At the start of the week, the UK’s temperature records were tumbling all over the shop. County cricket then took up the reins and several of the sport’s long-standing peaks were also consigned to history.
Amongst them was the number
of catches in a Championship fixture. Kent’s wicketkeeper-captain Sam Billings pouched
no fewer than twelve against Warwickshire. Joe Denly’s century and Matt Milne’s
clinching 4-11 may have stood out in Kent’s push for victory at Edgbaston but when
the batters edged, Billings pounced – again and again.
In Division Two, winless Leicestershire
had reason to be cheerful having notched an impressive 584 in their first outing.
Two days later that total was in the record books for the wrong reasons – as the
highest first innings total anywhere in the world achieved by a team losing by
an innings! Glamorgan’s reply began horribly as the openers were gone with the
score at just 9. Enter Sam Northeast. The 32 year-old has been in fine form
lately but who could have predicted his side would declare at lunch on the
fourth day with him unbeaten on 410? He shared a triple-century stand with
Colin Ingram and 461 for the sixth wicket with Chris Cooke, a Championship record.
His personal score is the highest in the competition in my lifetime, and the
team total of 795-5 obliterated Glamorgan’s all-time best. With only two
sessions remaining, I assumed skipper David Lloyd would let the pair continue and
allow Northeast a shot at Lara’s 501 but, in a decision of astonishing
foresight and faith in Michaels Neser and Hogan, he made Leicester bat again,
and they slumped to 183 all out. Maybe it was a bowler’s track after all….
There was another 400+
partnership at Derby, where Nottinghamshire’s Hameed and Duckett put the home
team’s bowlers to the sword. Despite Brooke Guest’s 109, Derbyshire were forced
to follow on but ground out a final day draw. Middlesex and Sussex also failed
to find a winner at Lord’s. Runs flowed merrily for the first three days,
leaving no time to force a result. Sussex skipper Cheteshwar Pujara struck his
third double-century of the season but John Simpson was one of numerous ‘keepers
to reach three figures this week, and Tom Helm represented the bowlers’ union
admirably.
In Division One, the leading
counties all won to maintain the status quo. A blistering 150 not out by Will
Jacks and eleven wickets from Dan Worrall handed the advantage to Surrey at
home to Essex, while Hampshire remain hot on their heels thanks to a six-wicket
triumph at Cheltenham. Gloucestershire’s Miles Hammond produced a brilliant 169
at second time of asking but the old Barker-Abbott double-act cleaned up all
ten wickets, leaving the batters just enough overs to earn the sixteen extra
points.
At Northampton on Wednesday,
a seven-nation army couldn’t have held Jack White back. He took 5-11 but Lancashire
turned the tables with fine bowling by Tom Bailey and Kiwi Will Williams, then
a Josh Bohannon ton. Warwickshire may be county champions but Kent kept them in
a worrying eighth place with the aforementioned result, while Rain prevented
Somerset from pressing home their advantage over Yorkshire and escaping the
relegation zone.
Next week’s fixtures, the
last before proper cricket takes a long summer break, sees Surrey probably adding
to Warwickshire’s pressure, but Gloucestershire have a decent opportunity to end
their season’s duck against Northants in front of the Cheltenham Festival
crowds. It’s festival time, too, at Scarborough, where Yorkshire host title-chasing
Hampshire. In the second tier, Glamorgan have six weeks in which to bask in the
afterglow of all those records while Gloucestershire have the unenviable trip
to Trent Bridge. Middlesex will go second by defeating Durham.
Team
of the Week: Hameed (Not), Duckett (Not), Pujara (Sus), Northeast (Gla), Mulder
(Lei), Cooke (Gla), Billings (Ken +), Milnes (Ken), Worrall (Sur), Williams
(Lan), J White (Nor)
