2020 World Cricket Team of the Year

Well, what a crap year! An unprecedented global epidemic wreaked havoc with all our lives and of course cricket suffered as much as any professional leisure activity, from village clubs to Test nations. When New Zealand beat India on 2^nd March, we could not have known it would be the last Test match for more than four months. There was a similar hiatus for ODIs and of course domestic competitions and the IPL were either cancelled or postponed until infection rates dipped by the autumn. 

It was a minor miracle that England managed to play a couple of Covid-secure series against an accommodating West Indies and Pakistan, and congratulations also to the counties who challenged not for a full County Championship but an abbreviated version climaxed by a five-day final. Just my luck that Somerset’s peerless group performance wasn’t rewarded with the Bob Willis Trophy. At least the dreaded Hundred nonsense was shelved for a year. 

At international level, major tournaments were ditched for several months but the remaining bilateral competitions did India few favours. Their first Test victory in 2020 came just days before the year ended, and New Zealand’s success has advanced them to the top of the Test rankings with Australia. England head the lists in white-ball cricket. 

As for individuals, the curtain fell on the year with Kane Williamson atop the Test table, displacing new dad Kohli and Smith who, while others tucked into turkey, experienced his first duck in the baggy green for years. Pat Cummins reached the top in bowling but in ODIs it was the turn of Trent Boult. But will they make my Team of the Year? 

As ever I have looked at first-class, List A and T20 to select a cross-format Eleven. They may not be brilliant at any one of the above but are who I consider to have been the best performers in world cricket across the whole year. 

With Tests in short supply, only Dom Sibley stands out as an opener so I’ve focussed on ODIs and T20. For me, Aaron Finch just edges out Aussie team-mate David Warner while one of my 2019 reserves, KH Rahul, is also promoted to the first XI. He may usually drop a few places in ODIs but with more than 1000 T20 runs and an ODI strike rate of over 100 he made the most of his limited opportunities. And he can also don the ‘keeper’s gloves if needed! 

In the middle-order, Virat Kohli is a rare absentee from my team of the year, but another Indian Shreyas Iyer made a considerable impact in white-ball cricket. Dawid Malan was named number one T20 batsman at the end of the year, West Indian Jermaine Blackwood was a rare beacon of light in what was another lacklustre twelve months for his side, while Dean Elgar, Henry Nicholls and Zak Crawley were also in contention. Then there’s Mumbai’s young Sarfaraz Khan who averaged an amazing 154, thanks to an unbeaten triple-century. However, Pakistan’s Babar Azam cemented his position as one of the very best all-round batsmen in the business, scoring more T20 runs than anyone. Steve Smith also makes it, but not for his Test performances. His strike rates were superior to Warner’s in ODIs and Maxwell’s in T20s. However Marnus Labuschagne, who deputised for the Aussie red-ball captain during his 2019 ban, maintained his form throughout 2020. 

For all the claims of Watling, Paine and Hope, my wicket-keeper’s spot again comes down to a straight race between Jos Buttler and Quinton de Kock. As in the previous year the South African is my pick. The England man had a decent Test summer but De Kock’s superior striking elsewhere had the edge. 

Ben Stokes may top the ICC all-rounder rankings but for a change I’m selecting his colleague Chris Woakes. He may not have the brutal batting ability of the Ginger One but took more wickets whilst scoring more limited-overs runs at a reasonable rate. 

There are so many excellent bowlers to choose from. Jimmy Anderson reached 600 Test wickets whilst his long-time England partner Stuart Broad topped 500. Nobody could match his 2020 haul of 38 at barely 14 apiece. Craig Overton was devastating for Somerset but couldn’t break back into the England set-up. All the New Zealand seamers excelled. Tim Southee achieved a career tally of 300 Test scalps, Boult and Wagner shared in the wickets but new boy Kyle Jamieson was even better in his debut Test season, definitely one to watch. Cummins, Hazlewood, Nortje and Haris Rauf are right up there and only Jofra Archer’s mediocre Test performances let him down. Jasprit Bumrah’s T20 economy rate of 6.62 is outstanding for a seamer but he’s edged out by a 6 foot 6 left-armer. No, not Mitchell Starc. Pakistan’s 20 year-old left-armer Shaheen Shah Afridi has become a giant of the game in more ways than one. Few surpassed his 2020 T20 tally of 52 wickets and his four in four balls for Hampshire was pretty special. 

I’ve space for two spinners in my Eleven and, thanks to his continued magnificence in T20, Rashid Khan of Afghanistan is one of them. Meanwhile Adam Zampa has successfully spread his wings away from the safety of mere four-over stints in T20 to the 50-over game and I wonder if he could eventually replace Nathan Lyon in the Test squad. Anything’s possible. Here’s to a safe, less socially-distanced new year. 

So to summarise, here is my 2020 Team of the Year:- 

Rahul (Ind), Finch (Aus), Babar Azam (Pak), Smith (Aus), Labuschagne (Aus), De Kock (SA +), Woakes (Eng), Broad (Eng), Rashid Khan (Afg), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Pak), Zampa (Aus). 

My ‘squad replacements’ would be Elgar (SA), Buttler (Eng), Bumrah (Ind), Archer (Eng), Jamieson (NZ)

Somerset Surge and Western Storm

It’s been a busy week of Vitality Blast fixtures. In the North division, Yorkshire and Derbyshire each played four matches, two of them against each other, with the latter winning both. The Falcons also beat the Birmingham Bears but a clean sweep was prevented by a nine-run defeat at Trent Bridge.

I’d picked the Worcestershire-Lancashire clash as the big one, so maybe it was inevitable it was one of three games to be completely washed out. In the end, it was the Rapids’ Friday night home tie against Durham which was to decide who topped the table. Durham had already made it five wins in a row with an easy victory over struggling Northamptonshire, and seemed to be homing in on a sixth when Ross Whiteley’s powerful innings of 60 was ended in the final over. Ten were still needed off five balls, but Wayne Parnell required only three to hit the 195 target and take Worcestershire to the summit.

Elsewhere, Derbyshire's Wahab Riaz and Yorkshire's David Willey were both in fine fettle with bat and ball but Mohammad Nabi provide the most explosive innings of the division. The veteran Leicestershire spinner didn't have a vintage week with the ball but he plundered eight sixes in a 32-ball 86 to carry his side to success against Lancashire. 

In the South, Somerset won all three of their matches, the most impressive being a ten-wicket slaughter of Essex at Taunton. Johannes Myburgh thrashed 103 not out from 44 balls to end Essex’s misery. Captain Lewis Gregory had earlier beaten Middlesex almost on his own, striking 60 from 26 deliveries then taking 4-28. Jerome Taylor's 5-15 against Hampshire was the bowling achievement of the week.

Gloucestershire had retained their lead after defeating Sussex by four wickets in a low-scoring encounter at Hove on Wednesday but failed to consolidate n Friday night in Cardiff. Helped by Craig Meschede’s career-best 77, Glamorgan had passed 200 and seemed to be cruising until Jack Taylor began peppering the boundary and the crowd beyond. Van Gugten bowled him at the start of the final over, but AJ Tye duly heaved two sixes. He needed three runs from the last ball but missed. That left Kent to occupy pole position. Despite, or because of, three ‘No Results’, they have thirteen points whilst Somerset’s superior number of wins gives them only twelve.

However, the greatest runfest of the week came at The Oval last night in front of a sellout 24,000 crowd. It wasn’t as close as the Cardiff game but for huge hitting it was unsurpassed. Paul Stirling’s 109 in 58 balls had propelled Middlesex to 221-5. But, in Jason Roy and Aaron Finch, Surrey boast two of the most electrifying T20 openers in the world. They don’t always click at the same time but on this occasion they did. Roy plundered 84 from 37 before holing out to deep mid-wicket. Meanwhile, the Aussie kept going. Having already broken the county record for a fastest T20 fifty, he raced to three figures and was still there on 117 when Nic Maddinson launched the ball over mid-wicket to clinch the victory. There were still four overs remaining so God knows how many more runs Finch might have accumulated had they been batting first!

Next week’s potential highlights include Surrey’s trip to Somerset, the Roses battle at Headingley, Derbyshire’s visit to Worcester and Kent hosting Gloucestershire.

Finally, before I go, a quick mention for the T20 Women’s Super League. Thankfully it has been expanded this year, and there have been some fine performances in the past few weeks. The Somerset-based Western Storm have looked a formidable outfit, and with Indian Smriti Mandhana in sparkling form, may well retain their title. She garnered almost 200 runs in her three fixtures, including a 61-ball century and then 52 not out from a mere 19, taking her six tally for the tournament so far to sixteen. Watch out, Mr Finch, you have competition!

Team of the Week: 

Finch (Sur), Myburgh (Som), Williamson (Yor), Willey (Yor), Mandhana (Wes), Billings (Ken +), Gregory (Som), Wahab Riaz (Der), J Taylor (Som), Imran Tahir (Dur), Milne (Ken)

Raine-ing Sixes and Aaron Finch Sings for Surrey

After four games of the Vitality Blast, Worcestershire remain the only county with a 100% record. Their star performer was perhaps also a surprise: Dillon Pennington. In Friday’s North division game against Northamptonshire, reduced by rare rain to a nine-over thrash, the Shropshire teenager grabbed 4-9 in his two overs.

Nottinghamshire sit in second place thanks to victories over Leicestershire and Derbyshire. Young ‘keeper Tom Moores contributed another couple of feverish fifties while Dan Christian provided more runs and wickets to the Outlaws’ cause. However, when it comes to sixes, Ben Raine reigned supreme. At Edgbaston, the Leicester all-rounder clumped ten of them in a 100-run defeat of the Bears on his way to 113 off 46 balls.

His innings was not the highest of the week. In the South group, T20 specialist Aaron Finch followed his 58 for Surrey against Essex with a 79-ball unbeaten 131 at Brighton. Even Rashid Khan got clobbered for ten an over. However, this is Sussex’s only loss in the competition so far. Earlier in the week, they travelled to Glamorgan and Hampshire and emerged from each with eight-wicket victories. Luke Wright and Laurie Evans shared two sizeable partnerships in both games.

However, Kent top the table on net run rate. Sam Billings thrashed 95 not out from the Hampshire attack, taking a particular liking to Gareth Berg, whose four overs went for sixty. It was a close contest, though, as Dawson and Berg couldn’t quite complete the chase, falling just three runs short. Kent, too, were on the receiving end of a tight finish, losing by five runs to Gloucestershire at Bristol.

Next Friday sees some tasty encounters such as the Roses match at Old Trafford, Kent hosting Surrey and Somerset’s visit to Cardiff. If possible I may even pop along to that one myself….

Team of the Week: 

Wright (Sus), Finch (Sur), Moores (Not +), Billings (Ken), Christian (Not), Raine (Lei), Clarke (Sur), Zampa (Ess), Ferguson (Der), Pennington (Wor), Pillans (Sur)

Notts On Top - Twice!

It was a mixed week for the counties, with a round of Championship fixtures squeezed in between NatWest T20 Blast games. Nottinghamshire opened up a 35-point lead in Division Two after thrashing neighbours Derbyshire. Just days after I wrote off Alex Hales’ potential as a Test batsman again, he scored a run-a-ball 218. Pity the Derby bowler Ben who nabbed ten wickets yet still finished on the losing side. Second-placed Worcestershire suffered a rare reverse at home to Sussex, for whom Chris Nash made 118 and the seamers Jordan and Archer were in the wickets.

Northamptonshire remain third after drawing at home to Gloucestershire and Leicestershire still haven’t won all season. They drew against Durham, for whom young opener Cameron Steel whipped up a top score of 224 and Tom Latham contributed 124. Had the match lasted a full four days, I doubt whether the home team would have avoided defeat. After notching a few wins in 2016, the look back to their old feeble selves.

In the top flight, the weather helped the seamers no end, with a couple of low-scoring results. Essex are now hot favourites to win the title in their first season back in Division One, thumping Yorkshire by eight wickets at Scarborough. Mohammad Amir claimed two five-fors and career-best match figures of 10-72, while Jamie Porter took 7-85. The Pakistan left-armer has been just the fillip Essex needed to push on for the Championship pennant. At the other end of the table, Warwickshire are finally off the mark having seen off Middlesex by 180 runs. Their all-rounders Keith Barker and the returning Chris Woakes were heavily involved. England, too, were particularly thankful to see Woakes back from injury and looking good.

Poor weather prevented any positive outcomes at Southampton and Taunton. I was at Somerset’s County Ground for the first time in ages on Monday and, before the heavens opened during the tea interval, was rewarded by some excellent strokeplay from Tom Abell (96) and, against his former county, Steven Davies (142). In the afternoon, they made the Curran brothers look very ordinary indeed. The following day, Surrey's Mark Stoneman’s 50 ensured his call-up to England did not look misplaced.

In the shorter stuff, Notts are also top of the North group, thanks to their defeat of closest rivals Warwickshire. Samit Patel’s unbeaten 78 was the decisive factor. In his favoured format, Hales was out first ball!  Yesterday, Glamorgan guaranteed progress to the quarter-finals. They went to Taunton and beat Somerset by just one run. With just eight runs required, Peter Trego couldn’t quite find the boundaries he wanted and so the Cidermen slip out of the top three. Essex have leapt from bottom to third inside a week but are three points behind second-placed Hampshire who enjoyed an easy win over Glamorgan.

T20 stars of the week must be Yorkshire skipper Tim Bresnan, who took a stunning 6-19, and Surrey’s Aaron Finch, whose century against Sussex included 30 off one Wiese over.

The next week will decide who finishes in the top four of each group, and the race to Finals Day gathers momentum. Nottinghamshire’s form in red and white-ball cricket must surely give them an edge. But of course in T20, anything can happen…

Team of the Week: Steel (Dur), Latham (Dur), Nash (Sus), Hales (Not), Davies (Som +), Woakes (War), Barnard (Wor), Hutton (Der), Bresnan (Yor), Jarvis (Lan), Mohammad Amir (Ess)

Roland-Jones rolls Middlesex to the Top

After looking to be a protracted war of the Roses, the Championship battle has suddenly become a five-army contest. By losing by an innings to Middlesex, Yorkshire slipped to fifth in the table. However, their victors leapfrogged Lancashire and currently stand at the summit by a single point!

Toby Roland-Jones thumped a sizzling 79 and captured six wickets, advancing his reputation sufficiently to earn a place In England's Test squad to face Pakistan on his home ground. Credit for the Middlesex win should be shared with Stevie Eskinazi, whose 157 was a second consecutive hundred in only his third first-class match. Clearly the selectors (Angus Fraser?!) were at this match because only that can explain why Gary Ballance, who made 132, also received the call-up.

Warwickshire are only a point behind after a ten-wicket demolition of Surrey. Ex-England star Jonathan Trott hit 123 while Surrey's latest big-money recruit Aaron Finch scored 110 in 98 balls in a rare four-day start. Jeetan Patel grabbed a pair of five-fors to wrap up the win. The Midlanders are looking a good bet for the title, with only Chris Woakes in contention for England duty.

Lancashire could only draw with Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge but at least a second innings hundred from 19 year-old opener Haseeb Hameed prevented a potential embarassment. Further north, Keaton Jennings racked up his fifth county hundred of the summer in Durham's draw with Hampshire, who were their hosts' equals in the game.

In the Division Two top-of-the-table clash, Essex thrashed Kent by ten wickets at Chelmsford. Their first innings of 569 all out contained no three-figure scores but four of 80+, led by 94 from Ravi Bopara, who also took five wickets. It would have been an even more emphatic result had captain Sam Northeast and James Tredwell not put on a mightily impressive 212 for the eighth wicket!

Worcestershire progressed to third position after an entertaining three-wicket triumph at home to Leicestershire. In a match full of runs but a great contest, they had to score over 300 at a gallop in barely two sessions on the final day. Fortunately for them, another half-century from number eight Joe Leach and Joe Clarke's 123 saw them home. It was also encouraging to see Tom Fell back in action after cancer treatment. Dexter, Cosgrove and Horton each struck centuries in Leicester's losing cause.

At Hove, Sussex had ensured Glamorgan remain winless. Despite hundreds from Wells, Joyce and Brown, they couldn't close out the match. This was largely due to the in-form David Lloyd's unbeaten 102. The Cardiff faithful must be wondering how their side can be so consistently strong in the T20 Blast yet consistently soggy in the Championship.
Talking of soggy, the Chesterfield pitch was so wet that not a ball was bowled in Derbyshire's fixture with Northants. Sadly not a good advert for 'festival' pitches.

This week, Essex travel to Cheltenham in the hope of reopening an ample lead at the top. I doubt the Gloucestershire ground will suffer the same fate as Chesterfield. Middlesex could also put daylight between themselves and Lancashire by winning at Taunton, although if Roland-Jones makes his England debut, Somerset will have more chance of stopping them.

Team of the week:
Hameed (Lan), Jennings (Dur), Eskinazi (Mid), Northeast (Ken), Bopara (Ess), Lloyd (Gla), Brown (Sus +), Patel (War), Roland-Jones (Mid), van der Gugten (Gla), McKay (Lei)

England v New Zealand – Memorable but for the wrong reasons?

Now that we’ve all caught our breath, it’s time to reflect on the truly memorable ODI series between England and New Zealand. I always felt it would be a competitive contest between a side in captain Brendon McCullum’s mould and one desperately seeking to copy it after that dismal World Cup just a few months earlier. And so it proved.

However, the astonishing turnaround in England’s fortunes must have surprised most onlookers. Of course, the pitches, boundary distances, bat technology and fielding restrictions have all been created to boost run rates and the six count. All that was needed for England to capitalise was introduce the ethos of ‘take a gamble; there’s somebody else padded up should you get out’. The bold policy of picking a bunch of T20 specialists signalled the new regime’s intention and all the players had to do is carry it out to the letter.

Easier said than done, of course, and the Black Caps, as England found out to their cost in the World Cup, are amongst the best in the business when it comes to the fifty-over format. Nevertheless, it has been an exhilarating series for the batsmen and spectators who drool over a succession of heaves over square leg, ragged top-edges over third man and flicks into the crowd just 50 metres from the crease. The records racked up rapidly;
- The most runs in a series of five or fewer matches (3,151);
- The highest ever run rate a five-match rubber (7.15 an over)
- England’s first ever score of 400 (408-9 at Edgbaston)
- England’s biggest winning margin (210 runs, in the same game)
- The fastest ever England century (by Jos Buttler – again!)

And yet New Zealand would have triumphed had Jonny Bairstow not stepped up to the plate in the rain-hit decider at Chester-le-Street! When Joe Root and Buttler smashed centuries in the first game, we knew something special was on the cards. 27 sixes featured in the second at The Oval, where England narrowly failed thanks to the Duckworth/Lewis intervention. At the Rose Bowl, it was the turn of Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor to plunder hundreds in a well-measured run chase, before the feat was repeated by Root and Eoin Morgan at Trent Bridge. Here, England made a target of 350 look ridiculously easy. The clincher in the North East included fewer runs and ‘only’ seven sixes but far more drama.

The statistics show that Williamson, Taylor, Morgan and Root each aggregated more than 250 runs, the former finishing on an amazing 396. Of the fifteen players who faced at least 50 balls, only three had strike rates of under 100 per 100 balls. Curiously these were Taylor, Martin Guptill and England’s supposedly big-hitting opener Jason Roy. Morgan’s six tally of 16 easily outnumbered anybody else’s but I have more respect for Willamson’s ability to find the gaps, collecting a mightily impressive 49 fours throughout the series.

So it was all brilliant, wasn’t it? Not if you’re a bowler, it wasn’t! Nobody took even ten wickets. Ben Stokes, Steve Finn and Adil Rashid led the way and, while Mark Wood claimed only two at 78.5 apiece, his economy rate was a very commendable 5.23. Chris Jordan and Neil McCullum went for at least nine an over. The balance between bat and ball has become hideously distorted, but one good thing has been the standard of fielding. Catches will always be dropped occasionally but the athleticism in the deep is better than it has ever been. Just think about the Southee-Boult boundary ‘relay catch’ in the second ODI. And in recent years, Southee seems to make this look routine.

I don’t know whether such a runfest is good for cricket but it will add to the already massive Ashes mania, and boost Sky TV ratings. Bums on seats are already assured, even at Cardiff, although sadly mine won’t be amongst them. Too expensive and not enough remaining holiday entitlement! In my view, from an England perspective, Hales, Roy and Billings have not justified their own hype. However, the series has demonstrated once again that, for all the country’s previously poor recent ODI performances, especially at home, Joe Root and Jos Buttler are world-class.

The other element to celebrate is the spirit in which the series was conducted. McCullum and Morgan are fierce competitors but good friends, and it showed. In this respect, Broad and Anderson were not missed at all. England fans should doff a cap to New Zealand for showing their side how 50-over cricket can be played. Now we just need to allow spectators to admire the skills of Southee, Boult, Henry, Finn et al as bowlers rather than as six-fodder!

Australia and India win the first big battles

The ICC schedulers ensured that the 2015 World Cup was guaranteed an interested audience right from the off. All the big guns have opened their accounts, and results have arguably gone with expectations, although none of the matches have produced an exciting finale.

The New Zealand-Sri Lanka opener was perhaps the hardest to predict, but Brendon McCullum's destructive innings and Corey Anderson's 75 off 46 to ridicule the death bowling reputations of Malinga and Kulasekera got the Black Cap off to a blistering start in Pool A. Across the sea at the MCG, fellow hosts Australia demolished the old enemy in considerable style.

Still no Michael Clarke so George Bailey skippered the side whose only failure was to win the toss. Aaron Finch became the first centurion of the tournament with 135, then Glenn Maxwell and Brad Haddin gave the England pacemen a late mauling before Steve Finn's end-of-innings hat-trick lent the fielding side a spurious air of confidence. Eoin Morgan's men had after all conceded 342 runs and were about to see Starc, Hazelwood and Johnson unleashed upon Moeen Ali and Ian Bell. In the end, it was Mitchell Marsh's medium pace which did the damage, together with a few superb catches, leaving England's final partnership of James Taylor and Jimmy Anderson 13 overs in which to knock off 150-odd runs.

A shame the match ended in controversy after the umpires came unstuck over an lbw decision which turned into a run-out. Taylor may feel aggrieved that the mistake deprived him of a likely debut ODI century, but England were never going to win the match. Morgan's position looks perilous after notching his fourth duck in five innings. However, England can hardly sack him mid-tournament,and he will get his chance of making runs against Scotland, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in the coming weeks. Quarter-final qualification should be assured. Failure to progress may leave selectors no choice but to replace him with, in my humble opinion, either Root or Taylor.

Earlier today at Hamilton, Zimbabwe handed South Africa an early scare dismissing the top four for only 83 after barely 20 overs. However, the Proteas bat deep, and this merely spurred David Miller and JP Duminy into thrashing a world fifth wicket ODI stand of 256. Elton Chigumbura's team were certainly not overawed by Steyn and Morkel, but the consistency of Philander and Imran Tahir proved more problematic. Hamilton Masakadz struck a defiant 80 but SA triumphed by 62 runs.

One of the greatest rivalries in international sport is India v Pakistan at cricket, and Adelaide had the pleasure of hosting the latest contest between the pair, with their ever-exuberant hordes of colourfully-attired fans. India came into the competition on the back of some dismal results but Virat Kohli's return to form, some fine stroke play from Dhawan and Raina plus 4-35 from Mohammed Shami were too much for Pakistan. They were bowled out three overs short, every single dismissal a 'caught'.

The West Indies enter the fray tonight, along with Associate hopefuls Ireland and Scotland, with the UAE and Afghanistan in the following few days, but the big four have laid down their gauntlets in style.

Yorks and Notts Advance, Prince is king.

While international cricket and the Premier League have seen frequent changes in the hierarchy in the past year or so, the County Championship seems to be following suit. This week, Nottinghamshire inflicted a first defeat upon previous leaders Somerset while Yorkshire thumped Warwickshire inside three days to join them at the top with 142 points, both claiming a maximum 24 points. With 16 for a win, at this rate anybody except Northants could win the pennant come September.

All the Notts bowlers played a part as Somerset batsmen, Trescothick apart, were despatched for 168 on the first day, then Mullaney and Jacques overtook that total on their own. The in-form Samit Patel and Riki Wessels took the home side lead to approaching 300. Chris Jones, Peter Trego (107 not out) and a 71-run tenth wicket stand between Dockrell and Jamie Overton took the match to the fourth day but, despite Craig Overton's double-strike in the opening over, Chris Read's side wrapped up a seven-wicket victory.

Not for the first time in recent seasons, Warwickshire's batsmen let down their bowlers, to the benefit of Yorkshire. Even without Root and Ballance, the Tykes were simply too strong. They could even blood an 18 year-old slow left-arm spinner in Karl Carver and come out smelling of (White) Roses. Aaron Finch top-scored with 110. At the Riverside, Durham simply overpowered Sussex. Mark Stoneman and Keaton Jennings contributed centuries while Ben Stokes starred with the ball. His ten wickets mean he will be hammering on the England selectors' door once more. Not too vigorously, of course; he should learn a lesson from the locker incident!

Lancashire were the latest county to hammer Northamptonshire at Old Trafford. The visitors could take some comfort from leaving Lancs at 33-3, but Ashwell Prince (257 not out) and Steven Croft (156) shared a triple-century partnership. Jos Buttler and Tom Smith advanced the total to a formidable 650-6 declared, and Smith (again), Chapple, Kerrigan et al bowled the bottom side out twice by early on the last morning. Middlesex must be licking their lips for the visit of Peters et al next weekend. Don't buy tickets for Day Four!

In Division Two, neither of the runaway leaders were in action but Surrey's resurgence continued, taking them to the giddy heights of third place. Skipper Gary Wilson (160 not out) and Chris Tremlett (90) each made career-best scores in the first innings total of 522-9 declared. Angus Robson responded well with two half-centuries and number eleven Charlie Shreck struck a maiden 50 but Leicestershire were unable to prevent a ten-wicket defeat.

Young opener Daniel Bell-Drummond's 101 helped Kent to 333. Not a massive total but it was almost sufficient to beat Derbyshire by an innings. Darren Stevens and Alex Riley shared sixteen wickets, the former's 6-64 in the second innings being the most striking set of figures. Kent's win couldn't lift them above Glamorgan despite the latter failing to clinch victory over Gloucestershire at Bristol despite topping 600. The home team ground out a draw by scoring at under two an over on the last day. Earlier, Jacques Rudolph and Ben Wright produced centuries and four others passed 50 for the Welsh but their bowlers were too slow to pierce the defences of Ian Cockbain, Will Gidman and Will Tavare. The latter's uncle Chris would have been proud of his defiance and slow-scoring!

Glamorgan next travel to Worcester, Gloucestershire to Essex but the tastiest tie looks to be Hampshire's visit to The Oval where Surrey could now be strong opposition, especially if it's a spinner's wicket.

I'm on holiday at the weekend so I offer my Team of the Week a bit earlier and briefer than normal:-

Robson (Eng), Rudolph (Gla), Sangakkara (SL), Prince (Lan), Root (Eng), Mathews (SL *), Wilson (Sur +), Stokes (Dur), Stevens (Ken), Tremlett (Sur), Prasad (SL)

At last a trophy for Australia

It was maybe fitting that Shane Watson collected the last Man of the Match award of a long and gruelling Australia tour. For someone so derided, he bore by far the greatest workload of the various different squads, from the Champions Trophy warm-ups through the Ashes Tests, T20s and finally the ODIs. Of 23 games, he played in 20, accumulating over 1000 runs although only eight expensive wickets. Amongst those runs were some pretty special centuries, including that 176 at The Oval and this week's 143 at Southampton. That's one England's spinners Tredwell and Root won't forget in a hurry.

The highest individual score was Michael Clarke's memorable 187 at Old Trafford, and he demonstrated that you don't have to slog your way to thre figures. On the other hand, Aaron Finch produced one of the most incredible batting blitz in history at the Rose Bowl. 156 in 63 balls produced a world record for T20 internationals, but could he temper those instincts to make a Test player? Averaging sub-30 in 33 first-class cricket at the age of 26 suggests otherwise. George Bailey seems to be progressing from T20 specialist to very capable 50-over performer but at 31 his career is limited. Not as limited as Chris Rogers' but the latter proved he can do the business as opener, if only until someone else comes through the system, or Phil Hughes rediscovers the form of five few years ago. Steve Smith's debut hundred at The Oval did his cause no harm either, although his bowling is short of what should be expected of a genuine all-rounder.

Considering the Aussies' 0-3 Ashes defeat, it was remarkable how well their bowlers performed. Graeme Swann was the series' leading wicket-taker but Ryan Harris, just behind him, averaged under 20, a world-class statistic in a major Test series. Unlike Harris, James Faulkner was another very busy man this summer. His left-arm pace was quicker than first appeared and he provided useful late-order runs, too. Clint McKay's hat-trick at Cardiff was the highlight of his tour, Mitchell Starc had his moments and Peter Siddle was his usual reliable self in Tests, although perhaps less incisive than usual. Mitchell Johnson demonstrated in the past week that there are no faster bowlers in world cricket, and in the Southampton finale managed to combine that raw speed with control, menace and economy. The jury's out on Pattinson, Bird and Coulter-Nile but next winter's bowling line-up will probably be determined by who's fit. Nathan Lyon looks to have secured the spinner slot but if teenager Ashton Agar can rip the ball as well as he let rip with it in that record-breaking tail-end 98, he may mature into a rival.

Behind the stumps, Darren Lehmann and his team probably have it right with Brad Haddin playing the Tests and Matthew Wade in the shorter formats. It is probably correct for a selection policy involving watching how all the players perform in the Sheffield Shield. There are still several spots to nail down in the Test side, and it will be interesting to see whether David Warner returns to the fold to do battle - maybe that's not the best choice of phrase! - with all the England team and the Barmy Army can throw at him.

I'll no doubt return to the issue as the Ashes return gets closer....