ESSEX V NOTTS AT TRENT BRIDGE
At the start of a new era, with head chef Sir Alastair Cook no longer in the side, his namesake stood up to be counted as Sam Cook spearheaded Essex’s win over Nottinghamshire, taking 6-14 on the final day to go with a first-innings hat-trick. He finished with match figures of 10-73, dispelling concerns about his effectiveness with the Kookaburra ball which is being used in four rounds of the 2024 County Championship season.
“I am pretty chuffed with the way the ball has come out this week, particularly with it being a Kookaburra,” Cook said. “There have been some questions about what I could do with a Kookaburra ball… I’m desperate to play for England and hopefully that performance is something towards that. But I’m trying to concentrate on playing for Essex and enjoying taking wickets for Essex. In the past, I’ve probably been guilty of chasing it a bit too much and getting caught up in that, but in the last six months I’ve tried to go back to basics and concentrate on what I do well.”
Cook is a traditional English seamer who bowls at closer to 80mph than 90mph, but has a phenomenal first-class record with 275 wickets at 19.48.
His strike partner Jamie Porter took 3-43 to deliver a 20-point victory – though Essex face an anxious wait to see if they will suffer a points deduction. Opener Feroze Khushi failed an on-field bat dimensions check during their second innings and they could be liable to lose up to 16 points. In 2022, Durham were docked 10 points after Nic Maddison’s bat failed to fit through the measurement gauge routinely used by umpires in English cricket.
Meanwhile Essex’s ongoing game against Kent is the first with the two ends named the Graham Gooch End and the Sir Alastair Cook End.
WARKS V WORCS AT EDGBASTON
Worcestershire were denied an opportunity to record their first Championship win at Edgbaston since 1993 when a wet outfield prevented any play before lunch on the final day. After the loss of the last session the previous day, that took too much time out of the match for Brett D’Oliveira’s side to capitalise on the strong position they had built, largely through Kashif Ali’s two superb centuries.
“We played some really good cricket during the game,” D’Oliveira said. “Kashif had a really special game and is a really special cricketer. I am excited by the journey ahead of him. Our overseas guys have fitted in really well. First and foremost, they are excellent characters who have slotted straight into the dressing room. Jason [Holder] is brilliant for me as a captain to have to bounce ideas off. Nathan [Smith[is a highly talented bowler who has already showed what he can do in this match. Every we time we come up we are favourites to go down and we have been relegated a
