Marcus Harris’ third County Championship century for Lancashire has given Australian selectors plenty to ponder ahead of next month’s World Test Championship final.
The Victorian’s glistening red-ball form continued on Saturday with a stylish 121 against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road, with his five-hour, 230-ball knock featuring 18 boundaries.
Dropped on 28 and 82, the left-hander guided Lancashire towards a narrow first-innings lead before the visitors ultimately suffered a 70-run defeat.
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Having contributed 43 in the second innings, Harris is currently the County Championship’s leading run-scorer with 749 runs at 83.22, including three hundreds and three fifties in ten knocks. He also hit 138 against Middlesex at Lord’s in April and 167 against Gloucester at Old Trafford last week.
The 32-year-old, batting out of position at No. 4, has become the fastest player to achieve six 50+ scores for Lancashire, bettering the previous record held by West Indies legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul. He currently tops the county batting aggregates by a whopping 138 runs.
Harris, who made the most recent of 14 Test appearances in 2022, has heaped pressure on teenage opener Sam Konstas ahead of next month’s World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s
Two years ago, Harris was named in Australia’s 15-player squad for the equivalent contest against India at The Oval, but national selectors ultimately backed veteran opener David Warner for the marquee fixture.
Australian seamers Liam Guthrie and Harry Conway starred for Northamptonshire during the low-scoring triumph against Lancashire, taking five wickets each in Darren Lehmann’s first victory since taking charge of the county side.
Chasing 236 for victory, Lancashire was bowled out for 165 in 58.4 overs, with Guthrie removing both openers before claiming the decisive wicket in a spell of 3-34.
Elsewhere in the County Championship, New South Wales opener Daniel Hughes notched 25 and a seven-ball duck during Sussex’s 47-run victory against Worcestershire in Hover.
Tasmanian all-rounder Beau Webster, expected to be named in Australia’s World Test Championship squad this week, scored 15 and claimed two wickets during Warwickshire’s rain-affected draw against Surrey at Edgbaston.
Meanwhile, former England wicketkeeper Ben Foakes cracked an unbeaten 174 for the visitors, while the gloveman didn’t concede a bye during Warwickshire’s innings of 5-665 declared, which lasted 160 overs.
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