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)

Somerset bounce back amidst Nationwide Runfest

At long last, a more familiar line-up ensured Somerset ended their dismal run with a surprisingly decisive victory over champions Warwickshire. Most of the side chipped in, including Matt Renshaw’s century and typical tight bowling plus splendid catching from Craig Overton.  That they wound things up inside three days proved fortuitous because Sunday’s rain prevented positive results in six of the nine fixtures. 

However, there may not have been a winner at Bristol had Gloucestershire and Surrey batted on all week! From 37-3, Surrey ran rampant to pass 600, led by Jamie Smith’s 237 not out. The home county’s openers Marcus Harris and Chris Dent quickly showed this was a batsman’s paradise, sharing a stand of 296. A draw was agreed with only 12 wickets having fallen. None of them fell to Gloucestershire’s Mohammad Amir, returning to first-class cricket for more than two years. 

There was another huge partnership at Headingley, where Dawid Malan and Harry Brook put on 259 in a total of 571. Ollie Robinson and Grant Stewart ensured Kent avoided an innings defeat. Ben Compton and Daniel Bell-Drummond also continued good recent form but England’s Zak Crawley failed twice. At Southampton, Nick Gubbins struck a century in each innings for Hampshire but James Anderson was in an old-fashioned mean mood at the head of a solid Lancashire attack. 

At Chelmsford, a Luke Procter century and Ben Sanderson’s 4-32 left Essex following on against Northants, only for a steadfast middle-order performance to see them safely to a draw. Later this week, leaders Surrey and Hampshire face winless Northants and Gloucestershire, respectively. 

In Division Two, Nottinghamshire consolidated their position at the top by defeating Worcestershire. Dane Paterson’s first-innings 8-52 was easily the best bowling statistic of the county week but all-rounder Ed Barnard’s unbeaten 163 forced Notts to bat a second time. It merely delayed the inevitable, with Ben Duckett and Joe Clarke picking up half-centuries to win by five wickets. 

Middlesex had an easier task in overcoming bottom side Leicestershire at Lord’s. Opener Mark Stoneman’s hundred was the highlight, although his seam colleagues were unrelenting with the ball, Ben Mike’s brave 99 not out nothwithstanding. 

Derbyshire and Glamorgan provided the week’s closest and most entertaining contest. After an evenly-matched first two days, Derby’s Wayne Madsen and ‘keeper Brooke Guest’s second ton of the match set the visitors a challenging target of 331. Marnus Labuschagne and Sam Northeast got the Welsh off to a great start but after Chris Cooke and Kiran Carlsen lost their wickets, both sides could eye a possible triumph. In the end, time ran out with Glamorgan 21 runs and Derbyshire two wickets short. 

The towering scores in Division One were also in evidence at Hove. Cheteshwar Pujara struck a double-hundred for Sussex, but even this was eclipsed by a triple-century opening stand by Alex Lees and Sean Dickson, which was curtailed just short of a Durham record. Sussex ‘keeper Mohammad Rizwan, one of the finest T20 batsmen in the world, had an interesting game. He scored 79, took three wickets behind the stumps and, during a two-over stint as medium-pace bowler with a draw inevitable, a wonderful over-the-shoulder catch at first slip! 

This week, Notts and Derbyshire aren’t in action, so Middlesex can take over at the pinnacle by defeating Sussex but Glamorgan could do the same with a home conquest of Leicestershire. 

Team of the Week: Dent (Glo), Dickson (Dur), Gubbins (Ham), Madsen (Der), Pujara (Sus), J Smith (Sur), Guest (Der +), Barnard (Wor), C Overton (Som), Paterson (Not), Anderson (Lan)