Sun and ticket office: how the county cricket season got started | Vic Marks | sport

Exclusive: the cricket roundstolen from the observer for Ambridge, who reports on a world without coronavirus

The sun was shining, the mowers set in motion; the diehards were there with their sandwich boxes and anoraks, which were often useless; there was even the suggestion of a gardener (not Tim Packwood of New Rd, Worcester) that we could do with rain. And then our county cricketers got into the fray.

The race was launched for the first wicket of the championship season and the first century and the elderly prevailed. Jimmy Anderson struck in his first game against Kent, while Ian Bell posted the top 100 in Taunton. The two drew muffled applause, it was difficult to make a lot of noise with gloves on and there was a feeling that the old order prevailed. Everything was fine with the world.

Still, after four days of uninterrupted cricket, there were some shocks and the biggest one took place in Headingley (again). There, Gloucestershire played in the Premier League for the first time in 15 years and won an extraordinary match by two wickets.

Dawid Malan hit a polite 87 when he first appeared for Yorkshire and on the last day, Gloucestershire was placed 387 to win. There were significant contributions from the promising James Bracey and Miles Hammond, the Gloucestershire side always seemed more threatening with a Hammond in their ranks, but the critical heats, unbeaten 158, came from Cheteshwar Pujara on his return to Headingley.

Pujara, who had been nicknamed Steve when he played for Yorkshire because they couldn’t pronounce his name, was delighted. I enjoyed my time here, but I also enjoyed marking these tracks, he said. In Bristol, they call me Cheteshwar. I prefer that. Gloucestershires coach highly esteemed Richard Dawson smiled discreetly after the win over his former home, before pointing out that there were 15 games left.

Lancashire defeated Kent by five wickets at Old Trafford; Anderson finished with seven wickets in the game, which means he needs 34 wickets to reach 1,000 in first class cricket. 584 of them came in trial cricket. Darren Stevens, respecting the national speed limit, took five while the young generation was represented by Saqib Mahmood and Harry Podmore (is he the son of Dave, who once brightened the sports pages of the Guardian?).

In Taunton, there was plenty of racing in a draw. Bell was not the only centurion; Dom Sibley also hit a 100, as did Matthew Wade when he started for Somerset; and James Hildreth too. The referees may well have marked the field as above average, although it is doubtful whether the spectators agreed. There is no doubt that the ECB was satisfied with it.

The fourth day was a yawn; no chase was started because the captains decided that the surface was too favorable for the batter to set a target. Both sides took 11 points, which means Somerset remains at the bottom of the table on -1 after deducting 12 points for a poor pitch at the end of last season.

In the second division, Middlesex have played against Worcestershire, who have been promoted six times in the past 17 seasons. Overseas players triumphed with the new Middlesex captain Peter Handscomb, hitting a century, which was matched by Worcestershires Hamish Rutherford. On slow and true ground, it was difficult for the drummers to accelerate, even if any spectator drifting in a drowsiness was soon awakened by the hammering of the builders resuscitating the stands Compton and Edrich.

There was more exciting play at Trent Bridge. The latest import from Nottinghamshires, Haseeb Hameed, hit a century in its early days, which was matched by one of the less enthusiastic Hassan Azad of Leicestershire. In the end, the home team won with only three overs to spare when Stuart Broad won the final wicket with a brilliant dive into the ravine by Peter Trego, an unlikely beginner in Nottinghamshire.

At Hove Ravi Bopara started his career in Sussex with a polite 62 and Stuart Meaker snatched his first wickets for his new county, but the Durham Kolpaks, David Bedingham and Farhaan Behardien scored vital races and there were important wickets for Brydon Carse.

Mark Wood watched with a broad smile from the balcony and assured everyone, as he usually does in April, that he expects to be in great shape again shortly. Delighted captain Cameron Bancroft said he would welcome Woods’ firepower for a few games before the Test Series against the West Indies.

On the sites that have been awarded test matches against the West Indies – the Oval, Edgbaston and the Lords, there have been very promising ticket sales suggesting that the game continues to benefit from a boost after the excitations of 2019.

The last time the West Indies were here, they played the first enlightened test in that country in Birmingham; this will not happen again this summer and the number of complaints regarding the lack of a pink ball test cannot be counted on the fingers of one hand, as this number is zero. In this case, the ECB quickly recognized a concept that does not work in this country.

The counties have reported a good influx for the first round of championship games and there are already several liquidations for the Blast.

Meanwhile, the ECB offices were very excited as the launch of The Hundred approached. An enthusiastic spokesperson said: Everything is fine. We just received a massive batch of fireworks and there are galore boxes of Hula Hoops and Butterkist Popcorn in the back.