County Team of the Year, 2023

The leaves are starting to lose their green sheen, the shelves are full of Halloween costumes so it must be time for my annual review of the best and most consistent players across the County Championship, One-Day Cup and Vitality Blast. It seems odd that one or two bright performances in front of a selector can warrant an international call-up (e.g. Rehan Ahmed, George Scrimshaw), while consistent quality is consistently ignored (Ed Barnard, Jamie Porter) but maybe here’s a lot of political stuff going on that I don’t see. Hopefully, this review shines a light on the unsung stars of domestic cricket. 

Openers 

In the four-day format, several opening batters in Division Two stood out for me. A rejuvenated Leicestershire boasted Rishi Patel, promoted Worcestershire had the ever-reliable Jake Libby (but not in the Blast) and Derbyshire’s Luis Reece broke all sorts of records, not least with scoring two centuries in each of his matches against Glamorgan, who must be sick of the sight of him. He and his partner Harry Came forged many a solid start, only for the bowlers to fall short. Kent’s evergreen Daniel Bell-Drummond was a revelation in the white-ball stuff, and Ed Barnard’s promotion to open in the One-Day Cup for his new county, Warwickshire, resulted in him being the competition’s top scorer.  However, there was no ignoring Alex Lees, who dominated the second half of the summer and anchored many of Durham’s victories. 

Middle Order 

Another Durham batsman who is no stranger to my Team of the Year is David Bedingham, and he appeared in six Teams of the Week, more than anyone else in 2023. Another South Africa-born Division Two star was Leus Du Plooy who, like Reece, struck over a thousand Championship runs at an average above 80. Glamorgan also failed to win many games, at times leaving Kiran Carlson as a one-man team. Across all formats, his was the second-highest run aggregate in the country. Nottinghamshire’s Joe Clarke somehow scraped a thousand runs, while Essex skipper Tom Westley was his side’s top scorer, too. Gloucestershire’s 22-year-old Oliver Price was excellent in the 50-over competition, and older brother Tom looked a useful bowling prospect, too. However, my middle-order is completed by Josh Bohannon and James Vince. The latter was the Blast’s leading run-maker for he second season running, and the former compiled more across all three formats (1822) than anybody else. 

All Rounders 

I’ve mentioned Ed Barnard already, and his move away from Worcestershire didn’t damage his ability to make useful red-ball runs while also opening the bowling. Ryan Higgins also transferred to a Division One squad, Middlesex and put the rest to shame, scoring 1,617 runs and taking 53 wickets. It didn’t prevent relegation on the very last afternoon but I’m sure this England-qualified all-rounder will bounce back in 2024. He’s no Ben Stokes but, aged 28, he’s perfectly qualified to deliver Bazball if required. Matt Critchley (Essex) is surely the top leg-spinner-batsman in county cricket and Sussex’s Fynn Hudson-Prentice enjoyed a fine summer in the Championship, especially with the bat. However, Liam Dawson gets the nod from me. His international days may be behind him, but his value to Hampshire was evident time and time again, right up to the final fixture.

 

Wicket-Keeper

 

As last year, picking one man for the role proved a nightmare. Ben Foakes and Ben Brown topped the County Championship dismissals table, keeping to two of the best seam attacks around, but their batting wasn’t so great. When he played, Chris Cooke inevitably played a blinder at the crease and behind the stumps for Glamorgan, and Durham’s Ollie Robinson accumulated over 1,300 runs and ten stumpings. It was a tough choice, and maybe my Somerset allegiance affected my judgment, but I have opted for the teenage sensation James Rew. He crashed five centuries in the Championship, demonstrating that the county’s locally-produced youngsters don’t all wish to abandon proper cricket. I hope he wasn’t a one-season wonder. 

Bowlers 

Unusually, Craig Overton didn’t feature in the wicket league this year, and his contribution to Somerset’s T20 success was in his catching, not bowling. Instead, Matt Henry, Josh Davey and Ben Green led the way. As last year, Wiaan Mulder (Leicestershire), Tom Bailey and Matthew Potts were consistent wicket-takers, while at Essex, Jamie Porter and Sam Cook hoovered up more than a hundred first-class wickets at under twenty apiece. Durham’s Ben Raine was Division Two’s highest wicket-taker, and Oliver Hannon-Dalby continued to shine with Chris Rushworth at Warwickshire. OHD even claimed 24 victims in the One-Day Cup, the best by a country mile, and his county didn’t even reach the final, destroyed by Dawson at the semi stage. Brett Hutton topped the bowling charts in the Championship, with 62, proving again that Nottinghamshire need not worry too much that Stuart Broad has retired.  Last, but not least, there is Simon Harmer. He may not be the most economical but, whether with red or white ball in hand, the Essex man is an icon of consistency. In 2023, there were none of the old eye-catching eight-fors but he still snared 85 in total and makes my Team of the Season for the fifth consecutive year. Remarkable. 

So here is my considered multi-format selection:- 

Lees (Dur), Reece (Der), Bohannon (Lan), Bedingham (Dur), Vince (Ham), Rew (Som, wkt), Higgins (Mid), Dawson (Ham), Harmer (Ess), Hutton (Not), Hannon-Dalby (War). 

Also in the squad: Barnard (War), Carlson (Gla), Bell-Drummond (Ken)

Pope Piles on the Runs for Surrey

For the first three days at The Oval, Surrey and Hampshire were neck-and-neck. Mohammad Abbas took 6-64, then Dan Worrall’s riposte was a 5-40. Ben Brown and Ollie Pope swapped scores in the 90s. Then the England batsman suddenly decided to go all Twenty20, clubbed an unbeaten 122 and the champions were home and dry by nine wickets. What was all the fuss about? 

However, Warwickshire hold a three-point advantage in Division One having beaten Kent by an innings and fourteen runs at Edgbaston. Rob Yates and Sam Hain plundered hundreds, then the home seam attack, including new recruit Chris Rushworth and, on a rare outing for his county, Chris Woakes made hay with the ball, despite a brave 99 by Joey Evison. 

At Trent Bridge, Nottinghamshire outclassed Somerset by 165 runs. Stuart Broad was in action, but all bar three wickets went to Brett Hutton and Dane Paterson. Without Lewis Gregory’s eleven wickets, the visitors would have been in a right state. Middlesex suffered their second successive defeat, this time at the hands of Northamptonshire. Runs were in very short supply, but Northants’ seamers Sanderson and Tremain were in charge.

 Such were the temperatures at Chelmsford, James Anderson could be forgiven for wearing six sweaters and a Parka, but he still bowled 35 tidy overs for Lancashire. His side accelerated their second innings scoring to set Essex an unlikely target in the final few sessions. 20 year-old Mancunian wicketkeeper George Bell struck two half-centuries and is apparently a useful prospect, although he couldn’t deliver a victory. 

Division Two was a more sparse terrain. The Bristol pitch was so waterlogged that Gloucestershire’s match against Yorkshire was abandoned halfway through without a ball bowled. Durham took full advantage, winning their home fixture against Worcestershire. The latter’s Jack Haynes contributed 174 runs but David Bedingham (118 and 86) and Aussie spinner Matt Kuhnemann (5-53) finished the job with just five overs remaining. Leicestershire head the table but the weather wiped out days two and three, scuppering any chance of a decisive result. Skipper Lewis Hill and Colin Ackermann each made tons, Chris Wright took 4-38 but a draw was inevitable. 

Next week, Worcestershire host Gloucestershire and Durham travel to Glamorgan while in the top division, the leaders sit it out before meeting in a fortnight. 

Team of the Week:-  Yates (War), Sibley (Sur), Bedingham (Dur), Pope (Sur), Haynes (Wor), Bell (Lan +), Gregory (Som), Hutton (Not), Paterson (Not), Worrall (Sur), Kuhnemann (Dur)

Orr-some Sussex Rack up the Runs

In the week when Bazball lost some of its shine at Lord’s, thanks to some old-fashioned quality pace bowling by South Africa’s Rabada and Nortje, there were plenty of examples of effective 50-over batting in the Royal London One-Day Cup.

In the final fixtures of Group B, Hampshire didn’t exactly tear up any trees but they cruised straight into the semi-finals, three points ahead of the rest, thanks to a 72-run success against Yorkshire at Scarborough. However, their 100% record was spoilt by Glamorgan in Neath, where young opener Tom Bevan bounced back from his duck against Lancashire to smash an excellent 134. A month after he ripped up the Welsh County Championship record books, Sam Northeast was at it again, tonking the Warwickshire attack for an unbeaten 177 in 148 deliveries, Glamorgan’s highest individual score in List A cricket. His stand of 245 with Billy Root was also the county’s best fourth wicket partnership in one-day cricket.

With Wells, Jennings and 21 year-old George Balderson’s maiden century propelling Lancashire into the knockouts, it was a very tight race for the third qualifying spot. Kent eclipsed Glamorgan by beating Lancashire in the last match by two wickets with only a ball to spare. Worcestershire finished bottom but did at least notch their first two victories of the campaign.

In Group A, Somerset also broke their miserable duck, a 14-run win at Edgbaston proving scant consolation in a wretched run through the competition they won in 2019. Durham finished below them after losing all three contests this week. Their batting never truly fired on all cylinders but a special mention goes to 18 year-old spinner Stanley McAlindon, and not just for his name which conjures an image of a bewhiskered Scottish bank clerk in the Victorian era. Against Leicestershire, he registered not only a first 50 of his fledgling career but also a very useful 4-29, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a two-wicket defeat.

The week saw plenty of centuries scattered around the country, while all-rounders Wiaan Mulder and James Taylor continued their consistent summer form. Nottinghamshire’s Brett Hutton claimed a remarkable 7-25 against local rivals Leicester during a game which also featured 6-35 from veteran seamer Chris Wright.

However, if it’s runs you want, then simply follow the Sussex team bus. Cheteshwar Pujara took his tournament tally to 614, bettered only by Steve Eskinazi, with a 90-ball 132 containing only a couple of sixes. Tom Alsop hit an unbeaten 189 in a total of 400-4, the first ‘quadruple’ in the county’s List A history. They plundered 249 from the last twenty overs which would have been fantastic in a T20 fixture let alone a 50-over affair. Just a few days earlier, they’d fallen a mere three runs short of the 400 against Somerset, in which Ali Orr cracked eleven sixes in a double-hundred blitz, four of them off poor teenage medium-pacer Alfie Ogborne. Whoever meets Sussex in next Tuesday’s semi-final at Hove will need to steal their bats.

Team of the Week: Alsop (Sus), Orr (Sus), Jennings (Lan), Northeast (Gla), Pujara (Sus), Mulder (Lei), J Taylor (Glo), McManus (Nor +), Waite (Yor), Wright (Ham), Hutton (Not)

Patel propels Surrey to take their turn at the top

The County Championship leadership seems to be a revolving door this summer. Somerset took over from Nottinghamshire last week but it didn’t last long; they were demolished by an innings at Guildford and Surrey now sit at the summit 13 points clear.

Somerset elected to bowl first and the home side duly made hay. With Ben Foakes away with the Lions, Ollie Pope took the gloves and scored another century. His career is still in its youth but a first-class average above 60 is nevertheless a stat to admire. The total of 459 was large but in theory not unattainable. The practice was different. At 169-4, Somerset were nibbling away despite Rikki Clarke dismissing the top order. Enter Ryan Patel. Half an hour later, Somerset were back in the pavilion and the local lad boasted extraordinary figures of 3.5-2-5-6. He took no wickets in the second innings but the fast men Morkel and Dernbach each claimed four as all but James Hildreth surrendered meekly.

Nottinghamshire rose to second after thumping Essex by 301 runs at Chelmsford. Ross Taylor’s 146 dominated the first day then bowlers Luke Fletcher and Matt Carter put their county even more firmly in control. Notts didn’t enforce the follow-on and set a target which proved way beyond the champions’ capabilities.

At the other end of the table, Worcestershire broke their 2018 duck by outscoring Lancashire. At New Road, after fifteen wickets fell on the first day, it was a story of two openers. Keaton Jennings scored 55 and 177 but he was eclipsed by Daryl Mitchell who delivered a century in each innings. With the ball, Ed Barnard followed his first innings 5-34 with four more wickets as Lancashire chased an improbable 602 to win.

The day-night at the Rose Bowl was not the spectacle it was supposed to be. The batting track gave neither attack any assistance and a draw was the inevitable outcome. Only Dale Steyn raised the flag for the Hampshire bowlers with a first innings five-for but Yorkshire’s Gary Ballance and the home team’s Jimmy Adams each made three figures.

The big promotion clash in Division Two at Tunbridge Wells was very much a game of two halves. Twenty wickets tumbled on day one. Then Kent, led by Joe Denly and Sean Dickson, racked up more than 400, setting Warwickshire a target of 519 which would have been a championship record. With Sibley and Bell apparently cruising at 304-1 on the final morning, that record looked vulnerable. However, once they and Jonathan Trott were dismissed, Warwickshire’s chances ebbed away.  Denly himself mopped up the tail and Kent advanced to within eight points of their table-topping opponents.

Sussex used their annual visit to bucolic Arundel to gain ground, too, defeating Durham with consummate ease. Philip Salt and Tom Haines each achieved their maiden centuries while David Wiese and Danny Briggs starred with the ball.

At Northampton, the home side emulated Worcestershire by snapping up their first Div 2 success of the summer. Ben Sanderson’s first innings 5-16 and Brett Hutton’s 8-57 tell the tale of Gloucestershire’s batting woes. Ben Duckett raced to 32 off 15 balls to clinch a ten-wicket victory on the final morning. Their next opponents Glamorgan are also struggling but came within two wickets of beating Derbyshire. Tailenders Palladino and Olivier had to dig in for the last fifteen overs to survive. Glamorgan’s chances were enhanced by a 289-run partnership involving Usman Khawaja and young Kiran Carlsen but unfortunately for them, the excellent Michael Hogan and debutant Prem Sisodiya were frustrated at the end.

It was an even more exciting finish at Leicester. Colin Ackermann’s mighty 196 not out and a solid team bowling performance put Leicestershire in the driving seat. However, Tim Murtagh and James Harris shared six wickets to restrict the home side to 186 all out. Chasing 381 to win, Middlesex looked set to lose on 197-6. However, Hilton Cartwright’s 80 anchored the tail, and right at the death Harris (58 not out) struck the winning boundary with just one wicket remaining.

Should Middlesex defeat Kent at Beckenham this week, they’ll be right back in the race to return to the top tier, but Warwickshire will be optimistic about beating Durham to hold on to the top spot. In Division One, Somerset visit Essex minus their high-scoring Aussie Matt Renshaw whose broken finger has ended his stint down at Taunton. We’re not having much luck with our overseas signings. Surrey travel to sunny Scarborough and Nottinghamshire host Worcestershire who must hope to channel their confidence to secure a second consecutive win. Can’t see it happening, though. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s Notts who emerge from the revolving door and slip into T20 mode in front.

Team of the Week:

Mitchell (Wor), Jennings (Lan), Denly (Ken), Bell (War), Ackermann (Lei), Pope (Sur +), Clarke (Sur), Barker (War), Patel (Sur), Hutton (Nor), Murtagh (Mid)