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An enormous black aerial blanket<\/strong> is approaching Cheltenham college with intent.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A lunchtime email<\/strong>, hello there, Anthony Aldred.<\/p>\n \u201cToday an inspiring group of young elderly men and women took part in a walking cricket festival at The Oval. All had a great time with laughter as well as a good competitive spirit. A long time ago some of my children played Kwik cricket for Send Cricket<\/a> Club colts on The Oval outfield during the lunchtime of a West Indies Test Match. Not quite the same but now I have done it too. Walking cricket is brilliant. I stopped playing in my early 50s and never thought I would play again yet here I am at 78 performing on a Test ground. Opened the batting too!\u201d<\/p>\n Well done Dad! I hope there is video footage.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.53 EDT<\/p>\n Going to hunt down some lunch, <\/strong>back shortly.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Lunchtime scores<\/p>\n DIVISION ONE<\/strong><\/p>\n Southampton<\/strong>: Hampshire v Nottinghamshire<\/a> 20-1 rain<\/p>\n Taunton<\/strong>: Somerset<\/a> v Durham 33-3 rain<\/p>\n Hove<\/strong>: Sussex<\/a> 69-4 v Essex rain<\/p>\n Edgbaston<\/strong>: Warwickshire v Worcestershire<\/a> 67-3<\/p>\n Scarborough<\/strong>: Yorkshire<\/a> 82-0 v Surrey<\/p>\n DIVISION TWO<\/strong><\/p>\n Derby<\/strong>: Derbyshire v Leicestershire<\/a> 118-2<\/p>\n Sophia Gardens<\/strong>: Glamorgan<\/a> v Kent 111-2<\/p>\n Cheltenham<\/strong>: Gloucestershire<\/a> v Lancashire 82-2<\/p>\n Merchant Taylors\u2019 School<\/strong>: Middlesex 90-0 v Northamptonshire<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Hit for Six: The Danger Zone<\/p>\n Some lunchtime reading, in the form of the new <\/strong>Hit for Six<\/strong> report<\/strong> The Danger Zone, six years after the first shocked Shane Warne into speaking out.<\/p>\n Hit for Six: The Danger Zone focuses particular on India \u2013 and the extreme heat that some IPL games are played in. It reveals that 36 per cent of 2025 IPL matches were played in \u201cExtreme Caution\u201d conditions, with an additional 12 per cent in the \u201cDanger\u201d zone.<\/p>\n It also reports that there has been a 125 per cent increase in hazardous heat days in Mumbai since 1970, with Thiruvananthapuram recording over 100 in 2024 alone. The report features voices from the Indian grassroots game, where there are none of the safeguards of franchise or international cricket. .<\/p>\n “All of us talk about it. My teammates and I are noticing that cricket doesn\u2019t feel the same. It\u2019s a bit scary because we don\u2019t know how bad it\u2019ll get. Mohammad Kaif, Wonders Club, Noida.<\/p>\n You can access the report in more detail at the bottom of the page here<\/a>:<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Rain forces an early lunch at Hove, Southampton and Taunton.<\/p>\n Sussex<\/strong> dine four down, with two wickets to Khaleel Ahmed.<\/p>\n And a wicket here at Cheltenham, as Jennings departs, disgruntled. Lancs 75-2.<\/strong><\/p>\n Share<\/a>Kookaburra – merry, merry king?<\/p>\n I spoke to Rob Key (<\/strong>for the Cricket<\/a> Paper) <\/strong>about the Kookaburra ball at the end of the last round. He was thoughtful about it<\/p>\n \u201cThe misconception is that we are using the ball because of the Ashes, but it is because we want the county game to replicate as much as possible the international game, where people bowl more quickly and with more skill on flatter, truer surfaces. It is a long-term vision.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a small change that has a big effect on the style of cricket played. What we are looking for is players who take on pressure and soak up pressure. We are obsessed with one to one coaching in this country but this is a game learned out in the middle, carving out runs.\u201d<\/p>\n On the tensions between cricketers\/spectators\/selectors<\/strong> \u201cIf you want to get a result you probably do have to play a different kind of cricket. We are looking at the process rather than the results, which is different to the way the county DOCs look at things.\u201d<\/p>\n That it produces boring cricket:<\/strong> \u201cI often think that the way a game is played shows the intent of the team. If the ball is not doing much and you\u2019re scoring at two and a half an over, that\u2019s a mentality thing, and it depends on your attitude towards risk as a team. The games are not meant to be over in two and a half days.\u201d<\/p>\n On spinners.<\/strong>\u201cWe have a whole generation of spinners in the last 15 years who found themselves surplus to requirements, but if you look at the game between Nottinghamshire<\/a> and Yorkshire [in the first of the Kookaburra rounds], Farhan Ahmed and Liam Patterson White bowled 110 overs between them.\u201d<\/p>\n Key\u2019s data deep dive showed that there was 25 percent more spin bowling<\/strong> in the first kookaburra round than there was in the round before.<\/p>\n Interestingly, the decision on when and whether or not to continue with the Kookaburra lies with the county DOCs, who meet with the ECB at the end of the season.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Inspection at 12.30 at Southampton<\/p>\n Delays also at Taunton and Edgbaston.<\/strong><\/p>\n Here, off-spinner Todd Murphy wheels in, tea towel tucked into the waistband of his trousers. An excellent addition to the spinners in glasses club.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n In Division One:<\/strong><\/p>\n Adam Lyth and Finlay Bean<\/strong> have taken Yorkshire<\/a> to 56-0<\/strong> against Division One leaders Surrey at Scarborough.<\/p>\n Ethan Bamber and Ed Barnard<\/strong> chopped off Worcestershire\u2019s openers in the Midlands Derby at Edgbaston: Worcs 40-2.<\/p>\n Durham<\/strong> have been briefly saved by the rain at CLS, Somerset\u2019s Craig Overton took two in two, Durham 33-3.<\/p>\n It is also raining at Southampton, where Notts<\/strong> lost HH early, to Eddie Jack. Notts 20-1.<\/strong><\/p>\n Sussex<\/strong>, who will be joined by Gloucestershire\u2019s Tom Price next year, on a three year contract, have lost three wickets this morning to Essex<\/strong>. Simon Harmer is already two overs into his work. Sussex 50-3.<\/strong><\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n With a reminder (thank you) from BTL<\/strong> that this is a Kookaburra round, a potter round the other Division Two games.<\/p>\n Sam Robson and Max Holden have serenely taken Middlesex to 36-0<\/strong> against Northants<\/strong> at Merchant Taylors\u2019; Rehan Ahmed and Lewis Hill are making merry after Leicestershire\u2019s disastrous start, Leics 44-2;<\/strong> and Kent are fizzing along at five an over against Glamorgan, though they\u2019ve lost Compton for 17. Kent 61-1.<\/strong><\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Currently battling with a parasol<\/strong> to protect laptops from the mizzle.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Pleasingly enthusiastic applaus<\/strong>e as Wells edges behind off Akhter. Lancs 28-1.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.38 EDT<\/p>\n Mark Ramprakash is a very<\/strong> thoughtful columnist.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n There is, I\u2019m afraid to report, some rain in the air <\/strong>here in Cheltenham.<\/strong> De Lange went off after a couple of overs and is, I think, still nursing something or other. Seagulls drifting about, a few pints making their way around the boundary edge. Lancashire<\/a> 23-0.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Leicestershire\u2019s<\/strong> romp to Division One has hit further tacks in the road \u2013 currently one for two, with Budinger and Patel both gone for ducks.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n And from the College Hall end<\/strong>, Ajeet Singh Dale, who was so impressive at Old Trafford earlier this season. Rumours are that he is soon headed to south London, though Lancashire<\/a> were also interested.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A very enthusiastic tannoy announcer<\/strong> jollies up the crowd before play \u2013 and if you\u2019re thinking of coming along, bring your bank card as it is a cash-free ground.<\/p>\n And here come Gloucestershire<\/a>, lead by Cameron Bancroft. Marchant de Lange takes the first over from the Chapel End \u2013 we were watching him in warm-up, he\u2019s built like a rugby player, all tree-trunk legs and oak-table chest. Rapid too, as Jennings edges him through the slips for four.<\/p>\n Cameron Bancroft flips the coin. Photograph: Jacob Hurry\/ShutterstockShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.42 EDT<\/p>\n Looking out from the balcony<\/strong> at a barley sugar outfield, the clouds towering over Cleeve hill. Jimmy Anderson, still captain despite Marcus Harris\u2019 return, has won the toss and decided to bat.<\/p>\n Overheard in the queue, Jimmy is the first knight of the realm ever to play at Cheltenham.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>DIVISION TWO TABLE<\/p>\n 1 Leicestershire<\/a> 157<\/p>\n 2 Derbyshire<\/a> 126<\/p>\n 3 Glamorgan<\/a> 124<\/p>\n 4 Gloucestershire<\/a> 111<\/p>\n 5 Northamptonshire<\/a> 108<\/p>\n 6 Lancashire<\/a> 102<\/p>\n 7. Middlesex<\/a> 99<\/p>\n 8 Kent<\/a> 89<\/p>\n Share<\/a>DIVISION ONE TABLE<\/p>\n 1 Surrey<\/a> 140<\/p>\n 2 Nottinghamshire<\/a> 139<\/p>\n 3 Sussex<\/a> 123<\/p>\n 4 Somerset<\/a> 117<\/p>\n 5 Warwickshire<\/a> 117<\/p>\n 6 Durham<\/a> 108<\/p>\n 7 Hampshire<\/a> 105<\/p>\n 8 Yorkshire<\/a> 91<\/p>\n 9 Essex<\/a> 88<\/p>\n 10 Worcestershire<\/a> 73<\/p>\n Share<\/a>The future of the County Championship<\/p>\n Part XXXXV<\/strong>\u2026the votes are (starting to come) in: Surrey and Somerset have announced that they want 14 Championship games, with a return to eight teams in Division One and 10 in Division Two; Middlesex also want 14, but with ten teams in the top tier, while Durham and Lancashire<\/a> support the 12\/6 conference idea.<\/p>\n The PCA, meanwhile, have put their weight behind the conference plan and a reduction in the number of games to 12, alongside a reduced Blast schedule.<\/p>\n \u201cA change in format of the County Championship<\/a> to 12 league games is the only reasonable option\u201d said Olly Hannon-Dalby, PCA chair, breathing \u201cnew life\u201d into the competition.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Gary Naylor\u2019s excellent round-up of<\/strong> the Blast, as it goes into hibernation.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Fixtures<\/p>\n DIVISION ONE<\/strong><\/p>\n Southampton<\/strong>: Hampshire v Nottinghamshire<\/p>\n Taunton<\/strong>: Somerset<\/a> v Durham<\/p>\n Hove<\/strong>: Sussex<\/a> v Essex<\/p>\n Edgbaston<\/strong>: Warwickshire v Worcestershire<\/p>\n Scarborough<\/strong>: Yorkshire<\/a> v Surrey<\/p>\n DIVISION TWO<\/strong><\/p>\n Derby<\/strong>: Derbyshire v Leicestershire<\/p>\n Sophia Gardens<\/strong>: Glamorgan<\/a> v Kent<\/p>\n Cheltenham<\/strong>: Gloucestershire<\/a> v Lancashire<\/p>\n Merchant Taylors\u2019 School<\/strong>: Middlesex v Northamptonshire<\/p>\n