2006 English Cricket Season - May

May

On 1 May, nine matches were played in the C&G Trophy, with only Derbyshire and Yorkshire resting. Five of the matches were affected by rain, though no team played fewer than 30 overs. In the North, Durham won their first one-day game of the season, Scotland suffered their second loss in as many days at the hands of Nottinghamshire, Lancashire were the only team with two wins after bowling Worcestershire out for 129, while Warwickshire's 128 for 9 in 33 overs led to loss against Leicestershire.

In the South, Hampshire toppled leaders Essex after Shane Warne, Shaun Udal and Dominic Thornely shared out the last six wickets for 34 runs, in what was called a "collapse in spectacular fashion", securing an eight-run win. England international Darren Gough strained a hamstring during the game. Glamorgan beat Ireland by 15 runs but had England Test bowler Simon Jones injured, Surrey beat Kent by one solitary run in a 30-over affair at St Lawrence Ground, and Gloucestershire beat neighbours Somerset on the back of 112 off 79 balls from Ian Harvey and five wickets from spinner Martyn Ball, which meant they led the South Division after this round. The final match saw Sussex beat Middlesex to go third in the table.

Eight County Championship matches began on 3 May, along with the University match between Worcestershire and Bradford/Leeds UCCE, which Worcestershire won by 250 runs after making 500 for 2 declared in the first innings. Thus, Durham were the only team without a game. In Division One, Warwickshire were passed by Lancashire on the table despite beating Nottinghamshire by 60 runs - their first innings total of 248 only gave them one bonus point. Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper David Alleyne made 109 not out in the second innings, but was deserted by his batting partners as they totalled 316 in chase of 377 to win. Lancashire took the Championship lead, chasing 89 in the fourth innings and succeeding with the loss of four wickets against Kent at Old Trafford, while Sussex beat Yorkshire at Headingley after 11 wickets from Naved-ul-Hasan and 124 and 55 not out from Matthew Prior. The final match saw Middlesex get their second loss of the season, as they were bowled out for 98 after opting to bat and ended with a ten-wicket defeat to Hampshire.

Surrey took over the lead in Division Two after beating Gloucestershire by an innings and 297 runs, with Mark Ramprakash hitting 292 for Surrey, while Essex went down at home to Leicestershire after being forced to follow on. Somerset failed to exploit the first-innings 154 from Marcus Trescothick, losing by an innings and 46 to Northamptonshire, whose top-scorer Lance Klusener made 147 not out, and Derbyshire successfully defended a target of 213 against Glamorgan to win by 28 runs, with Steffan Jones taking six for 25.

England A also played the touring Sri Lankans while this round of county cricket was on, starting their game on 4 May. Jon Lewis grabbed nine wickets in England A's ten-wicket win, while Robert Key was the only batsman to hit a half-century. The Sunday saw seven C&G Trophy games: in the South, there was little change at the top, but Essex went third after downing Ireland. Middlesex and Somerset also recorded wins. In the North, rain affected all four matches; Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire had to abandon their clash at Headingley, while Lancashire extended their lead with an eight-wicket win at Northamptonshire. Durham and Derbyshire were second and third after wins, and Scotland defended 188 in 25 overs to beat Worcestershire and record their first win of the season.

The next round of the Championship had a staggered start: three matches began on 9 May, and five on 10 May. Warwickshire lost sight of the leaders after a 193-run loss to Hampshire, while Lancashire had to give up their league lead while being on a bye. They played Durham UCCE, drawing the three-day game. Sussex seized the chance, beating defending champions Nottinghamshire inside three days at Hove despite going 86 down on first innings, which was enough to see them take the league lead. Middlesex lost their third successive Championship match, to Durham, while Kent and Yorkshire drew.

Glamorgan stopped their run of defeats in Division Two of the Championship, batting through 108 overs to make 267 for five after following on, while Essex went top of the table after beating Somerset in a game where Essex declared 71 behind on first innings. Somerset responded by declaring overnight on 275 for five, setting Essex 347 to win, which they made in 90.4 overs after being at 125 for four. There were also wins for Gloucestershire and Derbyshire.

This week also staged the first Test match of the English season. England, once again led by Andrew Flintoff due to Michael Vaughan's knee injury, batted first against Sri Lanka, declared on 551 for six, then took 19 wickets over the remaining three and a half days of play as the game ended in a draw. During the Test, seven matches in the C&G Trophy were played; Kent recorded their first win, beating Hampshire on the last ball, while the still unbeaten Sussex and Essex broke away from the rest with wins and Surrey and Ireland played out a no-result in Belfast. In the North, Lancashire totalled 307 for three against Durham to win by 125 runs and extend their streak of one-day victories to four in four games, while Derbyshire remained second, also unbeaten, after bowling Warwickshire out for 197 to win by nine runs. Yorkshire opened their account of wins by beating Northamptonshire by two runs despite 161 from Northamptonshire's David Sales, and Worcestershire beat Leicestershire.

The next week included four Championship and three UCCE matches, in addition to Sussex' tour match with the Sri Lankans. Despite not playing Championship cricket, Sussex remained Championship leaders for another week, but Lancashire closed the gap to one point after their draw in Yorkshire, and Durham went third after attaining the same result at Nottinghamshire. In Division Two, Derbyshire, as the only unbeaten team, took over the lead with a home draw against Leicestershire, while Phil Jaques took 69 balls to hit 107 as Worcestershire chased 287 despite rain shortening their chase to 32 overs. Jaques, who played his first match in the English season, could later read that his innings was named "Innings of the Week" by Cricinfo. In the UCCE matches, Kent, Hampshire and Somerset all drew, as did Sussex in their tour match with Sri Lanka, which included centuries from Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera and Chamara Kapugedera before the visitors declared on 521 for five. Sussex' number eight Oliver Rayner then hit a debut 101 after coming in at 98 for six, helping Sussex to avoid defeat. In the C&G Trophy, six matches were scheduled in England, but all ended in abandonment or no results due to the weather conditions. Scotland did get to play at Edinburgh, however, beating Northamptonshire by 52 runs. The top sides in both divisions were not scheduled to play, however.

The fourth and final week once again included the full Championship round of eight matches, in addition to the second Test match between England and Sri Lanka. Again, most matches ended in draws, though Sussex increased their lead after Naved-ul-Hasan and Mushtaq Ahmed shared 19 wickets in Durham's efforts of 110 and 80. Sussex totalled 229 in their only innings to win by an innings and 39 runs. Middlesex avoided defeat for the first time this season, but were still bottom, while Lancashire went second and Warwickshire third. In Division Two, Essex drew level with Derbyshire in the table after gaining four more bonus points, while Glamorgan were one wicket away from their first win of the season after having Worcestershire at 117 for nine; however, they finished the game with fewer points than their opponents Worcestershire. The Test gave England their first win of the home summer, with Liam Plunkett taking three top-order wickets as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 141. England took a first innings lead of 156 after a hundred from Kevin Pietersen, and despite Michael Vandort's second-innings hundred, England made it to the target of 81 with six wickets to spare.

The double round of C&G Trophy matches saw 15 games played, six on 28 May and nine on the following day. The first day saw Derbyshire get their first defeat all season when they went down to Scotland at home, with Ryan Watson hitting 108 for the Scots. Lancashire failed to take advantage of Derbyshire's defeat, however, failing to defend 288 against Yorkshire, but they remained on top ahead of Worcestershire, who beat Northamptonshire on the back of a hundred from Phil Jaques. In the South, Sussex remained undefeated after chasing 297 to win at The County Ground, Chelmsford. Essex' total was helped by 132 from Ronnie Irani, but Murray Goodwin responded by making 158 not out for Sussex. Gloucestershire went second after defeating Glamorgan, while Ireland fell to bottom after losing to Middlesex.

Lancashire remained on top of the North Division at the end of May, despite playing out a no-result with Nottinghamshire, as Derbyshire beat second-placed Worcestershire to go back into second place, followed by Yorkshire who defeated Scotland at Headingley. There were also wins for Durham and Warwickshire. In the South, Sussex stretched their runs of victories to five, which also saw them go three points clear of any challengers as Gloucestershire went down to Hampshire. Kent and Surrey also won matches in the South.