County cricket day four: Essex v Surrey, Middlesex v Lancashire – live
Updates from around the grounds as first round finishesGet in touch! Share your thoughts with Tanya or BTLIn the end, Brian Charles Lara could rest easy, his record first-class score of 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham in 1994 was not surpassed by Somerset’s Tom Banton. Resuming on 344 and with his county’s highest score freshly minted in his back pocket, Banton threw the blade at everything Worcestershire sent down on the third morning, a nick behind off the left-arm wrist‑spinner Tom Hinley the final act of an innings of 371.Not bad for a player who admitted to “hating” cricket during times of paucity in recent years. Banton will now be on England’s radar in both red and white ball formats. Fifties from Adam Hose and Brett D’Oliveira delayed a three-day defeat for the Pears but they seem sure to go mouldy on day four, trailing by 236 runs with half their second innings wickets lost. Continue reading...
