Kent Struggles Against Northants as Crawley's Form Remains a Concern

Zak Crawley's struggle for form continued as he scored his third consecutive sub-30 score in the County Championship for Kent, with Northamptonshire piling up a record 684 for two declared at Canterbury. The visitors' top four batsmen all reached three figures, a first for the team, with Luke Procter achieving a maiden double century, finishing unbeaten on 261. Crawley, under pressure to retain his England Test spot, showed patience to reach 26 but was dismissed by a drive off Harry Conway, leaving Kent on 119 for six at the close. Elsewhere, Ben Duckett, Crawley's England opening partner, was run out for just one as Nottinghamshire built a commanding lead over Glamorgan, while Ben McKinney enhanced his own prospects with a score of 244 for Durham against Gloucestershire. Other notable performances included Craig Overton's career-best 141 for Somerset against Essex, Rishi Patel's unbeaten 133 for Leicestershire against Surrey, and Rob Yates' unbeaten 75 for Warwickshire against Sussex.