Ball one: Porter brings the points home to Chelmsford

Essex made it five wins in a row going into the August break with a low-scoring win at the Ageas Bowl that opened up a 31-point cushion over Hampshire, who remain third.

Tom Westley read the tea leaves correctly when he won the toss and handed the ball to Jamie Porter and Sam Cook, who knocked the head off the home side’s batting, with Simon Harmer sweeping up behind. By the end of the first day, 16 wickets had fallen, but the visitors had eked out a crucial 25-run lead.

Its value was shown the next morning as Essex’s lead was stretched to 49 . It cost their opponents four wickets to get level, Porter on his way to his second five-wicket haul of the match. Not without a scare or two, the points headed east on day three.

Nick Gubbins was the only Hampshire batter who made a score above 23 in either innings; Essex found five. Sometimes you have to dig in with a bit of Boreball (Harmer was at the crease for nearly two hours for his 20 not out) and see what happens when your bowlers get their turn.

Ball two: Jamie bests Craig in battle of the Overtons

Despite their five straight wins, Essex are still 17 points behind leaders Surrey with three matches each to play in September.

The South London juggernaut rolled into Taunton last week and then rolled over the in-form Somerset by a dismissive 10 wickets. It was an example of how much weaponry is at Rory Burns’ disposal – enough to cover his own lacklustre season with the bat.

First he unleashed his battery of pacers (Dan Worrall, Jordan Clark, Tom Lawes, Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton) who each took at least one wicket as the home side cobbled together 170, having won the toss and batted. When Tom Latham was out for 99, the Surrey lead was 48 and looked controllable, but those same bowlers, aided by another 99 by the nominal spinner, Will Jacks, stretched it to 198 and there was no way back from there, despite another promising innings from James Rew and some long-handle fun from Craig Overton.

And that was an XI without Ollie Pope, Sean Abbott, Sam Curran, Cameron Steel and Kemar Roach. It’s hard to know how counties can match such playing resources (yes, with Dan Lawrence to come next summer too).

Ball three: Roland-Jones has a smashing time at Edgbaston

Warwickshire, the only side to deny Surrey the pennant in the 2020s, look like they have blown their slim chance of overhauling the holders despite their match in hand after crashing to defeat at home to Middlesex

There was carnage on day one as 22 wickets fell in near ideal conditions for swing and seam, tailor made for Ethan Bamber. The bustling pacer skids the ball on with few balls going over the top, as his four clean bowled dismissals on the first morning attest. At 31 for four, the visitors were in danger of failing to match the home side’s 60 all out, but all-rounders Ryan Higgins and Joshua De Caires found a 71-run partnership for the seventh wicket and, though conditions eased on days two and three, Middlesex secured the win, which pulled them out of the relegation zone.

Toby Roland-Jones’ dismissal lit up the internet, given out hit wicket having taken a moment to admire his six over cow corner and then carelessly dislodged a bail. Your writer believes it was an umpiring error as he was not in the action of receiving the ball when the wicket was broken, but other views are available.

Ball four: Kent can’t compete at Trent Bridge

Middlesex’s improving circumstances are also the product of Kent’s capitulation at Trent Bridge.

After Ben Slater’s round 100 and Tom Moores’ 94 had pushed Nottinghamshire up to a decent first-innings total of 350, Kent were always behind in the game, but the wheels really fell off on a disastrous third day.

The first 78 minutes saw nearly 200 runs added as the visitors had no answer to the home side’s middle order who scored at will. Steve Mullaney had a tricky decision with five sessions left in the match – after all, if conditions were conducive to rattling along at nine an over, what is a defendable target?

He need not have worried Brett Hutton (what a season he is having) and Dane Paterson ran through the Kent order, who could manage only an abject 85 all out in a crucial match at the foot of the table. Not good enough from Jack Leaning’s men.

Lancashire spinner Tom Hartley struggled to have an impact against Northamptonshire. Photograph: Roger Evans/Action Plus/Shutterstock Ball five: Northants have Lancashire’s spinners on toast

Northamptonshire may well be doomed, but they showed plenty of spirit in batting out 100 overs to seal the draw at Old Trafford.

Luke Wells, Josh Bohannon and a charging Phil Salt each made centuries as Northants’ 342 was made to look under par on a flat pitch. Over to the bowlers who had 100 overs (as it turned out) and 200 runs to force the win.

Credit to Emilio Gay, who backed up a 340-minute sojourn in the first innings with three more hours at the crease second time around. Luke Proctor, the captain, will be pleased to have defied his old employers for nearly six hours and will credit young James Sales (son of David “Jumble” Sales) with keeping him company for the last 25 overs of the rearguard.

Lancashire’s tweakers, Tom Hartley and Jack Morley, are young finger spinners making their way in the game, but their combined figures of 64–20–131–3 will have Lanky fans wondering about the only spinner with a five-wicket haul for the Red Rose this season. Wherefore art thou Matt Parkinson?

Ball six: Libby frees up the chance for Worcestershire to win

Draws continue to be the default result in Division Two, but Worcestershire secured a second win on the bounce.

It was another match in which lower-order runs proved critical. Put in to bat by Gloucestershire captain, James Bracey, at Cheltenham, the visitors were tottering at 99 for five before Brett D’Oliveira, the skipper, guided the lower order all the way to 406 all out.

Oliver Price’s century kept the home side in the game, but it was matched by Jake Libby, the form opener in the country, and, though delayed until deep into the final hour on day four, the away team’s seamers eventually secured the 10 wickets for the win. Worcestershire go second in the table behind runaway leaders Durham.

A more successful rearguard action was mounted by record-breakers Harry Came (141) and Luis Reece (201) at Derby in resisting Glamorgan, but there is room to incentivise the win in the lower division – apart from anything else, it’s a look very much at odds with the way English cricket is played these days.

This article is from The 99.94 Cricket Blog Follow Gary Naylor on Twitter