Wagner Runs Rings Around Notts

Week 2 of the domestic season brought decent weather. Instead it was batting dominance which produced just two results out of six. Runs flowed particularly freely at the top of the order.

In Division One, Stuart Robson broke a Middlesex record with his match aggregate of 337 runs. However, Jonathan Trott’s unbeaten 219 and a fine all-round performance by the redoubtable Keith Barker were instrumental in negating Robson’s total. Warwickshire ‘keeper Tim Ambrose will also remember the game, not for catches or runs, but for his maiden first-class wicket as the game petered out into a draw.

There were big scores in Yorkshire’s first Championship fixture of the season, too. In the first innings, no fewer than three players reached three figures. Adam Lyth made 111, then Jonny Bairstow struck a brilliant 246 and even Liam Plunkett weighed in with a rapid-fire 126. Ryan Sidebottom’s victims included his thousandth in senior cricket! Hampshire were not to be out-done, though. In reply, James Vince and Sean Ervine also hit hundreds and a draw was inevitable. Hants came out worst, however, as yet another fast bowler was afflicted by injury. Fidel Edwards contrived to break an ankle in a mid-match warm-up, unfortunate in the extreme.

Last week’s winners Nottinghamshire came a cropper against newly-promoted Lancashire. While Anderson and Broad were unusually on opposite sides of a first-class game, it was New Zealander Neil Wagner who stole the headlines. He claimed an eye-catchingly symmetrical 11-111, and the Notts batting fell apart.

In Division Two, Leicestershire enjoyed a rare victory on their first appearance in 2016 destroying Glamorgan at Cardiff. Wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien top-scored with 93 and claimed 8 catches, New recruit Paul Horton opened with two half-centuries and Clint McKay contributed eight wickets, leaving Robert Croft aghast.

Nevertheless Essex head the table despite failing to beat Sussex at Hove. Alastair Cook compiled a patient second innings century but I can’t help think he should have been a bit bolder as his team failed to attack a reachable target of 329 on the final day. Veteran all-rounder Graham Napier was in fine form, but the home side’s opener aggregated 211 runs in the match..

It was even more of a batting paradise at Bristol where only 22 wickets fell. Even Gloucestershire’s nightwatchman Liam Norwell scored 102, mostly in the company of Chris Dent. However, Derbyshire’s Wayne Madsen and Chesney Hughes helped themselves to more than 400 runs between them.

Let’s hope for more even contests between bat and ball next week when County Championship highlights include Leicestershire challenging Kent, now lacking their retired hero Robert Key, Durham hosting Middlesex and Yorkshire visiting Warwickshire.

Team of the Week:
S.Robson (Mid), Nash (Sus), Hughes (Der), Trott (War), Bairstow (Yor), Ervine (Ham), N O’Brien (Lei +), Napier (Ess), Plunkett (Yor), McKay (Lei), Wagner (Lan)

Double-Centuries Dominate the Championship

I may have fancied the London counties for he title but it was a good week for the North as both Yorkshire and Durham picked up their second wins of the campaign. At Headingley, Yorkshire looked to be struggling in the wake of a career-best 270 from Derbyshire's Chesney Hughes. However, England batsmen Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow underlined their credentials by striking 236 and 186, respectively, including a 231-run partnership, on the way to an innings of 677-7 declared. Then on the final day Jack Brooks led the attack with 5-40 to secure an impressive victory.

Meanwhile Durham moved to the top, albeit temporarily, after beating Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge. It wasn't quite as much a bowlers' match as their previous fixtures, but Durham had enough strength in depth to overcome a county brim full of England internationals. From Hales, Lumb and Taylor to Broad, Swann and Patel, the home team were ultimately second best after a frantic T20-style run chase on the final afternoon. Stoneman and Mustard flayed the attack for 125 in under 12 overs and the 183 target was reached in barely 19.

On the South Coast, Sussex and Warwickshire played out a rain-affected draw in which Trott, Bell and Woakes warmed up for New Zealand with half-centuries. Luke Wells fell just four short of another century for Sussex, too, while team-mate Matt Prior claimed six catches in the single innings possible. At the time of writing, the Middlesex-Surrey contest is intrigingly balanced, but Chris Rogers' double-century could well have turned the game on its head after his side was made to follow on.

There were some dramatic finishes in Division Two, too. Northants consolidated their stranglehold by beating Kent by seven wickets. A hundred by captain Stephen Peters, ten wickets for Trent Copeland and another fine all-round display by Steven Crook proved too much for the home county at Canterbury. Up at Colwyn Bay, Lancashire pulled off an improbable success on the third afternoon. In a low-scoring match, Glamorgan looked to be cruising towards the 154 target at 94-2 before the evergreen Glen Chapple and spinner Simon Kerrigan instigated a humiliating collapse.

While big scores were the order of the day in Division One, runs were at a premium in the other second-tier fixtures. At Chelmsford I had expected Hampshire to roll over the home side but Essex fought back well to snatch a four wicket triumph inside three days. Alastair Cook hit a half-century but the main damage was inflicted by Graham Napier's batting and the returning seam machine David Masters, whose match aggregate of 9-70 showed what an under-rated bowler he is. Finally, At Leicester, a tight contest was eventually decided by Gloucestershire captain Michael Klinger's unbeaten century as they won by nine wickets.

With the CB40 competition opening this week, too, domestic cricket is becoming more complicated with staggered starts and a May mish-mash of formats. The Black Cap tourists have arrived and things are getting interesting in England. It's been a good start to the 'summer' for home-grown Joe Root, Tom Westley, Varun Chopra, Michael Reed and James Vince, as well as overseas players Alviro Petersen, Steven Crook and Simon Katich. I would expect the headlines to turn the way of Cook, Trott, Anderson et al in the next four weeks....