Ben Duckett blasted his way to an unbeaten double century on Monday as County Championship title contenders Nottingham and Surrey settled for a draw at Trent Bridge.
The England Test opener announced in March that he would be pulling out of this year's Indian Premier League in a bid to improve his form against the red ball, following a dismal Ashes series over the winter.
Across the start of the County Championship season, Duckett has amassed 503 runs from seven innings. During Nottinghamshire's first innings, he was dismissed by Dan Worrall - who took six wickets in the first innings - for 42 runs.
He returned again on Monday, smashing 203 runs off 311 deliveries, including 23 fours and one six.
"The game was hard-fought, two very good sides going at it," Duckett said to Nottinghamshire's club website after the draw. "Obviously, my knock was great. Last night, going in, I thought that if we lost a few wickets we could have been under a lot of pressure against that attack. So, just spoke to the guys about taking it hour-by-hour.
"That second half of my innings was probably one of the easier parts of my career, but I had to do a lot of work to get to that stage and kept telling myself to be there at the end."
Reflecting on his decision to sit out the IPL this summer, Duckett believes his game is trending upwards into the summer, and any concerns that he might have been dropped from England's Test squads to face New Zealand and Pakistan will now surely have faded.
"I've made a decision to be here for my personal career, I love playing in this dressing room," he added on his decision to sit out the IPL.
"That decision I made last month, everything is going in the right direction, and my game is good order and hopefully I can take this confidence going forward this summer."
The victory sees Nottinghamshire take a six-point lead at the top of the first division.
Ollie Robinson has added more strength to his case for an England call-up this summer, taking six wickets as Sussex claimed a seven-wicket victory over Leicestershire in Brighton.
The pace bowler has been in fine form at the start of this season and is in the frame for selection for England's upcoming Tests against New Zealand and Pakistan.
England coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key have both been in contact with the 32-year-old in recent months about a return to the Test squad, with Robinson having not played red-ball cricket for England since February 2024.
"I had a text from Baz [McCullum] at the start of the season, just to say that the door was still open, which was nice," Robinson told ESPN Cricinfo. "Keysy rang me as well to say: 'Take wickets, knock the door down and there's still a spot for you'."
So far this season, he has 17 wickets, but has also dazzled with the bat, hitting a century not out during Sussex's last match against Surrey.
Two long rain stoppages had threatened to end Sussex's 131-run chase on Monday after they dismissed their opponents for 232.
Tom Clark and Daniel Hughes arrived at the crease, but Hughes was sent walking back to the clubhouse shortly after for a duck. Clark struck 39 off 30 deliveries, with Danial Ibrahim also arriving at the crease to slog four fours and one six, before being dismissed for 48. James Coles (32) and Jack Leaning (7) made up the final runs as Sussex moved to fourth in the standings, having won two games and lost one.
Elsewhere, Warwickshire claimed their second victory of the season, beating Yorkshire by a whopping 337 runs, thanks to an incredible bowling performance from Ethan Bamber and Oliver Hannon-Dalby.
Yorkshire started the last day chasing down 549, but were all out for 171, with Bamber taking four wickets for 50 runs, while Hannon-Dalby took three.
Essex defeated bottom-side Hampshire by six wickets, with Ben Brown's side having now suffered their fourth defeat of the season.
Glamorgan moved up to fifth in the standings after bouncing back from dropping from 81 without loss before to 140 for five against Somerset on Sunday. It was a historic win for the Cardiff-based outfit who sealed their first-ever home triumph in Division One.
In the second division, Shoaib Bashir took three wickets for 70 as Derbyshire bowled out Northamptonshire for 263 to claim victory by an innings and 113 runs, as fast bowler Zak Chappell also impressed, taking four for 53.
Tawanda Muyeye spurred Kent to victory over Gloucestershire in Bristol, with the visitors claiming an eight-wicket victory to send Gloucestershire to the bottom of the second division.
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