County Championship team of the week: Rory Burns, Morne Morkel and Jordan Clark make the cut

There were plenty of England regulars and hopefuls in action during the latest round of Specsavers County Championship fixtures, one which saw an absorbing Roses clash as well as Surrey stretching their lead at the top of Division One following an inning victory over Nottinghamshire.

Excellent individual performances were par for the course, with Lancashire's Jordan Clark bagging a remarkable hat-trick, Surrey skipper Rory Burns churning out yet another century - and Joe Root taking four wickets, including Jos Buttler's, with his part-time off-spin.

Here is our team of the week…

Rory Burns (Surrey) - captain

An easy pick. The Surrey captain hit his third ton of the season, a superb 153, at Nottinghamshire as his side racked up 592 against an attack including Stuart Broad and Jake Ball. Burns is the leading run-scorer in the country with 875 in eight matches at 72.92, something which cannot have gone unnoticed by the England selectors.

Burns' opening partner, Mark Stoneman struck 86 against Notts - it's not enough to get him in our team but it is good to see him back in form after a tough start to the summer which saw him lose his England place.

Tom Latham (Durham)

Like Burns, Latham led from the front with a captain's century for Durham at Gloucestershire. The New Zealand opener notched 147 in his team's first-innings 275, with the next highest-scoring batsman, Stuart Poynter, managing just 32! Notable mentions must also go to Will Rhodes, who scored a ton up top for Warwickshire, and Yorkshire openers Adam Lyth and Harry Brook, whose fifties proved important for Yorkshire in a low-scoring Roses clash at Old Trafford.

Azhar Ali (Somerset)

Somerset could have been in a real bind after deciding to cancel Cameron Bancroft's contract following the Australian ball-tampering scandal but have struck gold with their overseas replacements. First, Bancroft's countryman Matt Renshaw amassed three tons and a fifty in six games and, this week, Pakistan veteran Azhar Ali compiled 125 on debut. That knock earned him a spot in our XI, ahead of Derbyshire's Wayne Madsen, who hit 116 against Northamptonshire.

Alex Wakely (Northants)

Northants slipped to a 39-run defeat to Derbyshire as Matt Critchley (more on him later) spun out the visitors, which was harsh on Steelbacks skipper Wakely, who made 106 in his side's first innings and then 68 in their second. Northants looked handily placed to chase down their target of 314 as Wakely helped then to 227-4 but once he was out they rather wilted.

Ryan Higgins (Gloucestershire)

Zimbabwe-born Higgins moved to Gloucestershire from Middlesex over the winter in the hope of more red-ball cricket. He's been handed that by the West Country outfit and this week delivered six wickets and, more importantly, his maiden first-class century, hitting 106 against Durham before falling to Ben Stokes. Stokes grabbed five wickets in Gloucestershire's first innings and eight in the match but does not make it in our team of the week, such is the fierce competition.

Alex Milton (Worcestershire)

Stokes' England team-mate Jonny Bairstow has also failed to make the cut as keeper-batsman despite his crucial, quick-fire 82 in Yorkshire's Roses win. The gloves, and massive amount of credit, must go to Worcestershire debutant Milton who scored an unbeaten 104 on debut against Somerset to, at one stage, give the Pears the faintest of hopes of a stunning win. Chasing 443, the hosts slipped to 165-9 before Milton and last man Steve Magoffin (43) took their stand to 136. At that point, Magoffin skewed Craig Overton to point. Worcester lost but have found a new star.

Matt Critchley (Derbyshire)

I told you we'd get to him! Moeen Ali's eight wickets for Worcestershire had him under consideration for our spinner's role - and Root made a case with 4-5 against Lancashire - but we've gone for the Derbyshire leggie. Critchley completed his maiden 10-wicket haul, sealed with 6-106 in Northants' second dig in Chesterfield, having also contributed 51 and 37 with the bat as Derbyshire picked up just their second win of the campaign.

Rikki Clarke (Surrey)

Clarke was Surrey's second centurion against Notts, hitting his first Championship ton since 2012 and first for the Oval club since 2012. The 36-year-old extinguished any hopes the hosts had of forcing their way back into the game as he shared stands of 125 with Sam Curran for Surrey's seventh wicket and 77 with Morne Morkel (more on him later) for the ninth as the Londoners earned a 382-run lead on first innings.

Jordan Clark (Lancashire)

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From Clarke to Clark. Lancashire all-rounder Jordan will not look back fondly on the result of the Roses clash - the Red Rose county losing to the White by 118 runs - but day one of the game is something he will surely regale people with for years to come. The 27-year-old removed Root, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and Bairstow - who have scored a combined 14,639 Test runs - for a stunning hat-trick, before going on to complete a career-best 5-58 and run out Tim Bresnan brilliantly off his own bowling!

Morne Morkel (Surrey)

"Surrey getting Morkel is a serious acquisition. I thought that whoever signed him would win a tournament this season. He is a handful in all forms and in county cricket he could run through people at times." So said Dominic Cork ahead of the county campaign and he looks spot on. Surrey are marching towards the Championship title with the former South Africa seamer running through Notts en route to match figures of 9-120. He is now on 25 scalps for the season from just four games.

Jamie Overton (Somerset)

Apologies to Jofra Archer, who took eight wickets in a day across two innings for Sussex as Glamorgan capitulated to 85 and 88 all out, but our XI is rounded out by Somerset speedster Jamie Overton, whose eight wickets against Worcestershire earned his side a fourth win in eight games and moved them up to second in the top flight. The India series may come too soon but Overton's pace could win him a Test call-up soon.

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