Gus Atkinson had the Surrey faithful purring on the day he was given his county cap. With his tiptoeing, tightrope approach and tightly knit hands, he made the ball spit like an overheated wok against Somerset. In his first over he hit Sean Dickson on the hand, who retired hurt, and later removed a softened-up Archie Vaughan, did James Rew for pace and greeted Kasey Aldridge with a missile at his neck. Jordan Clark, all muscle to Atkinson’s venom, did most of the rest, picking up five wickets, including two in two balls. Some oomplah from Lewis Gregory took Somerset to a first batting point and beyond.
A series of injuries had left Durham looking behind the fridge for fast bowlers. But their makeshift seam attack made mincemeat of Worcestershire, who were whistled out for 162. Jake Ball, arriving on a two-match loan from Somerset, celebrated with five for 47, while quickfire South African Codi Yusuf (signed on the recommendation of David Bedingham) ran in at full pelt, picked up two wickets, and worried a few more. Durham then lost four quick wickets of their own.
Josh Tongue fizzed like magnesium at Trent Bridge. Regularly hitting the high 80s, with a gravelly yorker, he pocketed five wickets, three of them in one over, as Sussex were dismissed for 169. It was his second five-fer of the season; Brett Hutton grabbed four for 53. Captain Haseeb Hameed ticked along to 67 not out in Nottinghamshire’s reply.
There was another hulking England hopeful in action at Bristol, where Leicestershire’s Josh Hull pinned big Cameron Green lbw, but Gloucestershire were mainly undone by five wickets from Ben Green, another Somerset loanee. James Bracey’s unbeaten 93 took Leicestershire past 250, before Gloucestershire encountered batting problems of their own.
David Lloyd (93) and Harry Came (73) ensured that Derbyshire had a relatively serene day against Middlesex.