While
Britain bathed in the late Easter sunshine, the batsmen made hay in the heat.
The first week of Royal London Cup fixtures threw up plenty of high scores. In
particular, the Trent Bridge crowd on Good Friday enjoyed more than 800 runs
and a narrow victory for the home side. Joe Clarke was again in fine fettle,
putting aside his infamous list of sexual conquests to complete another century
for Nottinghamshire. Dane Vilas’ club record 166 and Stephen Croft’s 110 bought
Lancashire close but nineteen from the last two overs proved too onerous for
the tailenders. Notts also beat Derbyshire and sit atop the North division
alongside Durham, who had Cameron Bancroft’s two centuries and Jason Holder’s
all-round performances to thank for their 100% record.
Lancashire
fared better at Headingley on Monday but it was a nailbiting climax. With ‘keeper
Jonathan Tattersall at the crease, Yorkshire looked set to overhaul the 311
target but run-outs from the last two deliveries left them one adrift.
Yorkshire were involved in an even tighter contest on Friday, tieing with
Warwickshire at Edgbaston. Tattersall and Tim Bresnan rescued the White Roses
from a miserable start but Patterson and Pillans could only scramble a bye from
the final ball to finish level. A few
days earlier, Matt Pillans had excelled with the ball and, with Gary Ballance striking
156, Yorkshire crushed Leicestershire by 213 runs.
In
the South, four counties claimed two wins from two. Championship leaders
Somerset maintained their momentum with a crushing 264-run defeat of Kent and a
much closer encounter in Cardiff with Glamorgan. At Taunton, 20 year-old Tom
Banton followed his 2nd XI century with 107 from 79 balls then Craig
Overton combined a sizzling 66 not out with 5-18 to complete the rout.
There
was an even worse batting balls-up at Bristol, where the fancy dans of Surrey,
boasting ten internationals past and present, were dismissed by Gloucestershire
for 88 in 24 overs. My sides were splitting. They lost both their matches over
the week and, although Tom Curran did his best with six cheap wickets, the
batting let them down. At least they weren’t the worst county on display; Kent
and Glamorgan contrived to lose all three.
Essex
opener Varun Chopra notched a couple of tons but against a strong Middlesex
batting line-up he was on the losing side at Chelmsford. Fourth-change
leg-spinner Nathan Sowter claimed 6-62 in that one. Channel neighbours Hampshire
and Sussex also enjoyed winning starts, with hundreds from Alsop, Northeast and
Salt.
Next
week, at least two 100% records must end, as Sussex meet both Somerset and
Middlesex and the latter also travel to Hampshire. At the other end of the
table, one of Kent and Glamorgan will, barring awful weather (not an unlikely
scenario in South Wales), pick up a couple of badly-needed points.
Further
north, Nottinghamshire face some tasty ties, hosting both Leicestershire and
Yorkshire as well as nipping down to Brum for a date with Warwickshire. Cameron
Bancroft is also spending a few days in the West Midlands, hoping to keep the
runs flowing for Durham, especially as the rest of the top order are struggling
for form.
Team of the
Week: Chopra (Ess), Clarke (Not), Croft (Lan), Ballance (Yor), Bancroft (Dur),
Vilas (Lan), Tattersall (Yor +), Holder (Dur), C Overton (Som), T Curran (Sur),
Pillans (Yor)
