It’s been a week when we’ve witnessed the best and worst of international cricket. From a fabulous contest at The Oval to a farcical cancellation at Old Trafford, it’s signified a rapid switch from glorious advertisement for five-day Test matches to the supremacy of IPL. Covid precautions, my arse!
Right now, we Somerset fans would love to cheer our team through four or five days, but the county seems mysteriously unable to last even two. Having eased into Division One, they’ve now been thrashed by an innings twice, Yorkshire doing the business this week at Scarborough. Since the restart, Somerset have failed to reach 200, and it was Matt Fisher who wreaked most of the havoc this time, closely followed by the visitors’ own batters. Harry Brook, on the other hand, seemed to revel in the sea air, scoring 118.
Nottinghamshire made it two wins from two, defeating Lancashire at Trent Bridge. Tom Bailey and Danny Lamb each performed well with bat and ball but most of their colleagues let them down, especially in the first innings. Notts keeper Tom Moores stroked eighteen boundaries in his top-scoring 97.
In the other top tier fixture, Hampshire returned from Edgbaston with a sixty-run triumph but they made an inauspicious start, bowled out for 89 on the first morning, Warwickshire all-rounder Will Rhodes taking 5-23. However, Mohammad Abbas and Keith Barker struck back immediately with five-fors of their own. Barker also weighed in with 75 to give him and the rest of the attack enough to defend. Yates and England reject Sibley ground out 99 for the opening stand but they could survive only until mid-afternoon on the final day before the last four wickets tumbled in three overs.
In Division Two, the virus wiped out Durham v Surrey but Essex made short work of Gloucestershire at Chelmsford to remain top. Cook and Porter took seven first-innings wickets but spinner Simon Harmer finished with seven victims and Essex with 21 points. It was a much tighter affair at Northampton, where Northants had to break their Championship record chase of 322 against Surrey to win. Jordan Clark’s pace yielded five wickets but Rob Keogh’s 99 and Luke Procter’s dogged 57 laid the foundation for a two-wicket win.
Records tumbled at Hove, too. Sam Robson and Mark Stoneman – fresh from hs ‘pair’ last week – racked up 376 for the first wicket as Middlesex raced to a massive 676-5 declared. Sussex skipper Tom Haines led from the front, aggregating 243 over both innings but all to no avail. 20 year-old leggie Luke Hollman nabbed ten wickets in all to snuff out any hopes Sussex harboured of saving the match. Kent also won their second game in succession, defeating Worcestershire inside three days thanks in part to eight wickets by young Zimbabwean seamer Nathan Gilchrist.
At Derby, Leicestershire piled on over 500, Lewis Hill top-scoring with 113. A 227 stand between centurions Brook Guest and Anuj Dal wasn’t enough to save Derbyshire’s follow-on but Godleman’s unbeaten 100 and Matt Critchley saw them through to a draw. The other contest, in Division Two, saw Durham deal Glamorgan a big blow. Paul Coughlin (4-11 and 5-64) never gave the opposing batsmen a chance.
Now the England-India decider is off, the hottest cricket ticket is at Southampton where top tier leaders Hampshire and Warwickshire fight it out.
Team of the
Week: S Robson (Mid), Stoneman (Mid), Haines (Sus), Hill (Lei), J Smith (Sur
+), Guest (Der), Coughlin (Dur), Hollman (Mid), Fisher (Yor), Gilchrist (Ken),
Abbas (Ham)
