When
play did start elsewhere, it was woefully one-sided. The only century scored in
five matches came from David Wiese, batting at number nine for Sussex. The highest
score by any opening batsman was Daniel Bell-Drummond’s second innings 61. In
short, England was a seamer’s paradise.
One
of the few specialist batsman to make runs was James Vince, whose swift 75 for
Hampshire helped set up a 196-run victory over promoted Worcestershire.
Visiting captain Joe Leach nabbed seven wickets, as did Kyle Abbott, although it
was his Hampshire team-mates Fidel Edwards and Liam Dawson who polished off the
tail to go top of the table.
At
Old Trafford, the final morning witnessed a crazy avalanche of wickets, with
twelve tumbling in only fifteen overs. Aussie Joe Mennie ripped out the Notts
top three in his first two overs but the damage to Lancashire had already been inflicted
over the weekend and Steven Mullaney’s men needed only ten to win! In total, one-time
England internationals Jake Ball and Harry Gurney hoovered up seventeen wickets
for only 100 runs. Crazy stuff!
It
was a similar situation in Division Two. At Canterbury, Gloucestershire became
the first side to win a Championship fixture without scoring more than 110 in
an innings since 1982. Amidst the carnage caused by the pacier men like Matt
Taylor and Kent’s Kiwi import Matt Henry, it was the young spinner Ryan
Higgins, brought in from Middlesex, who boasted the best single return of 5-22,
albeit in a losing cause.
Middlesex
seemed to operate perfectly well without him, though, as James Harris (9-48 in
the match) and Tim Murtagh (8-63) flattened Northamptonshire within eight
rain-hit sessions. Harris also contributed the game’s highest individual score:
46 not out. He usually starts the season strongly so let’s hope in 2018 he
doesn’t succumb to his customary injuries. Even lacking key batsmen, the lads
from Lord’s were straightforward winners and even at this early stage must
surely be odds-on favourites to bounce back from the second tier.
Edgbaston
saw the only match to finish as a draw, although the wet outfield didn’t allow
very much play. The three top scores of the entire week were all achieved here,
led by the aforementioned Wiese’s run-a-ball 106 and his captain Ben Brown’s
91. Their eighth wicket stand of 155 was a Sussex record against Warwickshire
and came in spite of Olly Stone’s highly commendable 8-80 and a fine all-round
performance by the home side’s Tim Ambrose. The former Sussex ‘keeper compiled
81 and took six catches in the first innings.
I
can only hope the weather is kinder next week, so that batsmen can at last get
runs under their belts in a full fixture list. Middlesex must fancy their
chances at Derby while in Division One, Essex and Yorkshire get a second chance
of playing, against Lancashire and Notts, respectively. Surrey’s big names
enter the fray at home to Hampshire while Somerset host Worcestershire.
My Team of
the Week is inevitably bowler-heavy. For the first time since I’ve compiled
such lists, I have been able to fill the top five slots with only two specialist
batsmen. Mad! Hopefully normal service will be restored next week.
Bell-Drummond
(Ken), Vince (Ham), Brown (Sus), Ambrose (War, +), Berg (Ham), Harris (Mid), Abbott
(Ham), Wiese (Sus), Stone (War), Ball (Not), Gurney (Not)
