A good spread of top performances this week, with wicketkeepers and slow bowlers to the fore. First name on my team sheet is Worcestershire captain and opener, Daryl Mitchell. This is his tenth summer with his home county, and it must be one of his best starts to a first-class season. I once saw him fall two runs short of a triple-century at Taunton but when set he is one of the best county openers around. Against Glamorgan, he was last man out for 109, then unbeaten on 151 in the second innings, taking his career average close to 40 and season average well into three figures. Durham's Mark Stoneman has been around almost as long, but with less success. However, his 131 did much to keep Durham in the match against Yorkshire and certainly eclipsed debutant Kumar Sangakkara, whose first outing for his new county lasted only two balls. Good practice for the Sri Lanka tour then!
Mike Yardy showed the way for Sussex with a first innings century against Lancashire but I've gone for Kent's Brendan Nash at number three. He shared a 197-run partnership with Rob Key, scoring the same number of runs (126) but at a much brisker rate. The Aussie-born West Indian international is proving to be one of Kent's best signings of recent years.
It doesn't matter where AB De Villiers plays; he'll produce the goods on any pitch, in any country, in any format. As the IPL shifted from the UAE back to India, the Bangalore number five took advantage and smashed an 89 and 53. He's still way behind the current leading scorer in he tournament, Glen Maxwell, though. Shane Watson has flattered to deceive in recent years but it was with his bowling that he made the headlines his week, including a hat-trick against Kolkata and taking another three wickets against the Sunrisers.
Back in Blighty, another Aussie, Phil Jaques, outscored his fellow Notts batsmen in the draw against Somerset. However, team-mate Samit Patel made 132 arguably when it mattered most, on the opening day. He took a couple of wickets, too. The same wicketkeepers always seem to appear in contention. Chris Read hammered 17 boundaries in 96, alongside the aforementioned Jaques and Patel, James Foster propped up the Essex batting, and Tim Ambrose delivered a fine 167 for Warwickshire. He pipped Ned Eckersley to a place in my team of the week; the Leicestershire batsman donned the gloves in O'Brien's absence and also struck 110 runs.
On the bowling front, spinners took the plaudits, and not only in the IPL where Pravin Tambe was once more Mr Economical for the Royals. He doesn't quite make it this week, displaced by a couple of slowies in the Championship. Kent's young Alex Riley (4-77 and 5-78) and Glamorgan's nothing-like-as-young Dean Cosker (5-39 and 4-94) deserve the selections at a time of year when seamers usually hoover up the wickets. The final bowling spot goes to Bhuvneshwar Kumar of Sunrisers Hyderabad. His 4-14 against the Royals was his best in a T20 contest, and in the 2014 tournament so far has conceded fewer than 6 an over across eight games, and nobody has taken more wickets. Not bad for a fast-medium pacer!
To re-cap: Daryl Mitchell (Worcs), Mark Stoneman (Dur), Brendan Nash (Kent), Phil Jaques (Notts), AB De Villers (Banga), Samit Patel (Notts), Shane Watson (Rajas), Tim Ambrose (Warks, +), Adam Riley (Kent), Bhuvi Kumar (Hyder), Dean Cosker (Glam)
