County Championship R3 Team of the Week – Tom Haines and Ben Compton continue form, Jamie Porter bowls Essex to nervy victory

By Dom Harris

The third round of the Rothesay County Championship was heavily impacted by the weather, largely contributing to seven draws in the nine fixtures across both divisions.

There were results at Chelmsford and Lord’s, however, where Essex and Middlesex earned their first wins of the season against Worcestershire and Glamorgan respectively.

Nevertheless, despite the interruptions, there were as always a number of standout individual contributions to highlight from the latest round of action.

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Alex Lees (Durham)

Durham skipper Lees registered his first century of the campaign with a standout 172 against his former county as his side took advantage of improved batting conditions on day two and ended their two-match losing start.

He shared a Durham record 279-run partnership for the second wicket with fellow centurion Emilio Gay as they built a first-innings lead over Yorkshire, but a fightback led by Jonny Bairstow and the arrival of rain on the final day denied any hopes of victory.

Tom Haines (Sussex)

Opener Haines struck 174 as the batters dominated in a high-scoring draw between Sussex and Surrey at Hove.

Following his 141 in the win over Somerset last week, the left-hander occupied the crease for over seven and a half hours, finding the boundary 18 times against an attack consisting of Dan Worrall and the returning Gus Atkinson.

On what was a flat pitch with relatively little pace on offer, both sides made first innings totals in excess of 400, before the hosts ended on 132-0 with Haines unbeaten on 69 and leading the way in the Division One run-scoring charts after three games.

Ben Compton (Kent)

Like Haines, Compton also made a second century in consecutive matches as he hit an impressive 178 to help steer Kent away from trouble against Gloucestershire.

In response to the visitors’ 472, they slipped to 129-5 but Compton led the rearguard action and looked untroubled as he passed 3,000 first-class runs for Kent on his way to his highest score for the county.

When he was eventually out stumped, the hosts were trailing by just 81 runs on first innings and forced an over-cautious Gloucestershire to bat deep into day four.

Luke Procter (Northamptonshire)

There was a trend of left-handed openers doing the business this week, with Northants captain Procter leading from the front with a career-best knock as his side continued to show improvement under Darren Lehmann.

After dismissing Derbyshire for 307, in which Procter himself claimed three wickets, the 36-year-old put on 143 with Ricardo Vasconcelos for the opening stand and went on to score 150 which set the platform for Saif Zaib to hit a blistering 86-ball ton as Northants declared on 500 to seize the upper hand.

The bowlers found it tough going on a flat pitch with Derbyshire wiping out the deficit for the loss of three wickets thanks in large to Caleb Jewell and Wayne Madsen, before rain prevented any play on day four.

Peter Handscomb (Leicestershire)

Leicestershire’s impressive start to the season continued as the weather denied them the opportunity to complete a superb team performance at Lancashire.

Experienced captain Handscomb made 142 not out, his 27th First-Class century, with the visitors declaring their first innings with a lead of 227.

The Australian, who had scored two half-centuries in the first two games of the campaign, shared a 130-run stand with Lewis Hill to gain control at Old Trafford after Rehan Ahmed made exactly 100 at the top of the order.

James Bracey (Gloucestershire)

Wicketkeeper Bracey proved an immovable force at Canterbury as he walked off at the end of both innings with the bat unbeaten.

First time around, the two-time England Test player made 151, including a century partnership with Australian debutant Cameron Green who also made three figures, as Gloucestershire recovered from 108-4 to make 472.

As well as accounting for five dismissals behind the stumps across the match, Bracey was 30 not out when his side declared their second innings on day four but did not give themselves enough time to take ten wickets.

Ethan Brookes (Worcestershire)

It’s been a testing start for Worcestershire after their mauling at Headingley last week, though nobody can question the spirit of the a side constantly battling against the odds in Division One.

That fight was underpinned by all-rounder Brookes, who so nearly got his team over the line in a thrilling contest against Essex at Chelmsford.

After adding crucial lower order runs in the first innings to help Worcestershire to gain a slender lead and taking two wickets in Essex’s second innings, the 23-year-old walked out to the middle with his side at 162-6 chasing 295.

A flurry of wickets left him alongside number 11 Jacob Duffy, still in need of 93 runs, triggering a sudden change of tempo as he went after the Essex attack in search of an unlikely victory.

Seven sixes followed in a half-century stand for the final wicket contributed entirely by Brookes, before he was agonisingly given out caught and bowled by Jamie Porter for a superb 88 off 105 balls, with Worcestershire all out 29 runs short of their target.

Fergus O’Neill (Nottinghamshire)

Aussie import O’Neill has proved a shrewd acquisition by Nottinghamshire for the early part of the season as he recorded his second five-wicket haul of the campaign.

In testing batting conditions, O’Neill and Hutton were relentless with the seam bowling pair sharing all ten wickets as Warwickshire were bundled out for 93 at Edgbaston.

O’Neill’s figures of 5-19 off 14 overs were his career-best and he then went on to make a 53-ball 50 – his second career half-century – as Notts put themselves in a commanding position.

A further two wickets came his way in the second innings but the visitors were left frustrated by the rain and were forced to settle for a draw despite a dominant performance.

Tom Scriven (Leicestershire)

Leicestershire seamer Scriven claimed a maiden First-Class five-wicket haul as he ended with figures of 5-46 off 20 overs to help bowl Lancashire out for 263 at Old Trafford.

His wickets included the in-form Australian Marcus Harris LBW for 77, as well as set batters in Matty Hurst and George Balderson, though was unable to add to his tally in the second innings as the rain meant only 16 overs were possible on day four.

Nathan Gilchrist (Kent)

Seamer Gilchrist, 24, also recorded career-best figures as he took 7-100 in Gloucestershire’s first innings.

He removed both openers early on day one, including key man Cameron Bancroft, and completed his 5-fer late in the day to keep Kent in it – but by the time he removed centurion Cameron Green for an impressive seventh scalp of the innings, the visitors already had a sizeable total on the board.

Jamie Porter (Essex)

In the absence of his fellow new-ball partner Sam Cook, who was being rested following discussions with England, Porter led by example with 6-52 to wrap up a tense first victory of the campaign for Essex.

The leading wicket-taker in Division One last year added eight to his 2025 tally here and also earned a 22nd career five-wicket haul in the second innings which made the difference against Worcestershire.

Three wickets on day three were followed by a further three, of the four required, on day four which included that of the dangerous Ethan Brookes to seal the win by a narrow 28-run margin.

Honourable Mentions

Emilio Gay (Durham) – maiden Durham ton as his 152 helped to give the hosts control over Yorkshire.

Haseeb Hameed (Nottinghamshire) – carried his bat for 138 to put Notts into a match-winning position at Edgbaston.

Brett Hutton (Nottinghamshire) – six wickets, including 5-38 in the first innings, for Notts against Warwickshire.

Dan Lawrence (Surrey) – took advantage of batting-friendly conditions to blitz 117 off 111 balls, including six sixes.

Migael Pretorius (Somerset) – 40-ball 47 in the first innings to boost small Somerset total and 5-64 with the ball against Hampshire.

Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex) – three wickets in both innings, including a match-swinging two in two balls, as Middlesex beat Glamorgan at Lord’s.

Matthew Waite (Worcestershire) – six wickets and lower-order contributions with the bat to give Worcestershire hope at Essex.

Paul Walter (Essex) – 104 in the second innings on a bowler-friendly surface as Essex recovered from a first innings deficit to set Worcestershire a tricky target of 295.