Hurrah! The last week in May and finally the bowlers have something to celebrate. With five counties collecting their 16-point win bonus, there were some major shifts in league positions, too, with Lancashire surging to the top of Division One, and non-playing Yorkshire slumping to mid-table.
For once, there was considerable competition for places in my Team of the Week, too. I can’t count the performances of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad but, while England were hammering another nail in the coffin of the five-day game, any number of counties were promoting the four-day format in all its glory.
Perhaps the best match was at the Rose Bowl, where Hampshire overcame Nottinghamshire by 69 runs. It probably didn’t help the visitors to lose star bowler Jake Ball to an England call-up mid-game, nor Chris Read to injury. However, despite nine wickets from Harry Gurney, it was the whirlwind sex machine, aka Tino Best, who did most to propel the hosts to victory on day four. Strangely the highest individual score was a mere 72!
Lancashire made short work of Surrey, with Alviro Petersen’s first hundred of the campaign and Kyle Jarvis capturing eleven wickets. Durham are just ten points behind them after despatching Warwickshire. Chris Woakes finished on the losing side despite claiming a magnificent 9-36. However, in mitigation he followed Jake Ball to the England camp before the second innings could begin. Instead, the final day bowling honours went to Durham’s James Weighell, although his own nine-wicket haul came at the expense of 130 runs.
At Lord’s, Middlesex and Somerset shook hands on each side’s sixth successive draw. Chris Rogers and Nick Gubbins swapped centuries, while James Hildreth and Peter Trego again stabilised Somerset’s batting. Trego seems to bowl less these days but two more fifties make him an invaluable asset at six or seven, especially as our new wicket-keeper can’t bat to save his life.
In the second tier, it was the bad old Leicestershire who turned up to Grace Road and face Worcestershire. Matt Henry and Joe Leach cut through their second innings batting like a hot knife through butter, dismissing them for 43 and leaving their own top-order a meagre total to chase, which they did for the loss of only three wickets.
At Derby, Shiv Thakor’s fine century and five-for were in vain, as Kent wrapped up another seven-wicket success. Sean Dickson ended a miserable run by amassing the week’s only double-century, and James Tredwell justified his four-day place with six scalps.
Gloucestershire must be licking their lips now that Michael Klinger has arrived at Bristol. He racked up 140 on his season debut, but it wasn’t enough to beat Northants, for whom Steven Crook found some form with the bat. Glamorgan kept leaders Essex at bay, thanks largely to Will Bragg, who followed a first-innings duck with a career-best 161 not out.
Next week, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that Somerset can break their duck at home to Surrey. I just hope Mr Sangakkara doesn’t take a liking for the Taunton wicket! However, the Bank Holiday weekend heralds the War of the Roses at Headingley. Can Lancashire widen the gap over the champions?
In the promotion hunt, Essex travel to Northampton while Kent entertain Leicestershire, whose new-look batting line-up needs to forget this week’s second-innings horror show.
Team of the Week:
Dickson (Ken), Jennings (Dur), Bragg (Gla), Klinger (Glo), Davies (Lan +), Thakor (Der), Crook (Nor), Woakes (War), Jarvis (Lan), Weighell (Dur), Gurney (Not)
