Bruce and Tickner Fall Short in County Championship Round Five Action

Both Tom Bruce and Blair Tickner have failed to impress in fifth-round action of the County Championship in England. Bruce’s Lancashire and Tickner’s Derbyshire also suffered losses in their fixtures to Kent and Sussex respectively.

Nathan Smith (Worcestershire) and Will Young (Nottinghamshire) didn’t feature in this round with both sides having a bye. Following the passing of Worcestershire spinner, Josh Baker, at just 20 years old, the round had a very sombre mood, and players wore black armbands in remembrance of Baker.

Lancashire found it difficult to get going against a strong Kent side as they bowled them out for 261 in the first innings. However, matters got worse for Lancashire as they found themselves all out for just 92 in the first innings, with Bruce out to Wes Agar for a golden duck.

They were then made to follow on and put on a much better showing of 332, but this was down to fifties from George Bell (65) and Matthew Hurst (58). Bruce failed to stamp his mark on the innings, falling for 12 from 20 balls to Agar again.

Kent ended up with a seven-wicket win off the back of captain Daniel Bell-Drummond’s 79*. 

Blair Tickner did manage to make contributions to the Derbyshire side, but it was more with the bat than the ball. Coming in at number nine, he and Jack Morley (28) did their best to revive the innings from 157/7 and then 163/8. Tickner struck a career-best 47 from 48 balls before being bowled by James Coles. His knock took Derbyshire to a moderate total of 246.

The bowling side of the match didn’t go too well for Tickner as he only picked up one wicket, that of Tom Haines for 58. His 19 overs went for 71 runs with Sussex piling on 479, led by Cheteshwar Pujara’s 113. 

Tickner didn’t bat in Derbyshire’s second innings, but they were bowled out for just 109 with Sussex managing an innings and 124-run win. 

It was revealed by Tickner on social media that his wife, Sarah, has been diagnosed with Leukaemia. The tweet embedded below gives details of the link to the givealittle page to donate to support the family.

Derbyshire will have the next round off as they prepare to host Northamptonshire at home on the 17th of May. Nathan Smith will hopefully be back in action for Worcestershire as they travel to play Kent in Canterbury, starting on Friday. It will be a chance for the team to play their best to honour Baker as well. 

Will Young’s Nottinghamshire and Bruce’s Lancashire square off in Nottingham with their fixture also starting on Friday.