Ben Duckett takes advantage of early pardon to lift Nottinghamshire at Lord’s

Ben Duckett capitalized on an early moment of fortune to record an unbeaten century on the opening day of the LV=Nottinghamshire Insurance County Championship match against Middlesex.

Ethan Bamber located Duckett’s outside edge, but the ball went between the keeper and the first slip, and England’s first goal proved resolved thereafter as he reached his first three-figure score of the season.

Middlesex might have been regretting their decision to field first after a starting position of 117 runs in just 27.5 overs between Duckett and Haseeb Hameed, who cut for 55 as Bamber had an overdue bounty.

Nottinghamshire then fell to 152 for four, but Duckett was a reassuring presence in the middle, guiding his side to 252 for five before poor light at Lord’s saw the game end early.

Duckett will resume on Friday at 119, not in a field where he will almost certainly open the batting for England against Australia in the second Ashes Test in two months.

Elsewhere in Division One, James Anderson was in the wickets early on in Somerset, who battled Lancashire in Taunton courtesy of unbeaten hundreds from Tom Abell and teenager James Rew.

Anderson sent openers Sean Dickson and Tom Lammonby back to the pavilion after Lancashire won the toss, with Somerset falling to 80 for four as the 19-year-old Rew came out to join his captain Abell.

Rew, born in January 2004, 13 months after Anderson made his international debut, racked up 114 not out and Abell 119 not as Somerset finished strong on 311 for four.

Hampshire closed on 287 for four after Northamptonshire invited him to bat first at Wantage Road where Nick Gubbins (125) and James Vince (104no) put up 198.

There were only 42 possible overs at Canterbury due to poor light and then heavy rain, with Essex jumping to 164 to one. Nick Browne (54th) and Tom Westley (71) have had 121 uninterrupted.

In Division Two, Tom Price had a day to remember, rescuing Gloucestershire from a hopeless collapse with his first-class century before going on to score a hat-trick against Worcestershire at the New Road.

Gloucestershire had stumbled to 45 for seven after being inserted as Price walked into the box, but the number nine batsman hit a 98-ball hundred, hitting four sixes and 12 fours before running out, helping his side to 231 all out.

Worcestershire then fell from 58 without losing to 59 for four, with Price having former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali and fellow middle-order batsmen Jack Haynes and Brett D’Oliveira caught behind successive deliveries.

Price also found Ed Pollock’s advantage to finish on four for 38 as Worcestershire went to the stumps on 118 for seven.

Durham recorded 382 for six after losing the toss against Glamorgan in Cardiff, with Michael Jones (69), Scott Borthwick (59), Ollie Robinson (73) and Brydon Carse (53rd) all surpassing their half-century.

Tom Alsop top-scored with 95, while Oli Carter’s 60th led Sussex to 275 for five after opting to bat against Yorkshire in Hove.