At
the Oval, Surrey enjoyed a similarly decisive success over Yorkshire. First of
all, back-up ‘keeper Ollie Pope maintained his excellent form with the bat, striking
27 boundaries in an innings of 158, ably supported by Dean Elgar and Rikki
Clarke. Sam Curran then snapped up ten wickets in two days, taking his
first-class tally into three figures while still a teenager. Yorkshire’s Gary Ballance
was missing and it has now been revealed he is taking a break “for personal
reasons”. A shame, because his county needs him, especially when Jonny Bairstow
return to England duty.
Essex
were also winners, but were made to work hard by Worcestershire in a
low-scoring game at New Road. Joe Clarke’s second successive century and nine
wickets for Josh Tongue deserved more but, needing only 215 to win, Worcester
were bowled out for 182, thanks to five-fors from both Peter Siddle and Simon Harmer.
The Aussie seamer leaves Essex with a lot of wickets and even more goodwill,
but the return of Neil Wagner should keep the county’s seam attack in fine
fettle.
In
the other Division One fixture, the batsmen were very much in control at
Taunton. Somerset established a huge first innings lead thanks to James
Hildreth’s 184 and late-order runs from internationals past and future, Craig Overton
and Dom Bess. However, Hampshire made sure they didn’t fail again, as Hashim Amla
(107) and James Vince (201 not out) saved the game. Vince’s double-hundred has
also probably saved his Test career.
In
Division Two, Leicestershire’s latest head coach, Paul Nixon was celebrating a
first Championship win for two years. It was a nail-biting finish, though. Hunting
251 on the third day, Glamorgan subsided to 139-8 and all looked lost. Marchant
de Lange decided that he may as well go out in a blaze of glory and instead
took his side to the brink of an unlikely triumph. He had plundered eight sixes
in a 45-ball 90 when he hoisted a full-toss high for the winning hit only to be
caught on the boundary. The result leaves the Welsh side second from bottom, above
only Northamptonshire, who were trounced by leaders Warwickshire at Edgbaston.
Olly Stone was the pick of the bowlers but it was Will Rhodes’ first career century
which anchored the second innings chase.
Kent
overtook neighbours Sussex by beating them in a short and sweet encounter at
Canterbury. Matt Henry was again the star of the show, ending any Sussex
resistance with 6-53, taking his Championship tally to 37 in only four matches.
I’m not sure what Kent will do without
him.
Derbyshire’s
clash with Durham easily went the distance but finished as a tame draw. Stuart
Poynter (170) and Michael Richardson (115) put on 275 for Durham’s sixth
wicket, then Mark Wood’s fine 6-46 hurt Derby’s batting on the final day but it
was all too late to secure a result after the home team’s 427 on the first few
days. They meet again when the Championship resumes in four weeks.
Middlesex’s
bid to bounce back into the top tier was dealt another blow when their bowlers
couldn’t hammer home the follow-on advantage over Gloucestershire. Even Eoin
Morgan scored 76 red-ball runs alongside Dawid Malan in the first innings but
21 year-old Bristolian James Bracey led the fourth day resistance with an
unbeaten 125.
So
now it’s off to the Royal London Cup. While some players are off to play against
Pakistan and others head across the world after serving their short-term
contracts, the 50-over competition offers a stage for those remaining and for
whom four-day cricket is too onerous or simply cramps their style. Over to you,
Messrs Rashid, Hales et al….
Team of the
Week:
Jennings (Lan),
Bracey (Glo), Vince (Ham), Hildreth (Som), Pope (Sur), Poynter (Dur +), Henry
(Ken), S Curran (Sur), De Lange (Gla), Tongue (Wor), Onions (Lan)