No play possible in top-of-the-table clash at Old Trafford
Wednesday 6 September 2017 10:20, UK
Ben Duckett creamed a rip-roaring 193 off 200 balls for Northamptonshire on day one of their Specsavers County Championship Division Two clash against Sussex.
The opener smashed 26 fours before he was caught and bowled by Danny Briggs as the hosts powered to 329-5 at Wantage Road against their fellow promotion chasers - Richard Levi the next highest scorer with 44.
Rain prevented any play on day one of Lancashire and Essex's top-of-the-table Division One encounter at Old Trafford, with play abandoned at 12.50pm in Manchester due to a waterlogged pitch.
Lancashire's Roses rivals Yorkshire and defending champions Middlesex also failed to get underway at Headingley, with Derbyshire and Glamorgan suffering the same fate at Derby in Division Two.
Hampshire and Surrey played out just the five overs at The Ageas Bowl in the top flight due to rain and bad light, Surrey reaching 16-0 with Rory Burns unbeaten on nine and Ryan Patel seven not out.
Bottom two Warwickshire and Somerset got in 56.3 overs at Edgbaston, skipper Tom Abell (38no) and Steven Davies (39no) lifting the visitors to 203-4 with an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 72.
In Division Two, table toppers Nottinghamshire, who added the NatWest T20 Blast trophy to their Royal London One-Day Cup title at Edgbaston on Saturday, laboured to 188-9 against second-placed Worcestershire.
Worcestershire seamer Ed Barnard took 4-66 while only Jake Libby (34) and Brendan Taylor (33) passed 30 for Notts, who lead their opponents by 32 points and third-placed Sussex by 51.
Bottom side Leicestershire reached 90-4 at home to Gloucestershire before rain caused an early close, Foxes skipper Mark Cosgrove unbeaten on 38 after Liam Norwell scooped two wickets.
Plus, Durham slipped to 61-4 from 32 overs against Kent at Emirates Riverside once play began at 4pm - Keaton Jennings (17) and Paul Collingwood (11) two of the batsmen to fall.
England seamer Mark Wood was named in Durham's XI after recovering from the heel injury that has kept him out of action since the second Test against South Africa at Trent Bridge in July.
