In the final round of Championship fixtures before the return of the T20 Blast, it was a good week for wicketkeeper-batsmen up and down the country, and also for cricketers called Ollie Robinson. Admittedly, the bowling version blotted his copybook as new England star by being outed as a former teenage racist, earning a deserved one-match suspension, but his Kent batsman namesake combined a run-a-ball century with seven catches in the Group 3 draw with Northamptonshire.
Top scorer of the week was Yorkshire’s Dawid Malan, who was bowled by young Irish off-spinner Jack Carson one short of a double-hundred. That huge score meant that Sussex needed 245 in their second innings to make the White Roses bat again. They didn’t get close, as David Willey and Dom Bess helped reduce the stubborn South Coasters to 215 all out with fourth day stumps looming. Leaders Lancashire suffered their first reverse of the summer, going down unexpectedly to Glamorgan in Cardiff inside three days. Bowlers were in charge for the first two before Marnus Labuschagne produced the game’s first half-century, steering the Welsh to a six-wicket victory. Michael Neser was the pick of their attack.
The Group 2 leaders also came a cropper at struggling Leicestershire. Gloucestershire were thrashed by an innings before tea on the third afternoon. Left-arm spinner Callum Parkinson produced two five-wicket hauls, weakening Gloucester’s efforts to qualify for the top group in the second phase of the competition. That they remain top owes a great deal to the wet weather on the final day, when Somerset were looking to bowl out third-placed Hampshire. Skipper Tom Abell struck 98 then delayed his declaration until George Bartlett finally crawled to three figures but his comradely procrastination didn’t affect the result as much as the rain.
Warwickshire advanced to the Group 1 summit by means of a 191-run success at Derby. Sam Hain and wicket-keeper Michael Burgess impressed, but it was the seam trio of Hannon-Dalby, Miles and Norwell who did most of the damage. Derbyshire’s pair of 22 year-old seamers Michael Cohen and Sam Conners were unlucky to be on the losing side, but their batting support failed them. Elsewhere the unseasonal Home Counties rain restricted the leading counties to a mere two days’ play, ensuring neither Essex nor Nottinghamshire could stay ahead of Warwickshire. Finally Durham outclassed Worcestershire by ten wickets by the Severn. A Jake Libby century in the second innings merely delayed the inevitable after David Bedingham’s miserable run ended with 121. Matty Potts ended the match with aggregate figures of 8-98.
The women’s 50-over competition, the Rachel Heyhoe-Flint Trophy, is proceeding nicely, too. Amongst several outstanding performances, a special mention goes to England international and Central Sparks batter Amy Jones, who produced consecutive knocks of three figures, including a remarkable 163 not out against Western Storm. It should be no surprise this week that of course she is a wicketkeeper, one of three included in my Team of the Week….
Team of the Week: Libby (Wor), Robinson (Ken
+), Malan (Yor), Harris (Lei), Amy Jones (Cen), Brown (Sus), Gregory (Som),
Potts (Dur), Conners (Der), C Parkinson (Lei), Miles (War)
