County Cricket: Durham Shine amidst the Rain

The week’s rain may have benefitted the parched pitches, but did nothing for cricket as a spectator sport. The players must have been bored to tears, too, with whole days washed out entirely. Only six centuries were made, and each of those who scored them went straight in to my Team of the Week. No-brainers, the lot of ‘em! 

Only one result was possible, and inevitably it was Durham who took advantage of slightly better weather at Chester-le-Street to notch win number seven against bottom county Gloucestershire. In his final game of the season, David Bedingham struck 122 and, as part of a star-studded English seam attack, it was the unsung Kasey Aldridge who again stole the show with match stats of 9-63. If Durham beat Northamptonshire next weekend, promotion will be secured with three games in hand. 

This week, Northants and Kent shared the spoils with Kent, and stand on equal points behind Durham. Zak Crawley and Ben Compton put on 162 for the first Kent wicket, then in reply, Ricardo Vasconcelos and Nathan McSweeney each maintained their consistent summer form by reaching three figures. At Worcester, the home side’s Beyers Swanepoel combined a swift 63 not out and 4-37 against Lancashire, while at Derby, only 87 overs were possible across all four days. 

In Division One, five draws made little impact on the table. Nottinghamshire extended their lead to four points over Somerset thanks to Joe Clarke’s 150 and Olly Stone’s 5-49 against third-placed Warwickshire. Somerset struggled against Sussex on the first few days, but a strong second innings ensured there could be no defeat, even had the sun shone on day four. 

At Chelmsford, Essex had the upper hand over Surrey. Having announced his imminent retirement, Dean Elgar demonstrated his trademark grit to register his 56^th first-class hundred, and the visitors were staring down the barrel at 92-6. Luckily, Ben Foakes improved on his first-innings three-ball duck and clung on for almost five hours in eking out an unbeaten 120. There was another stalemate at Cardiff, where Hampshire seamers Abbott and Baker held sway over the Glamorgan openers, and the Bank Holiday seasiders at Scarborough saw very little action for Leicestershire’s trip to meet Yorkshire. 

In the next round of fixtures, Notts and Warwicks have on paper the easiest opposition (Leicestershire and Hampshire, respectively) but Somerset require a home victory against Glamorgan to remain in the hunt for that elusive maiden title. The winners of the Essex-Sussex clash will also be in the running, but a draw won’t help either of them. Let’s hope the showers stay away. 

Team of the Week: Elgar (Ess), Vasconcelos (Nor), McSweeney (Nor), Bedingham (Dur), Clarke (Not), Foakes (Sur +), T Clark (Sur), Swanepoel (Wor), Aldridge (Dur), Rahul Chahar (Sur), Stone (War)

County Cricket Team of 2024

I find the increasingly random series of Tests, ODIs and T20 internationals in England difficult to follow and be enthused by. Jimmy Anderson’s farewell was a key moment and it was curious to see how McCullum and co went about the business of scouring the counties on search of a potential long-term replacement for the legendary swinger and also the injury-prone Matt Wood. In the old days, it just took a five-for at Lord’s to earn a call-up. These days, it’s a nasty delivery to Buttler in The Hundred or just being a six-foot-seven leftie, even one with an average of sixty-odd! 

But I digress. This is all about the county cricket scene and the most successful performers across the summer, including all three major formats. My statistical trawl ignores a bowler’s height or bat width, but does incorporate the number of Team pf the Week appearances made. There is a bias towards County Championship players, partly the result of biff-baff merchants missing the One Day Cup in favour of The Hundred, a competition omitted from my thoughts because it neither involve counties nor counts as proper cricket…. 

Openers 

Surrey’s inevitable progress to a third successive Championship was anchored by their openers. Discarded by Bazball-era England, Rory Burns and Dom Sibley formed the best opening partnership in the country, and the latter also released his adventurous streak in the Blast. Adam Lyth (Yorkshire) and Alex Lees (Durham) were solid as ever, and it will be welcome to see the former back in the Championship’s top tier next season. Runs from Haseeb Hameed and Ben Slater kept Nottinghamshire in Division One and Dean Elgar ground out 1,144 runs the old-fashioned way (just a solitary six!) for Essex. April wasn’t even halfway through when Warwickshire’s Alex Davies harvested 257 from Carse, Potts and the rest of Durham’s attack Gloucestershire won the Blast but tore up few trees in Division Two. Nonetheless, Cameron Bancroft was a star at the top for them. 

Middle Order 

Bancroft’s colleague Miles Hammond enjoyed arguably his best summer to date, culminating in a match-winning 58 not out in the Blast Final. One-Day Cup victors Glamorgan boasted a prolific middle-order, featuring Kiran Carlson and Sam Northeast, a third of whose first-class total came in just one innings, an unbeaten 335 against Middlesex in the very first game of the season. Another veteran at Cardiff, Colin Ingram, also scored a century in that drawn fixture, and went on to add four more at an average of 90. Across all three domestic competitions, he aggregated 2,001 runs, miles ahead of anybody else. Leicestershire’s Peter Handscomb was the highest scorer in the One-Day Cup, Ryan Higgins thumped five tons for Middlesex, Sam Hain’s 569 runs for the Bears was beaten only by Sussex’s Dan Hughes and Michael Pepper (Essex) produced two of the seven T20 centuries scored. However, nobody in Division One outscored Durham’s David Bedingham, who breezes back into my Team of the Season. 

All Rounders 

Last year, Ed Barnard proved a vital cog in the Warwickshire wheel and, along with Will Rhodes, was a major part of their red-ball engine room. With the ball, he was also the joint highest wicket-taker in the 50-over tournament. Ryan Higgins’ bowling wasn’t at the same level as his early-summer batting and so Liam Dawson is a no-brainer for the 2024 all-rounder slot. Usually, it’s his off-spin which catches the eye but in 2024, he notched almost a thousand runs in Hampshire’s Championship campaign, not too shabby for a number six. 

Wicket-Keeper 

This time last year, I hoped that James Rew wouldn’t be a one-summer wonder for Somerset. Well, he wasn’t quite as prolific in the four-day stuff, but he added se promising vim and vigour to his one-day CV as the county reached both finals. John Simpson led from the front as Sussex achieved a long-delayed promotion from Division Two. Aged 36, he enjoyed his best ever Championship season, breaking the 1000-run barrier at almost 75, with 44 victims behind the stumps. However, Gloucestershire’s James Bracey was supreme with bat and gloves and gets my vote for 2024. 

Bowlers 

2024 was momentous because, after five consecutive appearances in my yearly XI, Simon Harmer acquired only 45 first-class wickets for Essex, dropping him out of contention. Jack Carson’s off-breaks proved invaluable in Sussex’s red-ball season but I have plumped for Jack Leach who finished the season very strongly. Sadly for me, the rest of his side didn’t. 

It was very much a year for seamers. Even the top T20 wicket-taker was not a spinner but the left-arm paceman David Payne of Gloucestershire. Jamie Porter and Kyle Abbott were the leading wicket-takers in Division One, averaging below 20, while Porter’s colleague Sam Cook was similarly mean. Oliver Hannon-Dalby, Zak Chappell and Ben Sanderson were all in the mix, while Ben Coad’s 68 victims in the Championship and One Day Cup placed him top of the heap. Surrey may have lost Gus Atkinson to England, where he looked very much at home, but the county’s attack tended to share out the honours. Dan Worrall was the pick of the bunch, taking 50 at barely 16 apiece.

 

Before revealing my overall selection, I must mention Leicestershire’s Louis Kimber. To be honest, he didn’t have the most productive of seasons but on one amazing afternoon at Hove, he wrote his name in the record books. Needing a miracle to reach the target set by Sussex, batting at eight, he launched an incredible assault and just kept going and going. One over by international Ollie Robinson went for a ludicrous 43 and he was eventually dismissed for 243, including an unprecedented 21 sixes and a hundred-ball double-century. Respect! 

Lyth (Yor), Elgar (Ess), Bedingham (Dur), Hammond (Glo), Ingram (Gla), Bracey (Glo, wkt), Dawson (Ham), Abbott (Ham), Coad (Yor), Leach (Som), Porter (Ess) 

Also in the squad: Barnard (War), Simpson (Sus +), Worrall (Sur)

County Cricket: The Surrey and Somerset Show

 It was business as usual for Somerset, who booked a T20 Finals Day clash with Surrey before meeting their old rivals in a blockbuster Championship encounter, and what an extraordinary finale they served up. 

The sides were neck-and-neck at the halfway stage, with Somerset’s Tom Banton the stand-out batsman, striking 132. Second time out, he was virtually wheeled out after the ninth wicket fell, a twisted ankle in the warm-up rendering him almost immobile. The gamble paid off. Alongside Craig Overton, he eked out another 46, setting the runaway leaders just 221 to win. However, Surrey made no effort to win, knowing that a draw against their main challengers would probably be sufficient to seal a third successive title. Batting long and deep, chock full of strokemakers, they instead chose top block as much as possible. Dom Sibley’s 67 had taken Surrey to the T20 semis and now crawled his way to another 50. With rain never far away, Somerset’s hopes on the final afternoon were fading fast. Yet spinners Jack Leach and teenager Archie Vaughan plugged away, and once the thirty-over Sibley-Foakes partnership was broken by Leach, the rest crumbled. With just minutes left, Worrell was trapped LBW and the spin duo completed another clean sweep of wickets. More importantly, Somerset could celebrate an incredible victory, reducing the gap to just eight points. Now the two counties meet again on Saturday…. 

At Canterbury, a combination of Tom Prest’s century and Kyle Abbott’s 5-46 meant Hampshire enforcing the follow-on against Kent but the home team didn’t make the same mistake. Jack Leaning (100) and Harry Finch (79) ate up the deficit and Hampshire had only nine overs at most to whack the 143 required, but Vince’s departure in the third over signalled an agreed draw. 

Essex made short work of Nottinghamshire at Chelmsford. Tons by Tom Westley and Michael Pepper were backed by the old Porter-Harmer axis but the victors were deprived of third place by a twelve-point deduction ordered because Feroze Khushi’s bat in an April fixture was deemed too wide.

 

Kent were already pretty much doomed and Lancashire loo favourites to join them in Division Two next year after being crushed by an innings at Chester-le-Street. David Bedingham achieved Durham’s highest individual score in the county’s short history, making a brilliant 279. His 424-run partnership with Colin Ackermann (186) was another record. England’s recalled paceman Matthew Potts finished the job, taking 9-68.

 

In the rain-hit West Midlands derby, Worcestershire were in charge before Warwickshire’s Will Rhodes frustrated the opposition’s attempts to press on to a welcome win. The resulting draw makes both sides almost certainly safe from the drop. Nottinghamshire need to beat Kent and hope Lancashire lose to Somerset to breathe easily.

In Division Two, Sussex are almost assured of promotion after demolishing Glamorgan at Hove by an innings. A thin bowling attack enabled both Tom Clark and captain John Simpson to reach three figures with the Sussex bowlers sharing the glory. Simpson may be a veteran of 36 but 2024 has turned into a vintage year for his batting. 

His old club Middlesex slipped out of the top two after losing a tense game at Lord’s. Gloucestershire moved into the ascendancy thanks to young debutant Archie Bailey’s 4-30, then a solid stand between Miles Hammond and James Bracey steered them to a four-wicket triumph. Bracey also stood out by claiming no fewer than eleven catches behind the stumps. 

By thrashing Leicestershire at Grace Road, Yorkshire leapfrogged Middlesex and hold a thirteen-point advantage with two fixtures remaining. On the first morning, Coad and Fisher had their hosts squirming at 21-7. They recovered to 98 all out thanks to Ben Cox throwing his willow around but the game was always out of reach. Skipper Jonathan Tattersall reeled off an excellent 126, Fisher struck a career-best 88 then George Hill’s medium pace completed then rout. 

Northamptonshire enjoyed their first success of the summer, overcoming bottom-placed Derbyshire by 133 runs. Spinners Rob Keogh and Yuzvendra Chahal did the damage, sharing seventeen wickets between them. Next week, Derby host promotion-chasing Middlesex while Yorkshire travel to Glamorgan. Both should win but bonus points could be crucial. So far, Middlesex have struggled in the first innings so need to put plenty of runs on the board. 

Team of the Week:- Davies (War), Vaughan (Som), Rhodes (War), Bedingham (Dur), Banton (Som), Tattersall (Yor), Bracey (Glo +), Abbott (Ham), Potts (Dur), Taylor (Wor), Chahal (Nor)

Worrall Wins it for Surrey

Plenty of positive results and a few nail-biters in the Championship this week. The leading three in Division One all won, with Surrey’s fourth on the trot keeping them comfortably at the summit. They overwhelmed Worcestershire at The Oval with a day to spare. The reliable Jordan Clark top-scored, but it was Dan Worrall’s ten-wicket haul which caught the eye. 

It was a real game of two halves at Chelmsford, where a 209-run partnership between Ed Barnard and Michael Burgess and three wickets apiece for Yates and Simmons piled pressure on Essex late on Saturday. However, their spinners Matt Critchley and Simon Harmer turned the tables, leaving the home side an awkward target of 330. At 12-2, things looked grim but Jordan Cox made 112, then Matt Critchley was left high and dry on 99 as he and Harmer sealed the deal. 

It was another topsy-turvy affair at Taunton. Tom Banton and James Rew have struggled so far this season but each reached three figures as Somerset stormed to 554 against Kent. When Overton and Pretorius led a useful attack to dismiss Kent for 178, the visitors looked as if they’d been on the end of a lethal Usyk combination. However, they seemed to have bounced up from the canvas on Sunday when Zak Crawley’s 238 helped the visitors to 388-2. Undeterred, Somerset struck back with three late wickets, and left themselves with a potentially tricky 180 to score by the end of the match. Fortunately, Matt Renshaw and Andy Umeed struck the perfect balance of watchfulness and strokeplay to secure an eight-wicket triumph and maintain Somerset’s second place. 

At Trent Bridge, Hampshire came away with their first success of the summer, defeating Nottinghamshire by five wickets. Apart from Lyndon James (106 not out), the hosts found runs hard to come by against Abbas and Abbott in particular, and it required a sixth-wicket century stand from Middleton and Fuller to drag Hampshire from 44-5 to reach the finishing line.

 Ben Stokes’ first Championship outing for two years lured the media to Blackpool and he achieved a welcome five-for but only twenty runs for Durham. Hopefully the journos present also stayed to observe not one but two players who hit tons in each innings. Keaton Jennings performed the feat for Lancashire then David Bedingham, trying to save and possibly gain an unlikely victory on day four, repeated the achievement. He and the more belligerent Ollie Robonson placed Durham just 161 short with seven standing but, when Bedingham was caught behind off Nathan Lyon, the remaining batsmen capitulated leaving Robinson unbeaten on 171, handing Lancashire their first win of 2024.

 They stay bottom, though, and need to beat winless Warwickshire to extricate themselves from the relegation places before the four-week red-ball break. Essex hop over the Tnames to Kent and Somerset head north to face Durham in bids to keep Surrey in their sights. The champions follow the M3 to meet Hampshire who look woefully short of runs. 

In the second tier, Sussex rediscovered their winning ways at Hove, but Yorkshire pushed them all the way in a low-scoring contest. Ben Coad and George Hill bowled well for the Tykes but Ollie Robinson (the other one!), Sean Hunt and, by capturing Joe Root’s crucial wicket, Tom Haines, bowled the South Coasters to victory by only 21 runs. 

Middlesex are just seven points behind after beating Glamorgan in another nervy finale at Sophia Gardens. Mark Stoneman (129) delivered a heathy first-innings lead before Marcus Labuscagne (111) and Colin Ingram (105) steered Glamorgan back inti the game. With Mason Crane spinning five men out, it looked touch and go but the ninth-wicket partnership between Davies and Helm extended to 52 to nick it by two wickets. 

At Leicester, Gloucestershire declared on a mammoth 706-6. Openers Cameron Bancroft and Ian Charlesworth put on 313 and the pace accelerated with James Bracey and skipper Graeme van Buuren. On day four, Leicestershire made runs throughout the order to dig out a draw. The outcome was the same at Derby, where Northamptonshire generally had the better of things. A rapid 153 not out by Emilio Gay propelled them to a declaration capable of giving the bowlers something to aim at in two-and-a-bit sessions. At 141-7, that looked a great decision but Zak Chappell and Anuj Dal added 108. Two snap wickets put Northants on the verge of victory only for Dal and the last man Dupavillon to survive the final two overs. 

Next week’s Division Two highlight is set to be the top two counties battling it out at Lord’s. Should be interesting… 

Team of the Week:- Crawley (Ken), Jennings (Lan), Gay (Nor), Bedingham (Dur), Banton (Som), Robinson (Ken +), Barnard (War), Critchley (Ess), Hill (Yor), Worrall (Sur), Robinson (Sus)

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)

County Cricket Stars of 2021

First of all, I have to say it was great to see a full cricket season again, even if the ongoing pandemic entailed crowd restrictions early on. It was probably too full, thanks to the ECB’s insistence in launching their pointless, ego-boosting city franchise format The Hundred to create a chaotic summer of four domestic competitions, plus England’s various international commitments. 

The Hundred was considered a huge success – by those financially or politically involved in it, probably because the BBC was allowed to broadcast some matches live, automatically boosting TV ratings which would have languished in the mere tens of thousands on the usual Sky channels surrounded by Extreme Tiddlywinks and World Husky Racing. Who won The Hundred? I don’t care. I believe the Pom Bears won the Men’s version and KP Nuts the women. My only regret about ignoring the new summer holiday tourney is that I neglected the women’s cricket at a time when it enjoyed the rare privilege of taking equal billing, and money, which is huge progress. 

So what else happened? There was Devon Conway’s 200 on debut for New Zealand, Joe Root’s prolific scoring against India, for whom they sported a rare world-class seam attack, and then that dreadfully disappointing cancellation/postponement of the Test series decider in case it interfered with IPL commitments – sorry, I meant to write ‘because of a few positive Covid cases in the visitors’ squad’. 

On the domestic scene, Somerset were utterly dominant in the first phase of the County Championship, then completely useless for the September climax. Warwickshire nicked it on the very last day. Kent won the T20 Blast, leaving Somerset with a customary runner-up badge, while Glamorgan somehow fielded a balanced side capable of capturing the One-Day Cup. It was missing many established stars raking in the Hundred cash but did introduce me to a raft of new names, including Tim David (Surrey), Feroze Khushi (Essex), Joe Cooke (Glamorgan’s top wicket-taker) and Lancashire’s Jack Morley, who could well break into the big time next season. 

So who makes my end-of-season County Team of the Year? As ever it spans all three county formats so probably wouldn’t be a world-beater in any one of them. Apart from one or two shoo-ins, I found it harder than usual. However, based on the stats and appearances in my weekly XIs, here are my selections. 

Openers:

Sussex’s Tom Haines was the top scorer with the red ball, while Warwickshire’s Rob Yates finished the season strongly. Mark Stoneman struggled with Surrey but, after crossing the Thames to Middlesex and making a ‘pair’ on his debut, he rediscovered some first-class form. Alex Lees and Graham Clark were prolific together in the Royal London Cup and Haseeb Hameed showed enough in a couple of Nottinghamshire games to earn an unexpected England recall. However, I’ve plumped for Worcestershire’s Jake Libby, also my choice in 2020, who aggregated more runs (1,629) than anybody, and Northamptonshire’s Ricardo Vasconselos who showed commendable consistency with red and white balls and can also keep wicket if required. 

Middle-order:

Like Stoneman, Hashim Amla suffered a few ducks but when he reached three figures he tended to go big. Another Surrey player, Ollie Pope also seemed to relish batting at The Oval, striking two double-hundreds. His 274 against Glamorgan in the season finale was the highest Championship innings of 2021 but even I might have hung around (for 0) on that batsman’s paradise! Ben Brown of Sussex batted well without the responsibility of keeping wicket, while Lancashire’s Josh Bohannon averaged over 50 and both Essex skipper Tom Westley and the ever-dependable Sam Hain also came into the equation. David Bedingham was a new name to me but the 27 year-old South African made a huge impact for Durham. As well as passing 1000 Championship runs at more than 60, his 50-over strike rate was a massive 140. Lewis Hill had what must have been his best season yet for Leicestershire and young Cardiffian Kiran Carlson showed his more senior colleagues how to make runs on sometimes difficult wickets. 

All-Rounders:

Aged 25, Worcestershire’s Ed Barnard has already taken more than 200 first-class wickets but in 2021 he seemed to transform into a batting, not bowling all-rounder, averaging 50 and 42, respectively. It wouldn’t be an annual review without mentioning Darren Stevens. Even at 45, he snared 39 Championship wickets at only 18.58 while two explosive innings for Kent made the headlines. His semi-final blitz was instrumental in the Spitfires going on to win the T20 Blast and in May he smashed 15 sixes and 15 fours out of 190 in a rain-hit game against Glamorgan. This was very nearly more than anyone else managed in the same match – combined! Nevertheless I have plumped for Derbyshire’s Matt Critchley. As a leg-spinner he ought to be a valuable T20 performer but 2021 was his breakthrough season with a bat. He passed fifty nine times and was one of only five players to reach the 1,000-run milestone in the Championship. 

Wicket-keeper:

Lots of candidates for this one, and it was too close to call. Ollie Robinson, Harry Swindells, James Bracey (now an improbable England international), John Simpson, the very inconsistent Glamorgan batsman and skipper Chris Cooke and Notts gloveman Tom Moores all pushed hard but Michael Burgess  of champions Warwickshire edged it for his ability in all three formats. 

Bowlers:- 

Before England came a-calling, Craig Overton and Ollie Robinson were in fine fettle. Redoubtable fellow seamers Chris Rushworth and 40 year-olds Tim Murtagh and Michael Hogan continued to serve their counties with distinction. Even in the RL Cup, the latter conceded fewer than three an over, strangling the opposition on Glamorgan’s march towards success. Tom Bailey carried much of the Lancashire attack while South African Dane Paterson also claimed more than 50 first-class wickets at under 20 apiece. Sam Cook finished very strongly for Essex, his 10-41 aggregate against Northants leaving his season average below 15. Jimmy Anderson took 7-19 in a rare outing for Lancashire and Liam Norwell took his opportunities well as Warwickshire closed in on the title but it was Nottinghamshire’s giant Luke Fletcher who easily topped the Championship wicket table with 66. He was on fire in May.

The Parkinson spin twins enjoyed solid summers, Leicestershire’s Callum beating Matt in the wicket department, but yet again it was Essex’s Simon Harmer who was the domestic game’s outstanding versatile bowler. He was amongst the most prolific in all three competitions, totalling 90. His career tally is now pushing 900 and who would bet against him passing the 1000 mark by the close of 2022? 

To summarise, my County Eleven of 2021 is as follows:- 

Libby (Wor), Vasconselos (Nor), Bedingham (Dur), Hill (Lei), Carlson (Gla), Critchley (Der), Burgess (War), Harmer (Ess), Fletcher (Not), S Cook (Ess), Rushworth. 12^th man: Stevens (Ken)

Hampshire thwarted by final pair

The Group 2 leaders Hampshire and Gloucestershire met at Southampton and, bolstered by tons from Holland and Alsop, it was the home side who looked set for a resounding victory on the final afternoon. However, with one-day specialist Iain Cockbain showing the necessary grit, final pair Josh Shaw and Exeter undergraduate Dominic Goodman then held on for eighteen overs, withstanding everything Abbott, Abbas, Crane et al could throw at them. 

They still occupy the top two positions despite Somerset buncing back to defeat Leicestershire. Craig Overton starred with the ball, his 5-25 ensuring Abell and Lammonby had a relatively straightforward run chase. In the other fixture, Middlesex clinched London bragging rights, sweeping aside Surrey’s stars by ten wickets at Lord’s. Old hands Tim Murtagh and Toby Roland Jones did most of the damage with the ball. 

In Group 1, Warwickshire have clear water at the top, handing Essex a rare Championship defeat at Edgbaston. After three even days, you’d be forgiven for expecting Jamie Porter and Simon Harmer to rip through the home team on day four but you’d be wrong. 21 year-old Robert Yates ended on 120 not out, supported by Hain and Vihari confounding expectations. 

Worcestershire were in the driving seat for most of their game against Nottinghamshire, thanks to century partnerships for the first and eighth wickets. After following on, Notts openers Ben Slater and Haseeb Hameed dug throughout the last day to ensure a draw. The openers duly achieved stands of more than a hundred in each innings and Hameed’s two innings spanned well over thirteen hours and a record 635 balls. Nice to see him find form after three fallow years. 

Batsmen were dominant, too, at Chester-le-Street. Durham were given a cracking start by South African right-hander David Bedingham whose 257 not out inflated their first innings total to 475 and his first-class average to more than 50. Durham declined to enforce the follow-on and Wayne Madsen’s batsmen avoided mishap to avoid defeat quite easily. 

The Roses bloomed in Group 3. At Canterbury, Lancashire trounced Kent by an innings. An eighth wicket stand of 187 by Wood and Lamb boosted the first innings total to 525 and despite a second innings 114 by Daniel Bell-Drummond, Lancashire pressed home their advantage. Matt Parkinson spun his way to 7-126 so the visitors didn’t need to bat again. Yorkshire also won, but in a much closer contest against Sussex. Dom Bess recorded his maiden five-for wearing the white rose to finish things off. 

Glamorgan must have been gutted over losing at Northampton. Kiran Carlsen followed his pair of hundreds last week with two fifties, while skipper Chris Cooke stroked a first–innings 136. With James Harris back at his old county on loan, the Welsh had Northants on the ropes on 76-5 only for the lower order to launch a major recovery. They also declared to give themselves two and a half sessions to bowl the home team out only for Ricardo Vasconcelos and Rob Keogh to share a 239-run partnership, not only staving off defeat but also to help surpass the unlikely target of 355. 

The next round of fixtures should see Hampshire and Gloucestershire widening the gap on the rest in Group 2 by beating Surrey and Leicestershire, respectively. West Midland rivals Warwickshire and Worcestershire go head to head at Edgbaston while in Group 3, Lancashire look to tighten their grip with victory over Sussex. 

Team of the Week: Slater (Not), Hameed (Not), Vasconcelos (Nor), Bedingham (Dur), Keogh (Nor), Cooke (Gla +), Higgins (Glo), Roland-Jones (Mid), Bess (Yor), C Overton (Som) M Parkinson (Lan)

Glut of Hundreds greet new County Season

It’s not yet mid-April and we’ve had the first results of the 2021 County Championship. How did that happen?! At least we didn’t have to wait until August as we did last year. Of course the Covid pandemic hasn’t gone away and spectators aren’t yet dribbling into the cricket grounds. Today they were probably all greeting the easing of restrictions by queuing for Primark, but over the preceding four days they would have missed some real run fests. I could have included a dozen batsmen deserving of a place in my Team of the Week. Three scores of 150+ simply weren’t good enough. Must try harder, lads! 

By summer I’ll probably begin to work out what formats the 2021 season will embrace, but for now I’ll just take the County Championship as it comes, week by week. It’s a three-group first phase which seemed quite popular in last year’s severely truncated competition and, despite the cold air – and even a little snow at Headngley – the pitches definitely favoured batting. 

In Group 1, champions Essex were held at home by Worcestershire. Tom Westley’s first double-century in six years seemed to have set up another victory, only for Jake Libby and Ed Barnard to frustrate the home side. Libby’s unbeaten 180 was, at 681 minutes, the second longest county innings on record. At Trent Bridge, Nottinghamshire’s Liam Norwell claimed the best bowling of the week, a first-innings 5-32, but in their second outing, Durham’s South African David Bedingham (180) and Ned Eckersley (113 not out) turned 22-3 into a match-saving and potentially even match-winning 332-4 declared. However, a draw was agreed on the final afternoon. 

In contrast each of the three Group 2 fixtures produced results. Hampshire looked the most impressive in thrashing Leicestershire by an innings. The home team’s bowling was rather ragged as James Vince’s 231 and Liam Dawson’s rapid 152 not out helped Hampshire to a formidable 612-5 declared. 2020 absentee Kyle Abbott was the pick of the bowlers. Somerset began with an eight-point deduction for preparing a poor pitch in the 2019 finale so desperately needed a victory over Middlesex at Lord’s. Sam Robson’s 165 and fine bowling by Murtagh and Bamber on the first few days showed that was looking unlikely. However, Somerset’s useful attack dismissed Middlesex for just 143 and Tom Abell, George Bartlett and Lewis Gregory did the rest. Phew! 

At The Oval, Surrey’s Ben Foakes’ 133 appeared to have made amends for a first-innings deficit only for Chris Dent and a rampant Graeme van Buuren to nick an eight-wicket triumph for Gloucestershire. 

Group 3 yielded three draws, with little to choose between them. Glamorgan’s trip to Yorkshire pitched the Root brothers against each other, and young Billy resoundingly came out on top, starring with 153 runs to Joe’s aggregate of just 29. Billy shared a stand of 212 with captain Chris Cooke to declare and leave Yorkshire to take a cautious approach on the final day. They were never going to achieve 377 to win so Adam Lyth settled for a patient 115 not out and a draw. 

At Old Trafford, Lancashire skipper Dane Vilas and young Sussex opener Tom Haines exchanged big hundreds but the Manchester weather prevented much action at the weekend. The contest at Northampton also petered out after two innings of 400+. Northants batsmen Vasconcelos and Keogh struck tons in response to 116 by that man Darren Stevens. Now in his 25^th county season, he became the oldest centurion in the Championship for 34 years. It is becoming increasingly likely that Dazza will go on for ever. 

This week he’ll have another go against Lancashire and the pick of the round two ties could be the West Country derby between early winners Somerset and Gloucestershire. 

Team of the Week: Haines (Sus), Libby (Wor), Westley (Ess), Vince (Ham), Bedingham (Dur), Vilas (Sus), Foakes (Sur +), Critchley (Der), Gregory (Som), Abbott (Ham), Norwell (War)