Daryl Mitchell is having a great season to match that of his county, Worcestershire. This week he carried his bat for 167 in the defeat of Gloucestershire, his fifth century of the Championship summer, and struck a brisk 36 against Derbyshir ein the Twenty20. Dwayne Smith didn't hang around, either, in thumping 110 not out for Barbados against St Lucia in the CPL. He also recorded a duck but I'll politely forget that ever happened....
My number three did nothing spectacular but credit to Jonathan Trott for reaching three figures for the first time since his traumatic withdrawal from the Ashes tour and early season relapse. His successor in the England middle-order Gary Ballance also weighed in with 110 in the otherwise embarrassing loss at Lord's to India. He enters my team of the week thanks to his graft which put most team-mates to shame.
There were lots of rapid 80s and 90s in the Caribbean and the final Blast group fixtures. Ramdin, Samuels, Hastings, Westley, Whiteley and Finch peppered boundaries but they were totally outdone by Luke Wright. With Sussex facing a target of 220+ by table-toppers Essex, the ex-England T20 all-rounder refused to give in and went onto smash 12 fours and 11 sixes in an unbeaten 153. It was not only the fourth highest T20 score ever but it won the match - even if Sussex failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Darren Stevens is no stranger to my team of the week, and in he comes again. A 38-ball 67 for Kent in the Blast victory over Sussex and nine wickets in the surprising Championship win over Surrey made him one of the top all-rounders. John Simpson rarely makes the headlines in his own county let alone the cricketing world. However the Middlesex wicketkeeper top-scored in each Championship innings, aggregating 171 runs in a losing cause against Yorkshire's very useful attack.
Dale Steyn looked back to his best for South Africa against Sri Lanka last week, with match figures of 9-99, while that man Bhuvneshwar Kumar again frustrated England with both bat and ball. His seam and swing netted 6-82 in the first innings, giving Anderson, Plunkett and Broad a lesson in how to bowl in helpful seam conditions. Kumar notched another half-century, too. In the second innings it was Ishant Sharma who proved to be the star performer. His 7-74 wasn't statistically as impressive as Ryan Sidebottom's 7-74 for Yorkshire but in the context of Test cricket, it was superb.
Finally I've gone for another quick, Stuart Meaker. He had a great start for Surrey this Spring before injury and competition for places kept him out of the team. This week he was back with a vengeance, claiming eleven wickets against Essex in the Championship and 4-30 in the T20 win over Middlesex. Sunil Narine and James Tredwell came close (the latter playing for both Kent and Sussex!) but no spinner this week.
