Bears Blast to the Top

Everybody knows that Twenty20 is such an unpr4dictable form of cricket. Matches can turn upon a few wickets or a couple of sixes. Tjis has a knock-on effect on the league tables, too. It can also produce genuine nail-biters. 

In this week’s Blast, there were two tied matches: Northants v Leicestershire and Gloucestershire v Surrey. Durham fans, in particular, enjoyed a few cliffhangers, edging Lancashire by two runs and Yorkshire by three. The Roses derby itself at Headingley ended in a tight seven-run margin in favour of the home team, for whom spinner Dom Bess was consistently economical. 

In the North division, the Birmingham Bears stormed to the top on the back of a four-match streak The main impetus came from the spinning all-rounders. Danny Briggs conceded no more than 26 in any of his four games and young Dan Mousley again showed why he is one of the most promising T20 performers in the country. His 20-year-old colleague Jacob Bethell let fly with the most dramatic half-century of the week, a blistering 16-ball unbeaten 56 against Northants, including seven sixes. 

One Rishi may be tottering towards the end of an undistinguished innings at Westminster but another, Rishi Patel, produced the only ton of the past eight days. The Essex-born Leicestershire opener devastated the Northants attack with 104 in 45 balls, and has now not been dismissed for under thirty for seven matches. A special mention, too, for South African Matthew Breetzke, who accumulate more than 200 runs for Northants this week. 

In the South, Surrey reman top, but the key result was their 54-run triumph over second-placed Sussex at Hove. The latest fixtures included two five-fors, amazingly both in the same game. Luke Hollman’s 5-16 was Middlesex’s only bright spot in Surrey’s innings at Lord’s, then the visiting seamer Sean Abbott took 5-18! Middlesex now have a solitary win out of eight. 

Other impressive bowling feats were Roloef van der Merwe’s two wickets with his only two balls in Somerset’s 108-run rout of Glamorgan and Timm van Gugten’s 2-8 in four overs against Gloucestershire. Not quite Lockie Ferguson’s clutch of World Cup maidens but pretty nifty, nonetheless. 

Gloucestershire dragged themselves back into knockout contention with three successes against Somerset, Glamorgan and Kent. Batsman Miles Hammond and paceman Matt Taylor were the star individuals. Essex sit in third, bolstered by runs from Dean Elgar and local boy Michael Pepper. 

Now it’s the return of proper cricket for a few weeks before the T20 group stage concludes in July. 

Team of the Week:- R Patel (Lei), Hammond (Glo), Breetzke (Nor), J Smith (Sur +), Pepper (Ess), Mousley (War), Bethell (War), S Abbott (Sur), M Taylor (Glo), Briggs (War), Bess (Yor)

Somerset Blast off in style!

The Blast is back! Scorecards are littered with county spinners you thought had retired and Pakistanis who missed out on the IPL action, while the players who actually catch the eye are those who play week in, week out with the red ball. 

It kicked off with an Edgbaston double-header, and Lancashire were the first to register a victory in the 2023 competition, defeating Derbyshire, who sacrificed one of their lucrative home ties for the demands of TV. The Birmingham Bears made their home advantage count against Yorkshire, who ended the week with three losses, maintaining their dreadful Championship form. On the other hand, Lancashire opened their campaign with three straight wins before the Bears spinners Briggs and Mousley dealt them a crushing Bank Holiday blow. 

Neighbours Worcestershire have a 100% record, too. Their star man has been Pakistan’s leg-spinner Usama Mir, who has taken five cheap wickets and thumped rapid runs for the cause. 

The South group has so far been dominated by perennial bridesmaids Somerset. Ironically, T20 specialists Tom Banton and Will Smeed have been eclipsed by bowler Craig Overton who, until this summer, has shunned the biff-bash format. Overton has also taken more catches (eight) than anyone else. Somerset’s most satisfying success came in the demolition of bete-noires Hampshire who last year ended their hopes in another semi-final. The Hawks needn’t worry just yet. After all, they lost their first four fixtures last year and ended up winning the trophy. 

The highest score of the week was achieved by Surrey, whose 223-5 at The Oval proved too much for Kent. The top knock also came in that match, but from an unlikely source. Aussie all-rounder Sean Abbott had never previously made a T20 fifty but in just 52 minutes, he plundered an incredible 110 not out, including a 34-ball century, equalling the record in England. Who needs Roy, Jacks or the Curran brothers? Graham Clark’s first two innings consisted of a hundred and first-ball duck while Mr Consistent, Derbyshire’s Wayne Madsen, reached fifty in each of his three outings. He also thumped 89 for the Second XI in between. Not bad for a 39 year-old. 

Team of the Week:- Banton (Som +), Clark (Dur), Hain (Bears), Madsen (Der), Mitchell (Lan), Bopara (Sus), S Abbott (Sur), Usama Mir (Wor), C Overton (Som), Briggs (Bears), Wood (Lan)

Twenty20 Finals Day: Bears have a Blast

So, after a few months and 122 matches, an encouragingly big crowd at Edgbaston were treated to a dry (but cool) day and a home side victory in the inaugural NatWest T20 Blast tournament. Personally I think the more structured scheduling over a longer period has been a plus. If some of the big international names couldn't commit to the summer, that's a price worth paying to preserve the perfect mix of fun stuff and proper cricket in the form of the County Championship, which in turn breeds the England Test stars of the future.

As for the domestic T20 competition climax, my interest was somewhat diminished by the rare absence of Somerset and the qualification of Surrey. However I was glad to see the likes of Pietersen (13 runs in 16 balls), Dernbach (0-56!) and Batty knocked out by the Birmingham Bears (henceforth to be referred to as Warwickshire) in the first semi-final. Will Porterfield is not renowned as a big-hitting limited over specialist but his unbeaten 81, featuring five sixes, was the highest score of the day and, with the tight spin bowling of Ateeq Javid, was crucial to the Bears' progression. Jason Roy's brisk half-century for Surrey was ultimately in vain.

In the other semi, Lancashire fielded current England Test players Jimmy Anderson and Jos Buttler, along with other internationals past and present in Prince, Khawaja, Kabir Ali and Parry. Smith (Tom) fell to Smith (Will) first ball but Ashwell Prince and Karl Brown rescued the innings. Hampshire's response was a disaster. Jimmy Adams made 53 but Carberry's 10 was the next best as all Lancashire bowlers took wickets steadily throughout the afternoon. The perennial semi-finalists were not to win this year.

The final was to prove a much more exciting affair, heightened by the inclusion of celebrity Lancashire all-rounder Andrew Flintoff in place of the injured Ali. That he took Ian Bell's wicket with his first delivery and, after two consecutive sixes, threatened to complete the fairytale script and clinch an unlikely victory, merely added to the already heady atmosphere under the floodlights. However, the likes of Bears skipper Varun Chopra, Chris Woakes, Boyd Rankin and man of the match Laurie Evans saw Warwickshire home by four runs with Parry, not Flintoff, needing to hit the last-ball six needed to take the trophy in front of the home fans.

As for the tournament as a whole, Jason Roy and Luke Wright were the stand-out batsmen while a whole clutch of spinners and a few seamers caught the eye for bowling consistency across the summer. Wright's spell as an England T20 specialist seems to have ended but he is still under 30 and his 153 not out at Chelmsford Essex in July was the second of his Blast hundreds this season. Tim Westley of Essex also delivered two centuries but, while making no three-figures scores, Surrey's Roy did his future England credentials no harm by aggregating 677 runs from fifteen games, including nine 50s, at a strike rate of 157. That's way ahead of Hales, Carberry, Taylor, Morgan, Trego and Bopara, to name but six other contenders.

With the ball, Dirk Nannes was one of the few globe-trotting pros to deliver value for money, this year in the service of Somerset. His tally of 24 wickets led the table before Jeetan Patel pipped him by one on Finals Day. Over fifteen matches, the Warwickshire Kiwi conceded scarcely a run a ball. Michael Hogan (Glamorgan), Kabir Ali and Junaid Khan (both Lancashire) also led the fast bowler brigade but for a combination of wickets and economy, the stellar performers were Patel, Hampshire's Danny Briggs and relative bowling novice Will Smith plus Middlesex's new left-armer Ravi Patel. Watch out for his rise over the next few years. Briggs hasn't progressed from T20 promise to first-class finished product but maybe this 23 year-old will buck the trend of T20-only bowlers like Parry.

Well done, Warwickshire/Birmingham, and my T20 Blast team of the year is as follows:- Roy (Sur), Wright (Sus), Westley (Ess), Allenby (Glam), S Patel (Not), Stevens (Kent), Wilson (Sur +,*), J Patel (War), Briggs (Ham), Nannes (Som), R Patel (Mid).

Your name doesn't have to be Patel to be a successful T20 slow bowler, but it seems to help! Now for the England-India ODIs and the Championship finale...