County Cricket: No Thain, No Gain

After week 1 of the One Day Cup, Middlesex were looking the strongest outfit in Group B, but a trip to Worcester upset their 100% start. Josh de Caires achieved another career-best, this time a maiden century of 130, but the experienced Jake Libby led the successful run chase with an unbeaten 109. A few days later, he repeated the score against Essex but this time in vain.

It was a strange week for Essex. In their three fixtures, they racked up more than a thousand runs, passing three hundred on each occasion, yet emerged with only four points. Young Noah Thain was in sparkling form, striking successive tons against Sussex and Hampshire, and team-mates Tom Westley and Matt Critchley also filled their boots, each reaching three figures in the week’s highest total of 376-5. 

Middlesex, Yorkshire and Durham all have four wins to their names, and they had to play each other. Halifax-born Benjamin Cliff’s medium pace scuppered Durham’s innings at York before Wharton and Whiteman saw the home side home by seven wickets. However, Yorkshire’s bid to top the table was undone by Middlesex at Lord’s. Cliff, again, took 4-39 but, despite a modest target of 247, their batting wilted against Zafar Gohar’s spin and Noah Cornwell’s pace and they succumbed to a 35-run defeat. 

Durham had earlier beaten Glamorgan in a high-scoring thriller thanks to Will Rhodes’ 148 not out and two wickets and finished the week with a resounding walloping of Hampshire by nine wickets. Emilio Gay (remember him?) rediscovered that early-season form by notching an unbeaten 104. 

Leicestershire Foxes lead Group A. Recovering from last Tuesday’s poor showing against Nottinghamshire, they proceeded to humble Northants by eight wickets and Somerset by a hefty 164 runs. The Outlaws remain second although they suffered losses to Lancashire and Kent. The latter clash went to the final over but Chris Benjamin’s rapid half-century proved decisive. Daniel Bell-Drummond must be one of the finest batsmen in recent years not to have been capped by England but he accumulated two hundred runs this week to keep Kent in the hunt. 

Other notable performances include Ed Barnard’s dominant 140 in Warwickshire’s victory over Surrey and Jack Morley’s 5-28 for Derbyshire in the 188-run demolition of Sussex. 

The next week’s games include Leicestershire v Kent at Beckenham and Derbyshire’s opportunity to disrupt both Group B leaders, Yorkshire and Middlesex. Durham also host Middlesex at Gosforth. 

Team of the Week: Thain (Ess), Bell-Drummond (Ken), De Caires (Mid), Barnard (War), Libby (Wor), Verreynne (Not +), Rhodes (Dur), Critchley (Ess), Potts (Der), Morley (Der), Cliff (Yor)

County Cricket: Middlesex are Lords of the One Day Cup

Who needs The Hundred when you can celebrate old favourites and fresh talent playing proper one-day cricket over fifty overs: The Three Hundred, if you like.

Split into two groups, most counties played three fixtures in the first week, and only Middlesex triumphed in all three. They top Group B after casting aside Essex, Hampshire and Glamorgan. The last two were nothing short of massacres. Against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl, Josh De Caires produced List A personal bests with both bat and ball, following his 75 with 6-35 from his off-breaks. He didn’t get a bowl against Glamorgan because Toby Roland-Jones, Naavya Sharma and Noah Cornwell ripped out Glamorgan for 66 all by themselves. De Caires plundered ten boundaries as Middlesex ticked off the runs inside ten overs. Interestingly, Roland-Jones is almost as old as Sharma and Cornwell combined. Seamer Sharma claimed eight wickets in total from these, his first List A matches of what could be a long career. 

Other youngsters also made their mark this week. 20-year-old Hamza Shaikh turned out for Warwickshire a few weeks ago but his opening trio of innings in Leicestershire colours yielded 228 runs, including a maiden century against Surrey. He also scored 91 in an epic attempt to surpass Lancashire’s formidable 383-4, which included 135 by Keaton Jennings. South African all-rounder Ruan de Swardt contributed 126 in the same innings, and two wickets to boot. 

That Group A Leicester-Surrey encounter turned out to be a game of two R Patels. Leicester opener Rishi  struck 110, exceeding Surrey opener Ryan’s 97, although it was the latter’s 3-44 that nudged him into my Team of the Week. Blast winners Northamptonshire could not maintain their white ball form, losing to Kent and Surrey despite a run of three half-centuries from skipper Nathan McSweeney. 

Somerset lead Group A, thanks to a couple of hefty batting totals in victories over Gloucestershire and Warwickshire. Tom Lammonby is the competition’s leading scorer so far. Three 80+ innings but no centuries, but Lewis Goldsworthy did reach 103 against Warwicks. 21-year-old Joshua Thomas also caught the eye. 

Partnership of the week belonged to a pair of Monmouthshire products, Jack Hope-Bell (aged 19) and ‘keeper Alex Horton (21). Each notching tons, they shared 240 for the sixth wicket at Neath in a twelve-run win against Sussex, who, along with Derbyshire, lost all three Group B ties. 

Ben Stokes has considerably greater experience, and he made two extremely rare 50-over outings with Durham. No wickets, but an aggregate of 181 run not out, featuring eight sixes, must have delighted both home and away supporters. 

Top bowling figures of the week were delivered by Yorkshire’s Ben Coad (5-12 v Sussex) and Worcestershire’s Fateh Singh (6-32 v Derbyshire). However, such are the vagaries of limited-overs cricket that in their other games, they went for 77 and 81, respectively. Can’t win ‘em all. 

Team of the Week: Jennings (Lan), R Patel (Sur), Luxton (Yor), De Caires (Mid), Lammonby (Som), Prest (Ham), Hamza Shaikh (Lei), Horton (Gla +), de Swardt (Lei), Fateh Singh (Wor), Naavya Sharma (Mid)

Northants Bounce back to win the Blast

So Northamptonshire won the men’s Vitality Blast but it was a rollercoaster ride in the concluding week. The Steelbacks had dominated the Central/West group so ultimately it did not matter that they lost their last two games. The other two group leaders also stumbled across the qualification finish line. Hampshire were trounced by Essex, for whom Matt Critchley took 4-16, and it was Yorkshire’s seamers who inflicted most of the damage in beating Nottinghamshire. 

In the South division, Essex also defeated runners-up Surrey to nick one of the best third-place slots in the knockouts. Lancashire also took two out of two, including a 22-run Roses victory in which Mitchell Stanley claimed 4-30. He also caught Joe Root off Anderson’s bowling for just four. However, it obviously did the England man’s confidence no harm given his fabulous form in the ensuing India ODIs. As for the Red Roses, their efforts came too late to progress in the competition. 

In contrast, Somerset had to fight al the way to advance. They completed an improbable demolition double over Northants at Taunton before thumping Worcestershire by 78 runs at the same venue. Each were achieved on the foundations of barnstorming opening partnerships involving Will Smeed and Thomas Rew. 

It was more difficult for Somerset in their quarter-final with Yorkshire at Headingley. Pacemen Daniel Sams – who enjoyed an excellent week – Riley Meredith and Jake Ball limited Jonny Bairstow’s side to 161-9, but tables were turned when George Hill (2-12) and Hasan Ali (2-30) reduced the visitors to a quivering wreck on 82-8. Enter Craig Overton. With nothing to lose, he single-handedly engineered one of the most sensational winning comebacks in T20 history, clubbing 79 from 30 deliveries – including three sixes from Revis’s final over – to haul Somerset to their sixth successive Finals Day. 

Meanwhile, Hampshire sailed serenely on. Joe Weatherly was consistently strung all week but it was a masterful 125 from James Vince and a five-for from Sonny Baker who gained revenge on Essex in the last eight. The remaining matches were all quite low-scoring. At Trent Bridge, chasing 164, Surrey were in charge while Roy and Evans were racking up a century opening stand. However, they crumbled meekly in the last eight overs to fall seven short. Northants rediscovered winning ways at Wantage Road. Ben Sanderson’s 4-20 was the key bowling performance, and the batsmen picked off the required 153 with consummate ease. 

So to Edgbaston for Finals Day. Vengeance was sweet for Northants, avoiding a third loss to Somerset in a fortnight. The latter’s Ball and Meredith took seven cheap wickets to give themselves a clear chance of making another final only for Willey and Sanderson, supported by Sales and Harrison, to stifle the Rews. Tom Banton was released by England only to be caught behind first ball! Vince and Weatherley’s 126 for the second wicket underpinned a straightforward victory against Nottinghamshire and we had probably the most deserving counties playing out the evening climax. 

All twenty wickets fell, five of them to Hampshire’s Baker (again) and only Northants’ Ricardo Vasconcelos (88) and tournament top scorer Weatherley (75) passed 40. With seventeen needed from ten deliveries, four wickets in hand and Weatherley still at the crease, Hampshire looked favourites. However, all four fell at the death, and success was sealed when Sanderson bowled Baker. Cue the fireworks…. 

Team of the Week: Hughes (Sus), Vasconcelos (Nor), Vince (Ham), Weatherley (Ham), T Rew (Som +), Critchley (Ess), C Overton (Som), Jordan (Sur), Sams (Som), Sanderson (Nor), Baker (Ham). 

Over the fifteen fixtures, Northants were worthy winners. In addition to those mentioned here, Chris Lynn’s runs, including two tons, the economical leg-breaks and googlies from Calvin Harrison and the under-rated seam of James Sales all contributed strongly. 

My team of the tournament: Lynn (Nor), Vince (Ham), Weatherley (Ham), Donald (Der +), Webster (War), Livingstone (Lan), Willey (Nor), Hasan Ali (Yor), Currie (Ham), Harrison (Nor), Mohammad Ali (Not)

Sir Garry Sobers – Cricket’s Greatest All-rounder

The arguments about who is the greatest cricketer of all time will always rage. WG, Bradman, Hobbs, Kallis, Stokes (per-lease…) and so on, but it is hard to avoid the claim of Sir Garfield Sobers who died yesterday at the ripe old age of 89. 

If you simply tot up runs, wickets and catches, then of course he won’t be up there with the giants of the multi-format era. However, when you consider that his Test run record of 8,032 lasted more than two decades and his individual score of 365 more than thirty, he had stats to support his reputation as a superstar for any age. And remember he reached that high at the age of 21, and remarkably it was his first century! 

Media obituaries will detail his career highs and personal lows, but I shall focus on what little I remember of him as a young cricket follower. Unfortunately, his career ended before my family bought our first colour TV, so my memories of his colourful batting and bowling were entirely in monochrome. I recall his unbeaten 150 for the West Indies at Lord’s in 1973, although his bowling wasn’t used much in that game. In 1968, he gave up club cricket for the first-class county circuit, spending several seasons at Nottinghamshire. 

When his adopted county featured in the BBC’s live coverage of one-dayers, notably the Sunday afternoon John Player League, I had the opportunity to watch his willowy frame cut and pull with abandon, usually encased in a thick sweater. Those were the days when it rained in summer and four an over was considered a blinding scoring rate in List A games! I don’t recall him bowling spin, although that was why he was originally picked for his Barbados debut. However, I did find his left-arm fast-medium action rather awkward, a million miles from Michael Holding’s smooth-as-silk style, but it netted him most of his 1,043 first-class wickets, 235 in Tests. Left-arm seamers were a rare sight in those days so for me he did stand out. 

His six sixes in an over for Notts off Malcolm Nash – another left-arm seam and spin all-rounder – was thankfully captured by BBC Wales cameras and, although I was only seven, I do vividly remember this being A Thing. Dad must have impressed that on my youthful brain. Garry’s body was probably ready to retire in ’74 at 38, and his final performances weren’t his best. However, he embodied cavalier Caribbean cricket before the Windies became crammed with such exciting players to dominate the sport in the late ‘70s and ‘80s. He was too old to register in my first list of heroes such as Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards and Joel Garner but in retrospect he paved the way. Had I been born five years earlier he may well have been at the top. 

Many years ago, my sister and brother-in-law gave me his autobiography – signed at Liverpool Street station – for a birthday or Christmas gift. It wasn’t the most riveting, I admit, but it fleshed out Sobers as a human being and cricket observer rather than a mere collector of Test records. Now here we are, awash with other writers eulogising his amazing feats. As a legend, perhaps he doesn’t quite match the Don but, as an all-rounder, he is the GOAT.

England v India at Cardiff: A 99 on a hot day!

Earlier this year, an email newsletter from Glamorgan CCC notified me that Sophia Gardens had secured one of England’s summer ODIs against India. It had been seven years since my previous live cricket experience so, despite personal health concerns, I thought, what the hell, and bought a ticket. To be honest, I doubted I would be successful, but the response was immediate: I was in! 

My lengthy hiatus was nothing to do with a lack of enthusiasm or any beef with the venue, more a shift in priorities. Maybe a lack of inspiration with the cricketing fare on offer, too, regular readers will now, I am not a Glammy supporter. Another deterring factor is the vagaries of the Welsh weather but I certainly need not have worried on that score. The extensive July heatwave has turned Cardiff into the Costa del Taff; the sky was clear blue, the sun almost overhead and so hot that even I went jacket-free. 

I won’t record here an over-by-over account of the match itself. You can read that elsewhere. The atmosphere was fizzing, largely thanks to the generous contingent decked out in blue and orange. I love being surrounded by India fans; unlike many young Brits, they are there mainly to enjoy the sport. Yes, they will cheer their heroes to the rafters but it’s the cricket that counts, no booze, no post-match recriminations, no demands for the head coach’s sacking. I sat in the Family enclosure, the quaintly named Jellyfish Stand, situate at cow corner at the River End almost below the Indian dressing room balcony. Great surroundings, with the added benefit on such a scorcher of being in the shade for the second half of proceedings.   

However, any match experience is bound to be affected by what pans out on the pitch. As things transpired, it wasn’t an exciting contest. India’s dismissal for a mediocre 233 meant England could play it nice and easy, take singles and the occasional boundary to maintain a steady 4.7 an over. This they achieved with metronomic efficiency, for which they had, not for the first time, a certain Joe Root to thank. 

Since I last sat in the Sophia Gardens crowd watching these two nations, in a T20, so much has changed. I think the only players to have remained were Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Adil Rashid and Jos Buttler. Now aged 65, I was thrilled like a young boy admiring a vintage Kohli one-day innings and Root’s unshowy accumulation. There was a typical straight six out of the ground from Buttler, crisp drives from Shubman Gill and some glorious pulls from Sam Curran. Probably the noisiest cheers came when Bumrah clipped Mahmood’s last over for eighteen, including a delightful flick through midwicket to the boundary near me and a pull for six over fine leg. 

233 was never going to be enough but when Bumrah, his ludicrous stuttering walk-up and straight-armed delivery a wild wonder to behold, induced Duckett to edge the first ball to Kishan, we thought: “Oh, hello….” Bethell didn’t last long either, but when you have Root and captain Brook in harness, England fans needn’t fret. Brook’s clownish attempt to repeat an earlier ramped six cost him his wicket but his Yorkshire mentor nudged, cut, flicked and drove to see the game out. 

Root was on 97 with twenty still needed and Gus Atkinson at the other end. My neighbours and I jokingly mused on the unlikely scenario of the Surrey bowler’s boundaries or wides or yet another no-ball from Bumrah depriving the batting genius of his deserved ton. No illegal deliveries but – blow me! – the improbably duly happened, and his partner duly pulled Prasidh through a gaping leg-side gap to clinch the much-needed victory. I winder what Joe was saying to Gus as they shuffled together back to the pavilion where a jubilant Brook was waiting… 

So what are the abiding memories of the day? Two all-time greats in Kohli and Bumrah chatting behind me on their balcony? The queues for the water-refilling stations? The towering trees of Bute Park as a backdrop? Jofra Archer working Rohit over? One of the Indian sub fielders handing his (much-needed) shades to a boy in the crowd? The call-response cries of “Boom-Boom – Bumrah!” whenever the bowler started another brief spell? All of the above! Seven years away, and it felt as if it was yesterday.

County Cricket: Nottinghamshire Cut it Fine in Blast

Northamptonshire’s 100% record in the Vitality Blast was finally ended, and it was bottom-placed Somerset who inflicted this damage on Northampton’s own ground. It wasn’t even close. Thomas Rew made another brisk fifty before Daniel Sams smashed an unbeaten 48 in only sixteen balls to set the home county 224 to win. They were never in the race, and young spinner Joshua Thomas ended his three-over stint with amazing figures of 4-6. 

Somerset enjoyed another successful awayday against Derbyshire, with Will Smeed’s 89 anchoring another 200+ total and Sams taking 3-29. Meanwhile, Northants climbed back on the bike to re-establish their twelve-point margin at the top of the Central/West group. They defeated Glamorgan at Cardiff, with Chris Lynn’s 117 and Calvin Harrison’s 3-20 the standout performances. 

With a good record in cross-group fixtures, the Central/West group is proving to be the strongest of the three, so whoever comes third will almost certainly qualify for the knockouts. Indeed, the fourth-placed county could well outpoint third in the other two regions, but that won’t help them! Worcestershire and Gloucestershire had a rollercoaster week, opening the door for Somerset to sneak back into second place. However, they will have to overcome Worcestershire and do the double over Northants to do so, whilst hoping Glamorgan get the better of Gloucestershire. Warwickshire look out of it, despite a thirty-run victory over Gloucester at Edgbaston. 

Their Pakistani off-spinner Usman Tariq had a great week, as did his compatriots Usama Mir (Worcestershire), Sufyan Maqim (Derbyshire) and Hasan Ali. However, it was veteran South African offie Simon Harmer who was the all-round star. Besides two typically mean bowling displays, he demonstrated to the Essex faithful his new role as destructive finisher. A 17-ball unbeaten 47 helped flatten Sussex, then his 56 not out was the sole ray of sunshine in the defeat to Middlesex. In the Sussex match, Sam Cook waved the flag for seamers with an excellent 4-7. Hampshire head the South group despite losing to Middlesex. Beating Essex at Chelmsford tonight should see them into the last eight. 

Up North, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire are in the box seats. Lancashire’s dramatic tie with Derbyshire did neither side any favours, and Durham’s penultimate ball loss to the White Roses cost them dearly. Nottinghamshire remain on top but they needed a couple of nailbiters. Lancashire needed four from Olly Stone’s final two deliveries but scrambled only two. Then, on Sunday, it was Mohammad Ali who held his nerve at the death to deny Durham, securing victory by the relatively comfortable margin of two runs. Adam Lyth’s 131 not out against Leicestershire is the highest individual score of the season so far.

It’s the Roses match-up at Old Trafford tonight, then on Sunday Yorkshire welcome the leaders to Leeds for the concluding league fixture. Three days later, it’s the quarter-finals and this year, the Finals Day is wrapped up the following weekend before the horrors of the Hundred are unleashed on us all. 

Team of the Week; Lyth (Yor), Lynn (Nor), Roy (Sur), Lees (Dur), Smeed (Som), T Rew (Som +), Harmer (Ess), Tye (Yor), Cook (Ess), J Thomas (Som), Usman Tariq (War)

County Cricket: No Stopping Northants!

With the Men’s Vitality Blast entering its final phase, Northamptonshire prolonged their 100%r record to an impressive eight games. They widened their lead in the Central and West to twelve points with two crushing victories over Essex and second-placed Gloucestershire. Calvin Harrison spun his way to a 5-9 return as Essex crumbled to a 130-run defeat and David Willey helped himself to eleven sixes across the week, seven of them in a blistering 32-ball 73 as he and Nathan Mc Sweeney blazed a 99-run stand to surpass Gloucester’s 184, in which Dawid Malan crunched an unbeaten 91. 

Gloucestershire also fell to Somerset in the West Country derby. After becoming derailed in the last sequence of T20s, Somerset seemed to have recovered with an 18-run victory, with James Rew utterly dominant, scoring 116 not out. However, on Sunday they came a cropper at Worcester. Rew senior again top-scored but their response to the home county’s decent 180 never really got going. 

In the same group, Warwickshire won both their fixtures at a canter, all-rounder Beau Webster making two half-centuries and picking up a couple of wickets. Opener Zen Malik came within one from a maiden white-ball hundred in their 59-run triumph over neighbours Worcestershire. Apart from Rew, the week’s only other centurion was Durham opener Alex Lees, whose 108 anchored an unassailable total of 218 against Middlesex. 

Nottinghamshire displaced Yorkshire as kings of the north, taking Kent and Leicestershire to the cleaners. Scottish one-day specialist George Munsey performed much of the heavy-duty scrubbing with innings of 82 and 75 without getting out. Lancashire had England regulars Salt, Buttler and Livingstone in harness for their defeat of Leicestershire but managed without the first two in overcoming Derbyshire by just four runs. 

Yorkshire were involved in even tighter finishes. At Southampton, Hampshire overhauled them with a Chris Wood six off the penultimate delivery then two days later shared the points with Derbyshire. Matthew Revis plundered 69 off 32 balls, including two final-over sixes, to achieve an improbable tie with a single from Akif Javed’s finale. 

The greatest run-fest of the week occurred at Chelmsford, where Essex and Surrey treated the crowd to 473 runs. Roy, Evans, Pope and Aussie signing Josh Philippe whacked most of Surrey’s 240 before Paul Walter gave the home side a cracking start. Wickets tumbled but a late-innings rally by Snater and Akhtar took Essex tantalisingly close. For such a high-scoring match, figures of 3-28 for both Reece Topley and Dan Lawrence were exceptional as the visitors won by seven runs. 

Hampshire top the South division despite being well beaten by Kent, for whom Grant Stewart took 4-32 and skipper Sam Billings carved an undefeated fifty from only 21 balls. Hampshire seek revenge at Southampton on Sunday, followed by Middlesex three days later. Can Northants maintain their rampant run of success? Only Somerset and Glamorgan stand in their way, while Gloucestershire are ready to close the gap should they emerge victorious against Surrey and Warwickshire. Still plenty to play for in he remaining fortnight’s group fixtures. 

Team of the Week; Munsey (Not), Lees (Dur), Willey (Nor), J Rew (Som), Webster (War), Billings (Ken +), Phillippe (Sur), Lawrence (Sur), Tye (Yor), Harrison (Not), Topley (Sur)