A look at the final stage of Surrey’s ruthless disposal of Sussex in the county championship and a photo gallery.
This post looks back at the last stages of the match between Surrey and Sussex in the county championship which ended on Monday evening.
THE VICTORY PUSH
Although Surrey lost their last three wickets quite quickly they had piled up a lead of 264 by the time the last one fell – 622 against 358-9 declared. First class debutant Adam Thomas scored 120 of those runs from number seven, and I suspect we will be seeing plenty more of him, and higher in the order. Sussex started their second innings with the most obvious requirement being to reach the close of day three with little damage done. The very first ball of the innings, from Matt Fisher, hit and injured Tom Haines, and Sussex limped to 76-4 by the end of the day. They fared a bit better on day four, but for much of it an innings defeat looked more likely than not. They eventually avoided that, but were only able to establish a lead of 13, one run less than the lowest total Surrey have ever been dismissed for (against Essex in 1983, Neil Foster and Norbert Philip doing the damage with the ball). Surrey did lose two wickets while scoring these runs, making the final margin eight wickets, which decidedly flattered Sussex.
A look at the early stages of Surrey v Essex in the fourth round of County Championship matches of 2026 and a photo gallery which features a damselfly, the first such sighting for me in 2026.
Another round of county championship matches got underway at 11 o’clock this morning. This post looks at the first two sessions (the latter of which has just ended) at The Oval where Surrey are hosting Essex.
THE PLAY SO FAR
The big news for Surrey was that Gus Atkinson was in the side for his first game of the season. They won the toss and opted to bowl first, so Atkinson was in action straight away. During the course of the morning session there was exactly one moment of trouble for Essex and that was self inflicted – a piece of running so poor that had the throw hit Paul Walter would not even have been in the frame. A rare lapse from Walter saw a return chance offered to Sean Abbott, but the Aussie seamer was unable to hold on to it. Finally, with 183 runs on the board and Elgar looking nailed for a ton Jordan Clark found an edge and Ben Foakes accepted the chance. The former South Africa test opener had scored 92, and had been largely untroubled. Tom Westley, returning from injury, cane in at number three. He struggled to 1 from 27 balls before Tom Lawes bowled him, probably almost as much of a relief to him given his lack of form as it was to the rest of us. That was 194-2. Charlie Allison joined Paul Walter, and pair carried Essex through to tea at 229-2, Walter 95 not out, Allison 23 not out. Play has resumed since I started work on this post, and Walter has moved into three figures, which he has by and large earned, though he did benefit from a couple of fortunate moments as detailed.
QUESTIONING RECEIVED WISDOM
It seems nowadays to be hardwired into captains minds that if you win the toss at The Oval you opt to bowl. However it is put it mildly not a policy with a stellar success rate. Relatively recent instances include Surrey racking up 820-9 declared against Durham, Surrey in their most recent match of this season topping 500 against Leicestershire, and now Essex headed for a huge total against Surrey. I also think the Surrey ground staff might well have questions to answer about the sheer weight of runs their surface is offering up – none of the other matches in action today look in great danger of degenerating into runfests with no real hope of a result, whereas that is a very obvious possibility in this match.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Before showing the full gallery I have an extract from it, a close up of a splendid insect from today…
Until today I had not seen a dragonfly or a damselfly in 2026. This is definitely a type of damselfly. Its mainly red body, with a black tail section that itself has four red bands can be clearly seen below the outlines of the four folded wings, while the thorax section features two bands of yellow and some yellow spots behind it. The head is quite shiny, with two large red compound eyes, and all six of the creatures limbs are clearly visible as it basks on a green leaf near Kettlewell Lane.
Today it is mainly about the photos, but I make a mention (and link to) this year’s number one in the Classic FM hall of fame – Karl Jenkins’ “The Armed Man – a Mass for Peace” in the intro.
Today has been warm and sunny (to the the extent that for the first time in 2026 I have been out and about in short sleeves), and I have lots of photographs to share. Over the Easter weekend the Classic FM Hall of Fame countdown happened – the top 300 pieces of classical music as voted for by listeners. Though the county cricket had most of my attention I listened to the last stage of each day. I mention this because this year for the first time in the history of the countdown (now 31 years) the number one slot went to a living composer – Karl Jenkins’ “The Armed Man – a Mass for Peace” (click here for a recording) gaining the accolade.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Now for those photographs…
Today’s pictures start here.This Orange Tip gets the nod for feature image.
A look at day four in the county championship and a photo gallery.
Today was the fourth and final day of the first round of County Championship 2026 fixtures. This post looks at events in the match between Warwickshire and Surrey.
A GREAT PARTNERSHIP
Surrey resumed today on 169-3, still 47 runs short of avoiding an innings defeat. There were some close calls early in the day, but both Jamie Smith and Dan Lawrence batted very well, and by lunch, with the fourth wicket pair still in residence, the draw was already looking the likeliest outcome. The pair went on to break a record that had stood since 1906, for the biggest fourth wicket partnership for Surrey against Warwickshire. By the time Chris Woakes took a catch off Rob Yates to dismiss Smith for 132 the score had climbed to 366, and any result other than a draw looked very unlikely indeed. By the tea interval the score had risen to 390-4, and it was just a question of when hands would finally be shaken. In the event it took another hour and 57 more runs before the moment arrived. Dan Lawrence was undefeated on 161, and at the other end Ben Foakes who had saved Surrey from a disastrous start on day one was unbeaten on 36. Surrey had scored 288-1 on this final day. The pitch, lively on day one, seemed very flat indeed by the end of day four. Nevertheless both sides have reasons to be pleased. For Warwickshire there was Dan Mousley’s first championship hundred, especially significant in that while their bowling depth was obvious for all to see some had had questions about the batting, and 50+ scores from a number of their other players. For Surrey there were three individual tons (Foakes, Smith, Lawrence), a new career best score from Tom Lawes, and considerable resilience demonstrated on two occasions, first recovering from 65-6 to post 328 in the first innings, and then batting very well to secure the draw after what they themselves admitted had been a poor bowling display. I would expect both these sides to be near the top come the end of the season – both have considerable bowling resources, and as both showed in this match, they can bat more than adequately. |Essex and Sussex have each recorded victories in their opening games, Somerset and Nottinghamshire drew their match, and rounding out division one Yorkshire and Glamorgan are still playing, though a draw looks likely there.
PHOTOGRAPHY
My usual sign off…
A green shieldbug on a green leaf……and close upA small blue butterfly on a buddleia leaf near the Eastgate Bridge over the Gaywood River, King’s Lynn (two pics).
A look at the latest developments in Warwickshire v Surrey and a photo gallery.
Today is day three of the opening round of county championship fixtures for the 2026 season. This post looks at what has been happening between Warwickshire and Surrey.
THE DAYS EVENTS
Sam Hain was the first to fall on day three, trapped LBW by Matt Fisher for 94. Mousley continued his impressive play of the previous day until he fell for 144, caught by Rory Burns off James Taylor. That was 394-4. Warwickshire skipper Ed Barnard looked in magnificent form until Burns caught him off Fisher for 25. Aussie Beau Webster became the fifth Warwickshire player to top 50 in the innings before being pinned LBW by Tom Lawes. Numbers 7,8 and 9 in the Warwickshire order, Kai Smith, Chris Woakes and Jordan Thompson, all fell to 18 year old left arm spin bowling all rounder Ralphie Albert, Smith to a catch by Foakes, Woakes clean bowled and Thompson caught by Fisher. Thompson’s dismissal ended the innings, with Ethan Bamber having been LBW to Taylor for 11. Warwickshire thus ended on 544, a first innings advantage of 216. Albert’s figures were 20.3-1-80-3, splendid in such a huge total. The only Surrey bowler to be more economical than Albert was Australian veteran Sean Abbott, whose right arm seam yielded 25-4-74-1.
The weather has been fine in my part of the world of late, apart from Friday which was dull and grey. I thus have lots of pictures to share, and not being inspired to think of things to write about I offer up this gallery:
One of the villains of the natural world – an ichneumon wasp (this variety lays its eggs in a caterpillar, which then gets eaten from the inside by the larvae).
A look at the state of the Six Nations as the tournament nears its end.
The 2026 Six Nations rugby tournament is approaching its conclusion. This post looks at the remaining possibilities.
IRELAND v SCOTLAND
Three teams came into today with a chance of winning the trophy – Scotland, Ireland and France. Scotland needed to beat Ireland and hope for a favour from England, who face France in the last match of the tournament tonight. In the event Ireland were in control virtually the whole way through the match, although Scotland reduced the deficit to five points midway through the second half. Ireland finished strongly, and the final score was Ireland 43 Scotland 21. Ireland sit top of the table at present.
WALES v ITALY
Wales are guaranteed the wooden spoon having lost all four of their matches so far and managed only one bonus point. Even if they win they will be behind current second last place side England. A win for Italy on the other hand would ensure them fourth spot ahead of England (they cannot catch Scotland, now in third place, whatever happens.
FRANCE v ENGLAND
Any win will be enough for France to lift the trophy since they have a much better ‘points difference’ than Ireland, and this is used as the tie-splitter. A bonus point win (scoring four tries or more) would avoid the need for tie-splitting. They are level on points with Scotland as things stand, so only the vanishingly (almost worthy of using Dan Dennett’s “Vanishingly” with the V capitalized, from “Darwin’s Dangerous Idea”!) small chance of England winning by 80 points or more, which would put Scotland ahead of France on ‘points difference’ could see them below Scotland. England have had an awful tournament by their standards, losing to Scotland, Ireland and Italy and beating Wales, but if Italy lose against Wales and they record a bonus point win over France they will slide into fourth out of six. It has been a splendid Six Nations overall, and either France or Ireland would be worthy winners.
A brief account of today’s BBL Final and a photo gallery.
Today saw the final of the 15th edition of the men’s Big Bash League. The match featured the two most successful franchises in the history of the competition, Perth Scorchers and Sydney Sixers, at the former’s home ground since they had won the league stage of the tournament.
ONE WAY TRAFFIC
Scorchers won the bat flip, put Sixers in to bat and went about things utterly ruthlessly thereafter. Other than Steve Smith early on with 24 from 13 balls none of the Sixers batters really got going against some fine Scorchers bowling. David Payne, an English left arm seamer, was the star with 3-18 from his four overs, and he was a little unlucky those figures weren’t even better – Joel Davies was saved from becoming his fourth victim when a replay indicated that a diving catch in the deep had not in fact been cleanly taken. Sixers had only managed 132-9 from their 20 overs. Scorchers never looked in any danger of not scoring the runs. Although they made slightly heavy weather of finishing the job they still had six wickets and 2.3 overs in hand when Josh Inglis finished things with a six off Ben Dwarshuis, which is a thrashing in anyone’s language. Scorchers have now won six of the 15 editions of this tournament.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
This Egret provided lots of pictures, as you will see……ending with this one.
A look at yesterday’s Women’s Six nations clash between Wales and England and a photo gallery.
Yesterday in the women’s Six Nations rugby England travelled to Cardiff to take on Wales at the Principality Stadium. England has won comfortably in their opener against Italy, but the Italians had given a good account of themselves in the second half, albeit one not reflected by them scoring many points of their own. Thus they went to Cardiff looking for a complete performance, not just another win.
THE FIRST HALF
Wales started fast, with Jenni Scoble scoring the first try of the match, which was duly converted. England hit back hard with three tries in the next ten minutes, the first from Meg Jones, not merely possessed of a Welsh surname but an actual Welsh speaker. The second try was scored by Sarah Bern, by dint of sheer power. With 27 minutes on the clock Feaunati scored her second try of the match and England’s fourth to secure the bonus point. That was it for first half scoring, but it was clear that holding England at bay was the limit of Welsh capabilities.
THE SECOND HALF
If the first half had been impressive the second half was downright frightening from England, as they absolutely steamrollered the home side. First Ellie Kildunne showed why she is rated by many as the best female rugby player on the planet right now by scoring a hat trick of tries in the space of about ten minutes. Abby Dow was the next to make her presence felt, scoring England’s eighth try. Try number nine came from Abi Burton, who has been through health problems of sufficient magnitude that at one point she was in an induced coma. Dow scored her second, which took England to 60 points. Then in the dying embers of the match Burton, only on the field for seven minutes, scored the second try of an astonishing international debut, with the conversion ending the match. The final score was Wales 12 England 67, and England were not especially flattered by that score line. This tournament, at least for England, is really a warm-up for the upcoming world cup, of which England are hosts. On the evidence of this performance few would dare to bet against the home side lifting that trophy.
Completing my account of the WNAG visit to Pensthorpe a week ago with the trailer ride.
Welcome to the final post in my series (posts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 can be viewed by clicking the appropriate number). about the West Norfolk Autism Group trip to Pensthorpe. This post deals with the trailer ride (we had two booked, and I was on the second at 12 noon).
THE JOURNEY
There are some parts of Pensthorpe that cannot be accessed on foot, and others that sufficiently far from the starting point that doing so would take a very long time. The vehicle that pulls the trailer is a Land Rover Defender. In the course of the journey one sees some of the farm area, both old and new growth woodland, lakes, ponds that are a remnant of the last ice age and nesting sites of one sort and another for birds and bats. We got a glimpse of the Aberdeen Angus cattle but not the longhorns that they also have. The route takes in parts of two former railway routes which crossed the land – one was part of a major railway company, the other a smaller local route, and both were killed by Beeching in the 1960s. We also saw a family of greylag geese, with six youngsters. On a day like we had the absence of shelter was never an issue, and being in such an open vehicle did make photography easier. If you do not do the trailer ride you will never have anything close to a complete picture of Pensthorpe.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Here are my photographs from the trailer ride…
A nesting box for barn owls.This is for terns.bat boxes – ensuring that the bats can always be away from the direction of the sun (all the species in this area are tiny, with the pipistrelle the most frequent visitor).The greylag goose family (four shots).
aspiblog 