Harris profits as Derby drops prove costly

Australian opener Marcus Harris was dropped twice but maintained concentration through lengthy rain delays to score an unbeaten 77 for Leicestershire in their second division County Championship clash with midlands rivals Derbyshire.

It was a typical early spring day at Derby where in addition to the rain, the conditions were also chilly and breezy.

Not that the weather was going to trouble Harris, the Perth-born 31-year-old who has rejoined Leicestershire to replace Will Pucovski for their first five matches of the new season after his fellow Victoria batter suffered concussion in a Sheffield Shield match.

Harris, a former Ashes batter who has made 14 Test appearances for Australia, was dropped twice after Derbyshire elected to bowl first at the County Ground.

Harris had made only one when he edged New Zealand fast bowler Blair Tickner to second slip but Wayne Madsen put down a shoulder high chance.

Then, three overs into the afternoon session, Harris, on 26, edged Anuj Dal low to Madsen, who again failed to cling on.

Derbyshire also put down Rishi Patel who made 36 before he was bowled by Tickner, who was the pick of the home attack. Although 50 overs were lost, Leicestershire made good progress and closed on 2-168.

Harris was six short of his fifty when the rain returned for a second time and kept the players off the field until 5.30pm.  But the rest of a truncated day belonged to Harris, who scored freely in the closing overs to make it the visitors' day.

Seamer Scott Boland's stint in the County Championship's first division is under a cloud with the seamer left out of Durham's match against Worscestershire. The Victorian suffered a foot injury last week against Warwickshire in the previous round and the results of a scan are being assessed by medical staff both from Durham and Cricket Australia. 

Matthew Renshaw made 34 from 91 for Somerset in an opening stand of 111 with Sean Dickson at Taunton, but the Queenslander fell shortly before stumps on a day his side bossed. Visitors Nottinghamshire, who opted to bat, were bowled out for 193.

The left-handed Renshaw played well until he edged a delivery from Calvin Harrison just after lofting him for a six.

On England's south coast, Cameron Bancroft struck five fours in his 27 after Gloucestershire were sent in by home side Sussex. Fellow opener Ben Charlesworth (62) pushed on to one of three half-centuries for Glocs batters as they made 8-319 by stumps. Bancroft was one of three wickets for Danny Lamb, trapped leg before.

 Chris Tremain struck with his second ball of the day for Northamptonshire after they won the toss and opted to bowl, and had Glamorgan opener Zain ul Hassan caught behind. It was to be Tremain's only success for the day, finishing with a tidy 1-46 from his 16 overs as Glamorgan reached 7-203.

Nathan Lyon made an eight-ball duck as Lancashire were bowled out for 146 after being sent in by Essex.

Surrey's ex-Australian Dan Worrall claimed two wickets against Ken in an opening burst, including England batter Zak Crawley, to claim 2-33 from 12 overs. Only 39 overs were possible on day one as home-side Kent  made 3-111

England pair Joe Root and Harry Brook made a combined eight runs as they both fell cheaply for Yorkshire, who were bowled out for 159 against Middlesex at Lord's.

Australians in the 2024 County Championship

Durham: Scott Boland, Ashton Turner (T20s only)

Essex: Daniel Sams (T20s only)

Glamorgan: Marnus Labuschagne

Gloucestershire: Cameron Bancroft, Beau Webster

Hampshire: Michael Neser, Ben McDermott (T20s only)

Kent: Xavier Bartlett, Wes Agar

Lancashire: Nathan Lyon, Chris Green (T20s only)

Leicestershire: Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris

Northamptonshire: Chris Tremain

Somerset: Matthew Renshaw

Surrey: Sean Abbott

Sussex: Nathan McAndrew, Daniel Hughes