Pity the poor county cricketers. While the IPL sloggers sweltered in India, it was a week for multiple sweaters, pocket hand-warmers and woolly hats around the English grounds.
Play was briefly stopped by snow even at The Oval, where 40 year-old Marcus Trescothick’s bones defied the low temperatures to create a fine century for Somerset. Another veteran batsman, Kumar Sangakkara was even better for Surrey, aggregating 244 runs, more than anyone else this week. It ended as a draw but at least they started four innings, which few matches could boast.
Warwickshire have looked good all month but have yet to secure a single victory. They top the table after marginally shading proceedings against Yorkshire. There were several fifties but only Chopra reached three figures. It was a similar story at Chester-le-Street where Mark Stoneman’s unbeaten 141 was the stand-out individual performance.
In Division Two, Essex stole a march on the rest by grabbing a second success of the season, to head the table by 21 points already. They thrashed a miserable-looking Northamptonshire by an innings. Ravi Bopara top-scored but it was the bowlers Jamie Porter, David Masters and Ryan Ten Doeschate who dominated.
Weather and the batsmen were on top in the remaining three fixtures. Chris Dent maintained his early-season form for Gloucestershire, for whom Hamish Marshall also contributed more than 150 runs. However, young Joe Clarke, then Moeen Ali enjoyed hundreds for Worcestershire.
Leicestershire look a more useful unit in 2016. Clint McKay added a further five wickets, and skipper Mark Cosgrove shared a big stand with new recruit Neil Dexter against Kent. Glamorgan showed some more fight this week, but Derbyshire were their equals. Will Bragg struck a rare century but Palladino achieved a five-for in the drawn match.
Next week, Warwickshire rest, but unbeaten Lancashire must fancy their chances of beating notorious poor starters Somerset at Taunton. Surrey against Durham could be an interesting one while Essex could make it three out of four at Worcester. Let’s hope they won’t be playing snowballs instead of cricket!
Team of the Week:
Trescothick (Som), Dent (Glo), Sangakkara (Sur), Moeen Ali (Wor), Marshall (Glo), Ambrose (War +), Rashid (Yor), Rampaul (Sur), McKay (Lei), Palladino (Der), Porter (Ess)
