Cricket Hammond’s first ton gives Gloucestershire the edge at Cheltenham
MILES Hammond produced a maiden first-class century packed with courage, patience and skill to put Gloucestershire in a decent position on the second day of the Specsavers County Championship match against Sussex at Cheltenham.
Born and bred in the town, the 22-year-old left-hander overcame an early blow on the helmet to strike 103 off 203 balls, with 20 fours, as his side ran up 303-8 in reply to the visitors’ first-innings total of 286.
Skipper Chris Dent contributed 65 to an opening stand of 182. Then James Bracey (34) and Gareth Roderick (48 not out) built on the efforts of the openers before Jofra Archer put a different complexion on the game by claiming three wickets in the penultmate over.
The Sussex bowling was far from toothless earlier in the day, as Archer and Ollie Robinson, in particular, produced some pacey spells on a pitch still offering bounce and went past the bat on numerous occasions.
Hammond and Dent had to survive a torrid first hour, which saw the latter dropped by Phil Salt at third slip off Robinson, a straightforward chance, with his score on 14 and the total 44.
It proved a costly error. Before adding to his overnight 27, the unflappable Hammond had needed a few minutes to recover, having been struck by a short ball from Robinson.
But soon the batsman with the famous Gloucestershire cricketing surname was producing a string of exquisite cover drives reminiscent of his illustrious predecessor, the late, great Wally Hammond, albeit left-handed.
That shot accounted for most of the 11 fours, which took Hammond to his half-century off 86 balls. When the stand with Dent reached 115 it was Gloucestershire’s highest opening partnership of the season.
Dent went to fifty off 151 balls, with six fours, having dropped anchor responsibly in the face of some testing seam bowling. By lunch he and Hammond had taken the total to 137. They were eventually parted when Dent lost concentration and helped a delivery from left-arm spinner Danny Briggs, scooping a catch to Jofra Archer and short fine-leg.
Hammond reached three figures with a square cut boundary off David Weiss, but two balls later edged a wide one from the same bowler through to wicketkeeper Ben Brown.
The young local product left the ground to a standing ovation, having marked only his fourth firstclass appearance, and his first since 2015, with an innings he will remember forever.
Hammond said: “It was an emotional moment when I reached my first hundred and maybe that contributed to me getting out so soon afterwards.
“I was born here and my dad took me to many Cheltenham Festivals when I was a boy, even though I went school in Oxford. He was here today and was going round telling everyone not to say anything while I was in the nineties. At the moment I regard myself as a batsman who bowls. But my aim is to get my bowling back to where it used to be and develop as a genuine all-rounder.”