And so we reach that point in the calendar when county cricketers have to forget the junior coaching manual and try different things every ball. Yes, this week it's the Friends Life t20 and no, I haven't a clue who's going to win. I'll come onto this tournament in a later blog. It's interesting to look at the County Championship tables at this halfway stage, especially if you're team wear a rose on their caps/helmets.
In the First Division, it's Yorkshire who are in pole position to clinch a title that has eluded them for years. Even without Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow for much of the campaign, their batsmen have been in fine form. Gale and Ballance have been in fine fettle and the reinvigorated all-rounder Adil Rashid boasts a first-class average in three figures, as does Root. The white Roses stand eight points clear of Sussex, whose bowlers Chris Jordan and Stuart Magoffin have taken more wickets than anybody else. However, in this week's match against Notts, there were two innings of 204 not out, by Ed Joyce and the opponents' James Taylor, whose chances of making the England team this summer may have crept up from remote to merely unlikely. Middlesex are third, owing much to Aussie Chris Rogers and a brief burst of high scores from fellow opener Sam Robson. The ever-dependable seamer Tim Murtagh is also right up there with 37 wickets to date and a sub-20 average.
Somerset entered the first-class break on a high after winning their first Championship match of the season. Steve Kirby may be almost twice the age of teenage twin Jamie Overton but the two of them combined well with Craig Meschede to bowl out Derbyshire this week and jump to sixth. Poor Derbyshire remain bottom but, despite that much-publicised comeback innings from Kevin Pietersen an dthe arrival of Ricky Ponting, cash-splashers Surrey also remain winless in seventh. Surely that won't continue come August, especially as they have lost only twice.
In Division Two, leaders Northants had their considerable advantage trimmed to just seventeen points after losing to main rivals Lancashire. Kyle Hogg and Glen Chapple maintained their two-man attack dominance. A week after demolishing Essex for twenty, they bowled Alex Wakely's side out for 62. In a low-scoring game, that proved critical in ending the visitors' unbeaten record. Lancashire have yet to lose, and are themselves 16 points clear in second with a game in hand over Worcestershire, for whom Moeen Ali smashed a career-best 250 against Glamorgan. Ali is now the leading first-class run-maker in domestic first-class cricket this summer. Don't discount Northants, though, because Copeland, Willey and Crook are taking wickets a-plenty, and Andrew Hall remains a considerable asset with bat and ball.
Hampshire and Essex continue to underachieve, while Glamorgan are heavily relilant on captain James Allenby and the bowling of late- developing Aussie Michael Hogan. Kent are very disappointing share a winless record with perennial strugglers Leicestershire. Nice to see Matt Hoggard turning back the clock with a defiant 6-66 in the defeat to Essex, though. These will hope that they can recover form once the T20 fever briefly subsides, but it's a format where Hampshire have enjoyed in the past few years.
