Will Jacks smashes 150 to lead Surrey fightback against Essex

Will Jacks’ stunning 150 not out helped LV= Insurance County Championship leaders Surrey out of trouble and into a position of strength against Essex at the Kia Oval.

Surrey were 159 runs adrift of Essex after staggering to 112 for seven on day two and that precarious position might have been even worse had Sir Alastair Cook held on to a slip chance with Jacks on nine.

Jacks capitalised on the drop, getting support from Tom Lawes (19) and Kemar Roach (29), and exploded into action when Surrey fell nine down, thumping Simon Harmer for two sixes en route to three figures.

Worse was to follow for Harmer as he conceded 23 in his next over, including three successive sixes, while Matt Critchley leaked 26 in five balls as Jacks went from 100 to 150 in just 16 deliveries.

Surrey were all out for 319 and a 48-run lead before Daniel Worrall, whose resistance for 17 balls allowed Jacks to excel, took centre stage himself. With six overs remaining in the day he followed up his first-innings six for 56 by removing Sir Alastair Cook and Sam Cook as Essex closed on 19 for two.

Elsewhere in Division One, Yorkshire were left in the lurch by their former seamer Jack Brooks, whose three for 38 put Somerset in command at Taunton.

Tom Abell added just two his overnight 114 but Lewis Gregory’s 77 carried Somerset to 424 all out, with England spinner Dom Bess taking four wickets, but it was Brooks’ impact which left Yorkshire wobbling.

Brooks, who played for Yorkshire from 2013-2018, snared captain Adam Lyth before accounting for the in-form Harry Brook and Matthew Revis from back-to-back balls as the White Rose closed on 167 for four.

Joe Denly’s 70 not out, plus an unbeaten 40 from Jordan Cox, carried Kent to 198 for four in their second innings and a lead of 138 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

Sam Hain fell for 99 as Warwickshire were all out for 225 and a 60-run first-innings lead, with Navdeep Saini taking five for 72 on debut for Kent, who recovered from 105 for four thanks to Denly and Cox.

Jack White’s five for 14 turned the tide in Northamptonshire’s favour against Lancashire at Wantage Road.

India spinner Washington Sundar took a five-for on Lancashire debut as Northamptonshire fell to 235 all out but it was soon put in the shade through White’s figures of 13-6-14-5 as the Red Rose collapsed in a heap to 132. Northamptonshire went to stumps on 25 for one in their second innings.

James Vince fell five runs short of a century in Hampshire’s 457 all out, with Keith Barker bludgeoning a quickfire 50 off 38 balls, against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham.

Gloucestershire closed on 43 for two in response.

Ben Duckett’s 241 and Haseeb Hameed’s 196 in a record-breaking 402 from 513 balls carried Division Two table-toppers Nottinghamshire to 618 for eight declared against Derbyshire.

The partnership was a Nottinghamshire record for the second wicket and the fifth highest for that wicket in the history of the competition, with Derbyshire closing on 164 for two at Derby.

Cheteshwar Pujara’s 231 formed the backbone of Sussex’s 523 all out against Middlesex, who closed on 103 without loss at Lord’s courtesy of an unbroken century stand from Sam Robson (45 not out) and Mark Stoneman (47no).

Wiaan Mulder’s unbeaten 147 carried Leicestershire to 387 for five after they had elected to bat first on the opening day of their fixture against Glamorgan at Grace Road.