Match Report: Sussex vs. Kent
Kent made the trip to The 1st Central County Ground to face Sussex in the LV= Insurance County Championship.
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Day Four Report:
Jack Leaning completed the sixth hundred of his first-class career as Sussex could not prevent Kent from securing a comfortable LV= Insurance County Championship draw on a rain-shortened final day at Hove.
Leaning, the 27-year-old former Yorkshire batter, finished unbeaten on 127 when fists were bumped at 16:50 and he was joined in a 172-run fourth wicket stand by Ollie Robinson, who scored 85 in Kent’s second innings’ 387 for four declared.
Kent resumed their second innings on 220 for three, an overnight lead of 109.
Leaning, who also top-scored with a defiant 63 in Kent’s first innings slide to 145 all out, began the day on 61 while Robinson re-started on 11.
Play began at 13:10, following heavy early morning rain and the subsequent mopping up, with Archer replaced in the field by substitute fielder Nick Oxley, a Sussex Academy player.
Kent ‘keeper-batter Robinson looked particularly busy at the crease as he moved steadily to a neatly-played half-century.
To show his intent, Robinson lofted Jack Carson’s off spin straight for four and then swept the slow left arm of Delray Rawlins for another boundary.
Sussex took the second new ball as soon as it became available, with Kent on 258 for three, initially with Carson operating with it down the Hove slope and Ollie Robinson returning for a three-over burst from the Sea End.
Leaning and Robinson held firm, however, with the latter completing his fifty from 85 balls and Leaning, though more circumspect, keeping his score ticking over as the stand reached three figures.
In all, Leaning faced 263 balls, hitting eight fours, while Robinson later pulled a short ball from Rawlins for six and also included six fours in his bright 135-ball knock before being adjudged LBW to Tom Clark’s medium pace despite what looked to be an inside edge. It was Clark’s maiden first-class wicket.
There was no play either between 15:00 and 16:00 due to more rain, but at least a final mini-session allowed Tawanda Muyeye, 20, to spend time at the crease following his first innings 1 and reach 12 not out on first-class debut.
Kent Head Coach Matt Walker said: “Today was a frustrating day with the weather.
“It was always going to be difficult for us to force anything. If we had started on time we might have been able to set them something, but we just ran out of overs really.
“Setting them only a short run chase would have made it a hard game for us to win. It would have been a long shot.”
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Day Three Report:
Play got under way six hours behind schedule on the third day of the LV=Insurance County Championship match between Sussex and Kent.
And when it did so the big talking point was the absence of England fast bowler Jofra Archer from the Sussex attack.
Kent resumed on 138 for 2, a lead of 27, at the 1st Central County Ground, with the overnight batters Zak Crawley and Jack Leaning unbeaten on 61 and 18 respectively, and in the 24 overs bowled before the close they had moved on to 220 for 3, a lead of 109, with Leaning unbeaten on 61.
They did their best to make up for lost time with a positive start after being frustrated by persistent rain and a very wet outfield at the southern end of the ground.
The first over, at 17:00, was bowled by Ollie Robinson from the Cromwell Road End. At the end of the over Ben Brown, the Sussex captain, appeared to want Archer to open the attack from the sea end. The pair talked and at the end of the conversation Brown was seen to gesticulate in the direction of Archer before calling up George Garton to bowl the second over. Archer, meanwhile, looked on from mid-on. Before play Archer had bowled only five overs in the Kent second innings – against Robinson’s 11 – having bowled only 13 in the first.
Leaning showed Kent’s positive intent from the first ball of the day, flicking Robinson through square-leg for four.
He then pulled Garton behind square for four before upper-cutting Robinson to third man for another boundary.
Sussex made their first breakthrough with the score on 189 when Crawley, attempting to reverse sweep, was caught at forward short-leg by Aaron Thomason for 85. He and Leaning had put on 130 for the third wicket. After an hour’s batting Kent had added 59 runs in 15 overs.
Kent’s Zak Crawley said: “It was much nicer to bat today in the sun than in the overcast conditions of the past couple of days. Hopefully it will be overcast again tomorrow when we come to bowl, if we can get another 100 or so lead in the morning. But if it’s sunny again we’re going to need a few more than that.
“Sussex were still ahead of the game at the start of play, so we had t make sure we didn’t lose wickets. I was disappointed to make another mistake between 50 and 100. It’s something I will try to rectify. But I feel in really good nick. And if you can score 85 you can certainly score 100.
“I’m really pleased for Jack Leaning. He’s a really talented player and I’ really pleased for him. He’s a great bloke and he played some lovely strokes. He’s had a bit of a tough time but we all expected him to bounce back.”
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Day Two Report:
Zak Crawley passed 3,000 first-class runs in an unbeaten half-century as Kent fought back against Sussex in the LV=Insurance County Championship at Hove.
After making 90 against Yorkshire last week – his highest score of the season so far – the 23-year-old England batter again looked in good touch, reaching 61 not out including seven fours, three of them in an over from off-spinner Jack Carson, as Kent closed day two on 138 for two, a lead of 27.
Sussex had earlier taken a first-innings lead of 111 after being bowled out for 256 with on-loan seamer Matt Quinn picking up four wickets.
Kent lost two wickets in clearing their arrears with Jofra Archer and Ollie Robinson taking one each. Archer struck in the fifth and final over of his only spell when a big inswinger accounted for Jordan Cox (12) while Robinson had skipper Daniel Bell-Drummond (27) caught at third slip.
Quinn had earlier taken four for 54 with all four of his wickets coming during an excellent afternoon spell as Kent chipped away after Sussex had passed their first-innings 145 with four wickets down.
They had resumed on 51 for two and Stiaan van Zyl and Travis Head put on 52 in 14 overs, although Head (20) was dropped on ten by Jordan Cox at first slip before he was pinned by Darren Stevens’ late inswing.
Van Zyl (52) reached his fourth half-century of the season with a six off Nathan Gilchrist and also hit eight fours but was beaten by an inswinger in Gilchrist’s next over. Sussex rebuilt through Tom Clark and Ben Brown either side of lunch in a stand of 59 in 20 overs. Crawley put down Clark on 27 and the left-hander had reached 42 when Gilchrist bowled him around his legs with one that kept low.
Stevens picked up his third wicket when Brown (26) was beaten by late away movement before Quinn settled into a productive spell from the sea end.
The 28-year-old New Zealander is on a four-match loan spell from champions Essex and worked up a decent pace.
He was slightly fortunate to claim his first wicket as the ball which had Delray Rawlins (6) lbw appeared to have pitched outside the line.
But George Garton (17) and Archer (2) were both beaten by good deliveries which moved away sharply off the seam and Quinn finished off the innings when Robinson (25) holed out to deep mid-wicket.
Kent fast bowler Matt Quinn, who picked up four wickets, said: “We’re pretty happy to be two down with a small lead because batting has been tricky for the two days with the lights on and very overcast. Zak and Jack batted very well.
“I was pleased to pick up those four wickets. Sometimes when you bowl up the slope you can try too hard, but even the old ball offered enough and it was a pretty good day for me.”
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Day One Report:
Jofra Archer took two wickets on his return to action to help give Sussex the advantage against Kent in their LV=Insurance County Championship match at Hove.
The 26-year-old removed Daniel Bell-Drummond and Zak Crawley in his four-over new-ball burst and bowled two further spells of four and five overs to finish with two for 29 from 13 overs with four maidens.
Ollie Robinson, and George Garton each took three wickets as Kent were bowled out for 145 with only Jack Leaning (63) offering sustained resistance to an accurate attack. Sussex were 51 for two when bad light brought a premature end to the first day.
Archer was bowling with a red ball for the first time since the Third Test against India nearly three months ago after recovering from finger surgery and having rested a troublesome elbow which forced him to miss the Indian Premier League.
He broke through with his 13th delivery, which Bell-Drummond edged to second slip, and his ability to get disconcerting lift off a good length also accounted for England team-mate Crawley, who gloved to wicketkeeper Ben Brown.
Leaning and Jordan Cox (24) rebuilt either side of lunch, adding 59 in 22 overs but Kent lost eight wickets for 75 during an afternoon interrupted by two rain delays.
Robinson ended two hours of solid resistance from Cox when he knocked back his off stump and in his next over debutant Tawanda Muyeye (1) was beaten by late inswing. Robinson returned after tea to dismiss Leaning with a ball which held its line, one of three catches at slip for Aaron Thomason. Leaning had been dropped by wicketkeeper Ben Brown but went on to score his second half-century of the season in more than three hours, hitting eight fours.
The slippery left-armer Garton also picked up three wickets. Ollie Robinson (4) mistimed a drive to short cover and Stevens (0) and Marcus O’Riordan were held by Thomason, before off-spinner Jack Carson picked up two wickets at the end of the innings.
Sussex lost both openers in 16.3 overs before the light closed in. Stevens ran one down the slope to have Tom Haines (14) caught behind and Thomason (21) fell three balls before the close, slashing to point in Nathan Gilchrist’s first over.
Kent batter Jack Leaning said: “I think if we’re being totally honest it’s an opportunity missed because it’s actually a good pitch.
“We just didn’t get off to the start we’d have liked with the bat and we’re a few runs short of where we’d like to be.
“But there’s no telling what will happen tomorrow and if we can get three or four wickets before lunch and take a few more before they go past our score we can try and turn it into a one innings game.”
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Nearly 22 years after former Kent and England seamer Alan Igglesden was first diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour, ‘Iggy’ and wife Liz have spoken to the Professional Cricketers’ Trust (PCT) about the couple’s remarkable journey and the unfathomable challenges that they have faced together along the way.