik situation?

Former India allrounder Irfan Pathan feels that having a celebrity culture at times does not help the Indian cricket team and that he would like to have a “nice balance” instead.”Australia does not have a celebrity culture. Fortunately or unfortunately we have that,” Pathan said in ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Rendezvous show. “Ideally, I would want to have a nice balance between Australian and Indian cultures where we come in between. Sometimes having that kind of culture does not help us. At the same time, we are what we are. We are not Australians, we are Indians. Our emotions are different. Our ethics are different, our mindset is different.”This point came through as Pathan was discussing how the Indian head coach Rahul Dravid should handle the Rohit Sharma-Hardik Pandya situation heading into the T20 World Cup 2024. Hardik replaced Rohit as the Mumbai Indians captain ahead of the IPL this year but had a difficult start being regularly booed by the crowd at various grounds including Mumbai. In his captaincy, the team managed just four wins out of 14 games and finished bottom of the ten-team table.Related

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Hardik’s form also suffered as he could only produce 216 runs in 13 innings, averaging 18.00, along with 11 wickets. Pathan, however, felt that the allrounder is a critical component if India want to go deep into the T20 World Cup and whatever happened in the IPL should not even come into the picture.”I really think, as an allrounder, Hardik Pandya will play a very crucial role, the reason being that how many fast bowlers we have taken – three, only three pure specialist fast bowlers. Then the two other guys, Hardik Pandya who can bowl medium fast bowling and Shivam Dube. So if you can look at the team, apart from the three fast bowlers, you do not have [anyone else],” Pathan said.”And when the time comes, I feel that is a very important factor if you want to win the World Cup. His three or four overs will become so crucial because if he does that regularly, which he has done in the last few games, we can play an extra spinner in West Indies if required because we play day games. Afternoon games will have a bit more purchase for spinners than night games because of dew. It is very simple, it is not rocket science.”This is where he comes into the picture that he needs to feel good, he needs to actually believe that he can make a contribution and this is where the conversation of the IPL should not be even happening, not even once. Forget it, don’t even talk about it.”Pathan also recalled how Greg Chappell’s aggressive style of dealing with personnel backfired and he had to leave the coaching role in acrimonious circumstances back in 2007.”When Greg Chappell came in, his intention was pure, his intention was to take Indian cricket to a high,” Pathan said. “He wanted everyone to be treated equally and he wanted everyone to work in the same way which was for the Indian team, but his way was proper Australian, which did not work in India. His intentions were never a question.”I have huge respect for him. I had told him also on his face, that your intentions are good, but make sure you find a way in the centre to make the best for Indian cricket because you want Indian cricket to grow but this aggression will not work.”

The decision comes after Zimbabwe had failed to qualify for the 2024 T20 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-2024Hamilton Masakadza has resigned as Zimbabwe Cricket’s director of cricket after the team failed to qualify for the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and the Caribbean. Masakadza had been appointed to the post in October 2019 after he retired from international cricket.Masakadza’s resignation comes three months after Dave Houghton had stepped down as head coach.Related

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“This decision has come about after careful consideration of the successes and failures of our cricket and my responsibilities,” Masakadza said in his resignation letter. “As much as there has been a lot of progress in my tenure, the fact remains that we are the only Full Member nation not participating at the next T20 World Cup after our shock loss to Uganda.”This was indeed one of the lowest points of my career and I take full responsibility as Director of Cricket.”Under Masakadza’s tenure, though, Zimbabwe had qualified for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, where they progressed to the Super 12s. Masakadza also oversaw the successful staging of the Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2022 and the Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 in Zimbabwe. Masakadza is now open to working in a different capacity for Zimbabwe Cricket.”This decision was a very difficult one to make and I remain fully committed to Zimbabwe Cricket and would very much be interested in serving in a different capacity as the organisation looks forward to hosting the Men’s Under-19 World Cup in 2026 and the Men’s 50-over World Cup in 2027,” Masakadza said.

Green “definitely” thought he caught it, while Mohammed Shami and Alex Carey also stand on opposing sides of the raging debate

Osman Samiuddin10-Jun-20231:37

Was Green’s catch to dismiss Gill clean?

Fifteen minutes after the close of play, Shubman Gill took to social media to question the decision that led to his dismissal on the fourth day of the World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval.Tweeting a front-on angle photograph of Cameron Green taking the catch down to his left at gully, Gill captioned it with two magnifying glass emojis followed by a facepalm emoji. That sentiment was echoed somewhat by Mohammed Shami later, who suggested the occasion of this final warranted more rigour in the decision-making.Gill was on 18 as India began their pursuit of 444 when he edged Scott Boland low to Green’s left. Green – who said he thought the catch was clean – celebrated immediately but Gill did not walk off immediately. The on-field umpires went up to the TV umpire Richard Kettleborough, with a new protocol in place now without giving a soft signal. The need for a soft signal in these kinds of decisions was scrapped recently by the ICC’s cricket committee and this was the first occasion the protocol was required.After viewing a number of replays from different angles and zooming in, Kettleborough gave the decision as out, much to the visible disappointment of both Gill and his partner, captain Rohit Sharma, as well as the thousands of Indian fans at the ground. The entire process took less than three minutes. “Yes, definitely, more time could have been taken [to verify if it was a clean catch] because it is a World Test Championship final and not just a normal match,” Shami said later. “You could have checked more and zoomed in more. But it’s okay, it’s part of the game.” That was a sentiment – that it is part of the game – that Shami would repeat later.It was Green’s second outstanding grab of the Test, after the spectacular one he took stretching to his right at gully to dismiss Ajinkya Rahane in the first innings, though he did also drop a far simpler chance earlier in the game. “At the time I definitely thought I caught it,” Green said of the Gill catch. “I think in the heat of the moment I thought it was clean. It was left up to the third umpire and he agreed.”Related

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The Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey, one of the players close enough to the catch, also thought the correct decision had been made. “It looked good from where I was,” Carey told BBC’s Test Match Special. “I thought he caught it fair and square. He was pretty happy with it, so yeah, the right decision was made.”Green was the recipient of boos from a sizeable and vociferous crowd of India supporters through the rest of the day, as well as chants of “cheat” each time he was involved with the action. It didn’t, however, seem to faze him. “Obviously, the Indian crowd are so passionate and obviously one of their favourite guys Shubman Gill got out and I think that’s what they were all kind of looking forward to watching, so it is what it is and we move on,” Green said.Only time will tell whether Gill faces any consequences for his tweet. Clause 2.7 of the ICC’s code of conduct is clear that social media posts come within the jurisdiction of what constitutes a breach of the code.

“For the avoidance of doubt, any posting by a Player or Player Support Personnel of comments on a social media platform (including, without limitation, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn) shall be deemed to be ‘public’ for the purposes of this offence. Consequently, a Player or Player Support Personnel may breach Article 2.7 where they criticise or make an inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an International Match or any Player, Player Support Personnel, Match Official or team participating in any International Match in any posting they make on a social media platform.”

Hampshire chip away in pursuit of victory after enforcing follow-on

ECB Reporters Network02-Jul-2024Jack Leaning and Ben Compton gave Kent a chance of saving a Vitality County Championship draw against Hampshire.Leaning led the resolve in the first innings by returning from injury to score 118, before Compton bedded in with 71 not out in the second innings.But their determination came with a backdrop of a 162-run first innings deficit, meaning Hampshire forced them to follow-on, and just eight wickets in hand heading into the final day.The duo ended the day with a 84 unbroken partnership with Kent up to 132 for 2, with the deficit down to just 30 runs.After James Vince’s swashbuckling 211 on day one, and a fast-paced day two, the third day never progressed from sedate. Leaning returned on 73, having guided the visitors around an unconvincing evening session which saw them end up six down and trailing by 299 runs.He survived Vince dropping him at first slip on 84 but was otherwise restrained and oozed leadership in his fightback while marshalling the tail.Leaning had missed the last seven weeks with a broken hand, which he suffered during the drawn match with Worcestershire in May.In that innings he had scored an unbeaten 179 and he made it back-to-back hundreds in 207 balls, the 10th of his career, sixth since joining Kent and second in his last three visits at Utilita Bowl.Around Leaning, two wickets fell on either side of the second new ball.Charlie Stobo’s sensible 28 was ended two overs before the new ball was unveiled when James Fuller pinned him leg before. And then four balls into the new cherry, Grant Stewart was rapped on the pads by Mohammed Abbas.But Matt Parkinson took more time out of the game with Leaning, and minimised the deficit with a no-thrills 24. The pair put on 44 to frustrate the hosts.But Leaning’s majestic innings was ended when Kyle Abbott splayed his stumps and Kent were bowled out for 343 when Parkinson fended Keith Barker to first slip – Barker ending with 4 for 85.The last four Kent wickets put on 137 to almost avoid the follow-on, but despite their efforts Vince was able to turn them back around.Feroze Khushi was more restrained than during his thrilling first-innings 53, but fell for a short-ball trap to top edge Barker to long leg.Daniel Bell-Drummond lasted slightly longer before Liam Dawson extracted enough turn to cannon into off-stump. But Compton found company with that man Leaning to take any sting out of the day.Opener Compton reached fifty in 114 balls with a reverse sweep.Leaning was dropped by Vince for the second time in the day but was otherwise solid to all but wipe out the deficit.Hampshire will need eight wickets and likely a bit of a chase on the final day, and might be without Barker – who pulled up during a delivery midway through the evening and didn’t return.

Seam-bowling allrounder who played more than 250 games for England, retires from professional cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Nov-2022Jenny Gunn, the seam-bowling allrounder who played more than 250 games for England, has retired from professional cricket at the age of 36.Gunn retired from international cricket in 2019 after a 15-year England career and had initially intended to stop playing shortly after, but was convinced to play for Northern Diamonds in the inaugural Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy by her former team-mate Dani Hazell – Diamonds’ head coach – the following summer.She spent the next two seasons representing Diamonds and was ever present for Northern Superchargers in the 2022 edition of the Hundred, where she had acted as Hazell’s assistant coach the previous summer.Related

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Diamonds announced Gunn’s retirement on Wednesday afternoon. James Carr, their director of cricket, said: “Before I knew Jenny personally, I had huge admiration for the international career that she had.”It’s been a huge privilege for us all to work with her and learn from her. She’s produced on and off the field, and she’s been one hell of an asset for us.”Meanwhile, Diamonds will also be without Linsey Smith, the left-arm spin-bowling allrounder who has played nine T20Is for England, in 2023 after she signed a contract with Southern Vipers.Smith, 27, was a key part of Diamonds’ Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy success last year, taking 2 for 24 in her 10 overs in a tense two-run win over Vipers in the final at Lord’s, but has opted to move south.”Linsey’s one hell of a competitor,” Carr said. “She’s an absolute firecracker who can carry people with her. She’s developed her batting to be an allrounder and, with the ball, almost single-handedly dismantled the Southern Vipers’ batting during the last two weeks of the summer. We’re sad to see her go, but what a way to go.”Smith was part of the Vipers side that won the inaugural Kia Super League in 2016 before moving to Loughborough Lightning and then Diamonds. Adam Carty, Vipers’ director of cricket, said: “It’s great to have her back at the team she started her career with.”Linsey has proven to be a tough and highly respected opponent in recent seasons, and in her we’ve got an experienced, proven performer who offers plenty with bat and ball whilst being a fine inner ring fielder.”

Former England captain makes 72, his highest first-class score at venue

Paul Edwards18-May-2023 Nottinghamshire 13 for 0 trail Essex 298 (Cook 72, Westley 66, Hutton 4-69) by 285 runsTrent Bridge has been sent more love-letters than Marilyn Monroe ever received and today this perfect old ground received a few more, not all of them from the cricketers. At first, though, one came from Alastair Cook, whose overtures were as gracious as one might expect; his 72 was studded with the strokes he has often played at Nottingham when wearing England colours. Later in the day the blandishments of Stuart Broad and Brett Hutton were brusquer, the pair sharing seven wickets, four with the second new ball, as Essex were dismissed for 298, two runs short of a second bonus point. And this rich day finally ended with a straight-driven boundary from Haseeb Hameed.But perhaps it was bound to be Trent Bridge that offered us comfort after the bum-numbing, brain-buggered tedium of Lancashire’s draw with Somerset at Emirates Old Trafford on Sunday. We had three sessions packed tight with fine things at Nottingham and although some of these may seem extraneous to the cricket, the folk in the Radcliffe Road Stand know it isn’t so.For example, the scorecards are actually made of card rather than the reinforced lavatory paper that some counties currently deem sufficient. And the teams printed thereon are a close approximation to the elevens that take the field rather than a press officer’s postmodernist entry for the Booker Prize. This morning they told us that Calvin Harrison would be making his first-class debut for Nottinghamshire and that Ben Duckett was absent from the home side. We later discovered that having made 401 runs in nine innings since April 6, Duckett had been withdrawn by the ECB, presumably to avoid him collapsing with chronic fatigue.Such an appalling fate has not yet befallen Broad and almost the first entry the conscientious spectators could make on their crisp cards today was to record the dismissal of Nick Brown, leg before wicket for 11 when half forward in the fifth over. Sadly, Broad claimed his victim without appealing to umpire O’Shaughnessy for his judgement, a practice that never fails to look graceless and which will no doubt inspire hundreds of imitations in junior cricket across the country.But such things could not mar our morning. Cook, who only faced six balls in his old mucker’s five-over opening spell, appears to be batting with greater freedom in his latter days and he milked three off-side fours off Hutton and Dane Paterson in the first hour. At the other end, Westley, watchful as a cat in a rat-alley, picked up ones and twos for 70 balls before he straight drove Broad to the pavilion boundary three overs before lunch.The pair continued in a similar vein on the resumption. The day was balmy and windless and it appeared we were set for a batting afternoon with Cook enlisting his formidable powers of patience and concentration to help Essex build something formidable. Ben Slater dropped Westley at long leg off Dane Paterson when the Essex skipper was on 40 and we thought the home side could not afford such laxity. It turned out they could.Six overs later, Cook tried to drive a wideish ball from the same bowler and Harrison marked his debut with a good two handed-catch to his left. Then just as Westley was beginning to dominate Steven Mullaney’s attack, he bottom-edged an attempted pull off Paterson and splayed his stumps much as a drunken driver scatters bollards. Sharp as ever to sense an opening, Nottinghamshire’s bowlers took two more wickets in the next half hour although they had help from their opponents. Dan Lawrence came down the wicket to Hutton and then feathered his drive to Joe Clarke behind the stumps. It was a funky “england23” shot and uncharitable spectators might have observed that Lawrence would have done better to think what Essex needed today rather than what Ben Stokes might want in three weeks’ time. Either way, it was a shabby effort. Two overs later, Matt Critchley meekly followed a ball from Hutton and Essex repaired to the pavilion on 205 for 5.The paradox was that Essex’s fresh batsmen needed the 20-minute break rather more than Nottinghamshire’s tired bowlers. On the resumption, most of the home attack overpitched and both Adam Rossington and Simon Harmer gave such deliveries serious rumpo. The pair had biffed ten fours in their 75-run stand for the seventh wicket when Broad took the new ball and arrowed one into the pads of Harmer who walked without waiting to be told he should. We had thus had a day on which neither bowler nor batsman had required an umpire’s decision. Maybe O’Shaughnessy should apply for an unemployment benefit of some sort.Harmer’s dismissal marked the day’s final shift. Essex lost their last five wickets for 28 runs in less than ten overs, a conclusion to the day’s cricket that most of those at Trent Bridge welcomed warmly. They know this is the best Test venue at which to watch county cricket and Nottingham’s position in the hierarchy is questioned only by the deep-dyed at other venues.This might produce a perverse determination on the part of some neutrals to resist its charms but such a resolve would be useless. One sight of the old pavilion or the uniform white-painted seats and we become soft clay in the hands of those who entered into the inheritance of this place and built it with love. It was really no coincidence that we noticed O’Shaughnessy and Tom Lungley walking round the boundary just before the toss this morning. They might have been beating the bounds of a medieval parish.