'Magnificent' Whiteman scores maiden county century

Sam Whiteman struck his maiden County Championship hundred to lead from the front and help Northamptonshire cling on for a draw against Peter Siddle's Somerset.

Captaining the Steelbacks in the absence of regular skipper Luke Procter, Whiteman batted the entire final day at Taunton to deny a strong home side attack also featuring England Test spinner Jack Leach.

The 31-year-old Western Australian, reprising the fill-in skipper role he performed in March when he led the Warriors to their second consecutive Marsh Sheffield Shield title, finished unbeaten on 130 after batting for nearly seven hours.

Somerset had been pushing for an innings victory at the outset of day four after taking a 157-run first-innings advantage and when Northamptonshire lost their seventh wicket, the visitors were ahead by just 62.

But No.9 Tom Taylor scored an invaluable 53 from 100 balls. Jordan Buckingham, the young South Australia paceman making his county debut, had also held firm in scoring 17 off 66 after coming in late on day three as a nightwatchman.

It was Whiteman's 11th first-class century and his first outside Australia.

Image Id: 5811765B55E645E283038E0E4D5CF4A5 Image Caption: Whiteman hit 14 fours and a six to save match for Northants // Getty

"It was a magnificent effort by Sam Whiteman in his first match as captain," Northamptonshire coach John Sadler told the Northampton Chronicle and Echo. "The way he controlled his emotions and stuck to his plans were the reason we have been able to draw the game.

"To bat for over a day was outstanding. We made him skipper in the absence of Luke Procter because of his experience leading Western Australia to (the recent Shield title).

"He was the natural choice, although there were other senior players in the dressing room who entered the equation, and it turned out to be the right decision.

"Don’t underestimate the value of Jordan Buckingham’s innings this morning. He didn’t score many runs, but the time he took out of the game was crucial, and overall it was a brilliant team effort."

It was a similar story for Steve Smith on debut with Sussex as Azhar Ali's unbeaten 103 ensured Worcestershire did not succumb to defeat at New Road, despite Test quick Ollie Robinson's career-best match haul.

Robinson took 7-58 to finish with dual seven-wicket bags, giving him match figures of 14-117 in an encouraging sign for England's bowling depth ahead of the upcoming Ashes series.

However the sight of the right-armer going down with cramp midway through his 46th over of the match will be a concern for a bowler whose fitness was questioned by his own team during the most recent Ashes campaign in Australia in 2021-22.

His Test pace partners James Anderson and Stuart Broad's head-to-head battle at Trent Bridge ended with Broad helping Nottinghamshire hold out for a draw, as Anderson claimed three final-day wickets.

Michael Neser could not repeat his first-innings hat-trick heroics as Glamorgan finished one wicket shy of their first win of the season, with Adam Lyth's 174 seeing Yorkshire finish on 9-412, chasing 492 to win.

Neser (0-91 from 23 overs) went wicketless after taking 7-32 including three in three balls earlier in the match, with Australian-born Timm van der Gugten snaring 4-72 including returning England star Jonny Bairstow for a duck.

Marnus Labuschagne, who earlier struck an imperious 170no to set up Glamorgan's second-innings declaration, sent down one over for 16.

It was also a stalemate for Surrey against Essex as Sean Abbott fell for 13 hitting out against South Africa spinner Simon Harmer, with the Australian taking four wickets for the match.

There were confusing scenes at Derby, where uncertainty over how long was left in Derbyshire's match against Leicestershire led to a 20-minute delay before the hosts' commenced their second innings.

Leicestershire had been bowled out late on day four for 281, setting Derbyshire 54 to win. Umpires and players had believed three overs were left in the match, giving the home team a narrow shot at victory, before it was clarified that only one over remained.

Part-timer Colin Ackermann then had to speedily send down the remaining six balls to ensure Leicestershire avoided an over-rate penalty.

"The umpires miscalculated the amount of overs. They said we had three left and it turned out we had one left," Derbyshire coach Mickey Arthur said.

"We thought we had 18 balls there and we were going to give it a full crack but it was a bit harder off six. I think they were calculating just to make sure they'd got it right and obviously it was right that there was only one left."

Australians in the County Championship 

Durham: Matthew Kuhnemann

Essex: Daniel Sams (T20s only)

Glamorgan: Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser

Gloucestershire: Marcus Harris

Hampshire: Nathan Ellis, Ben McDermott (both T20s only)

Kent: Wes Agar, Kane Richardson (T20s only)

Leicestershire: Peter Handscomb (April and May)

Northamptonshire: Chris Tremain (April 6-23), Jordan Buckinhgam (May 1-21), Sam Whiteman (until August), Chris Lynn (T20s), Andrew Tye (T20s)

Somerset: Peter Siddle (until July), Cameron Bancroft (until May 7)

Surrey: Sean Abbott (until July), Dan Worrall (UK passport)

Sussex: Nathan McAndrew (until July), Steve Smith (May 4-21)

Warwickshire: Glenn Maxwell (T20s only)

Yorkshire: Mickey Edwards (UK passport)