County Cricket: Bears Sharpen their Claws for Final Eight

The final week of Vitality Blast group fixtures was a fine advert for the chaotic and unpredictable Twenty20 format. With quarter-final places up for grabs, few counties enjoyed a clean sweep, but the Birmingham Bears and Surrey ensured progress with early victories against Derbyshire and Essex, respectively. 

Despite losing to Northamptonshire, the Bears sealed first place in the North thanks largely to Moeen Ali. His previous golden duck was forgotten as the opener reeled back the years at Edgbaston to slam nine sixes against Leicestershire in an innings of 103. That also ended the visitors’ hopes of qualification, the fourth spot snapped up by Durham courtesy of an eight-wicket drubbing of Derbyshire. 

Also on Friday, Northants met Lancashire at Old Trafford to determine which of them secured home advantage in the knockouts. New recruit George Dockrell was the surprise top-scorer as the home team racked up a formidable 201-9, but a searing 76 from Matthew Breetzke set Northants on their way to a four-wicket win to cap an all-conquering conclusion to the groups. 

A special mention to Northants ‘keeper, Lewis Mc Manus. He wasn’t the most prolific batsman of the week but, in an eight-over thrash at Chester-le-Street, he won the game by striking the only two deliveries he faced for six. That’s what I call decisive! 

Worcestershire were never really in the hunt, and lost their last two games, both right at the death. Yorkshire pipped them with three balls remaining, while Derbyshire duo Whitely and Thomson struck seventeen from Tom Taylor’s concluding over, including a scrambled single from the very last delivery. 

Reigning champions Somerset recovered some composure to roll over both Hampshire and second-place rivals Sussex, the latter with the aid of Ben Green’s 4-17. However, a home quarter-final was denied them on Friday by a barnstorming Glamorgan performance at Cardiff. Captain Kiran Carlson blitzed the county’s highest individual score, 135, more than a century of them in boundaries. Somerset proceeded to be skittled for a paltry 123 as Marnus Labuschagne, of all people, captured the final five wickets. Five days earlier, Glamorgan had been on the receiving end of a similar massacre. A Cheltenham Sunday crowd watched Jack Taylor whack an unbeaten 80 from 35 balls out if a total of 206-6, followed by a top-class bowling attack. The ever-reliable left-arm seam of David Payne starred with 3-7 from three overs. 

Elsewhere, there were centuries by Surrey’s Sam Curran against Hampshire and Michael Pepper’s 120 not out for Essex against Sussex. Pepper is the third-highest run-maker so far but his total won’t be added to. Gloucestershire’s defeat of Middlesex and Essex’s loss to Hampshire handed Jack Taylor’s outfit the fourth slot in the quarters, and a daunting trip to Edgbaston, whose spinner Danny Briggs and batsman Sam Hain were amongst the tournament’s group stage stars. 

But that’s six weeks away. In the mean-time, the school holidays will host the Hundred and Metro One Day Cup, which begin next week. As usual, I shall putr my feet up, ignore the franchise competition and focus on the county contest. 

Team of the Week:- Moeen Ali (Bir), Carlson (Gla), Hughes (Sus), Pepper (Ess), Hain (Bir), Labuschagne (Gla), McManus (Nor +), Briggs (Bir), P Brown (Der), Robinson (Sus), Payne (Glo)

Nottinghamshire Thrash the Champions

It was a good week for the bowlers, especially on the first day. Indeed Saif Zaib’s 135 was the highest innings of the week. Saturday was nearly a national washout, which ruined half the games as contests, but the rest ended in convincing victories. 

Just a fortnight ago I’d have split my sides at the suggestion of Essex being thrashed by hapless Nottinghamshire but after breaking their three-year duck last week, Notts turned the tables by twice bowling out the champions for a sub-300 aggregate. Steven Mullaney top-scored with 117, while Luke Fletcher’s career-best 6-24 did the damage in Essex’s first innings, followed by Lyndon James in the second. Pity poor Shane Snater. In only his sixth Championship outing, he took 7-9 and still ended up on the losing side. Incredibly Nottinghamshire now top Group 1 ahead of Warwickshire and Worcestershire, who drew at Edgbaston where Rob Yates and ‘keeper Michael Burgess made hundreds. 

Gloucestershire’s winning ways were maintained at Lord’s where Middlesex were their fourth victims of the season so far. This week’s hero was left-arm seamer David Payne who captured eleven wickets for only 87 runs. At Southampton Somerset were bossing it at halfway but an obdurate four-hour 44 by Joe Weatherley on day four tested their patience. Fortunately for my lot, Josh Davey finished the job started by Craig Overton and they claimed equal shares of the ten Hampshire wickets. The other Group 2 fixture saw Leicestershire being held by Surrey despite their first innings featuring no fewer than three centuries, by Evans, Harris and Swindells. 

In Group 3, it’s still the Roses rivals occupying the top two positions. Rain on both sides of the Pennines prevented any result in Yorkshire’s match against Kent and Glamorgan’s visit to Lancashire. In contrast, Northamptonshire rebounded after their heartbreaking one-run loss last week by drubbing Sussex at home by an innings and 12. The aforementioned Saif Zaib Northants’ charge but it was the combined efforts of veteran Gareth Berg and Ben Sanderson, taking nineteen wickets between them, which proved decisive against the South Coasters. 

Next week, they meet neighbours and fellow strugglers Kent at Hove, while Yorkshire will take charge of the group by avoiding defeat at Glamorgan. The same goes for Somerset, who host Surrey in their quest for a fifth triumph out of six. Gloucestershire sit it out which may prove fortuitous give the rotten weather forecast. The top two in Group 1 are also resting so if Worcestershire record a maiden success in 2021 against Durham they will leapfrog both Notts and Worcestershire. 

Team of the Week: Evans (Lei), Stoneman (Sur), Harris (Lei), Saif Zaib (Nor), Burgess (War +), Mullaney (Not), James (Not), Berg (Nor), C Overton (Som), Payne (Glo), Sanderson (Nor)

Will Gloucestershire's Glory Last?

Gloucestershire Glory

Congratulations to Gloucestershire for winning the Royal London Cup this weekend. The domestic one-day climax used to be the highlight of the cricketing calendar for me. Sadly in recent years it has been overshadowed by the T20 Finals Day. This is a shame because Michael Klinger’s unfancied county deserves many plaudits for going all the way and giving Gareth Batty et al a good hiding!

It has to be said that the arrival of Michael Klinger mid-season transformed the fortunes of Gloucestershire, at least in one-day formats. In particular, the Aussie’s unbeaten 137 at Headingley swept Yorkshire aside in the semis and the coaching team of Ian Harvey and Richard Dawson must have been delighted when Klinger agreed to fly back to London for the final.

Ironically, his inning lasted a mere three balls, but 39 year-old Geraint Jones stepped up to the mark in his very last match by making a brisk 50. Jade Dernbach produced a devastating hat-trick at the end to turn the game. The total of 220 didn’t look sufficient to beat a useful Surrey side, albeit missing Zafar Ansari.

Needing barely four runs an over, Surrey’s hard-hitting openers Roy and Davies reined in their attacking instincts. Even when replaced by Kumar Sangakkara and Rory Burns, preserving wickets rather than whacking sixes was the main focus. At 143-2, it seemed a sensible strategy. However, once James Taylor removed those two, the wheels came off the Surrey bus.

17 year-old Sam Curran hit 37 in 39 balls but wickets fell steadily at the other end, without enough runs in the bank. Seven from seven balls with three wickets remaining set up an exciting conclusion, with Surrey still favourites. Step forward, David Payne, who dismissed both Curran and skipper Batty with the first and third deliveries of the final over. Amazingly, Gloucestershire had won.

The retiring Jones was particularly ecstatic. Klinger spoke of this being just the beginning of a new era for the county, which has struggled just to stay alive as the developers circled to take over their Bristol ground. When Gloucestershire lost both Alex and Will Gidman last year, I really feared for their fortunes in 2015.

With a game to go, they sit sixth in Division Two, which is hardly a symbol of success. Nevertheless, their young bowling unit has shown potential. Payne, Liam Norwell, James Fuller, Taylor and all-rounder Benny Howell have scooped a lot of wickets this summer. Sadly the batting has not kept pace. Hamish Marshall and Garth Roderick have been inconsistent while openers Chris Dent and Will Tavare have not been as prolific as last season. If only both halves of the squad can click simultaneously, Gloucestershire could be contesting the promotion places. As ever these days, finances are the problem. The rich are becoming richer, while the poorer shire counties are struggling.

For all Klinger’s optimism, the reality is that the aforementioned bowlers will probably be lured away by bigger teams, possibly even those in the second tier. That’s why the likes of Essex, Northants, Leicestershire and Derbyshire never seem to escape Division Two, at last not for more than the occasional season. Interestingly, neither Gidman did well for their respective new counties in 2015, spending more time injured or in the Seconds than the first elevens. I hope Gloucester can Kling – I mean, cling - on to their young talent for a few more years. Then we can really gauge the impact of their excellent fifty-over campaign.