Ed Joyce retires a Test cricketer at last

I’m not sure what proportion of Ireland’s population was following the island’s cricket team’s progress to becoming part of the Test-playing fraternity, but this Englishman was definitely cheering them on. When it came to that inaugural five-dayer against Pakistan in Dublin a few weeks ago, I was less engaged than I should have been thanks to a relaxing holiday in the decidedly cricket-free land of Croatia. However, I was glad to learn that the Irish had not disgraced themselves. Losing a maiden Test is no disaster; after all, no country has ever won theirs since Australia in the very first match in 1877.

In recent years, several of Ireland’s best players have had to seek England qualification in order to face the world’s biggest stars. Boyd Rankin was granted a single Ashes appearance in 2014 and I recall seeing him in a one-dayer at Cardiff. Eoin Morgan, of course, ended up as England’s ODI captain. Kevin O’Brien now boasts Ireland’s only Test hundred to accompany that blistering World Cup innings which defeated England in 2011, while Tim Murtagh’s miserly seam bowling has finally been tested at the highest level.

But most of all I am delighted for Ed Joyce. At the age of 39, his status as Test cricketer assured in the history books, he has decided to retire from all forms of cricket. For so many years, he was a supremely consistent county stalwart, in the colours of  Sussex and Middlesex, yet unable to break into the England set-up, partly because he was born in Dublin. Then, in 2006, he made the breakthrough and opened with Marcus Trescothick against, perversely, his home nation of Ireland. There were the added contrary coincidences of his opposition that day including the aforementioned K O’Brien and Ed’s brother Dom!

After contributing to Ireland’s tournament qualification, Joyce went on to represent England in the 2007 World Cup, having just struck a debut century against the Aussies, before switching allegiance back to Ireland in time for the 2011 competition. Since then it has been all Ireland, and his runs have been an important factor in the nation’s rise from leading Associate member to fledgling Test team, seeking five-day scraps at the top table.

A twenty-year career has included more than 30,000 runs, including 18,461 in first-class cricket at a highly impressive average of 47.95. That’s better than Alastair Cook’s and vastly superior to Morgan’s 35. In 2014, by this time captain of Sussex, he hit seven centuries in Division One of the County Championship and, two years later, produced a career-best 250 against Derbyshire. He could have been the answer to some of England’s batting problems but his allegiance was by then firmly to the land of his birth.

Right up to his fortieth year, Ed Joyce’s runs have been vital for Ireland’s march to another World Cup but from now on they will be missed. It is rather sad that Ireland’s accession to the pinnacle has coincided with the approaching dismantling of the side because of age. Besides Joyce, Murtagh, the O’Brien brothers, Paul Stirling and current skipper Will Porterfield are al well into their thirties. So is Rankin. Where are the next generation coming from? That’s where Ireland’s new Test status is so important. Let’s hope Ed Joyce can bring the same class and inspiration he had as a player to a role of nurturing his country’s cricketing future.   

Roses Reign over the Rain

Unfortunately, my hopes for a week of results proved groundless. The early hot sunshine quickly gave way to two days of rain across most of the country. The exceptions were Old Trafford and Headingley, where both Yorkshire and Lancashire wrapped up welcome innings wins over Surrey and Hampshire, respectively.

Yet again, batsmen dominated the week. We had two triple-century partnerships, three double-century scores and two near-misses. Yorkshire’s victory was founded on a record Leeds stand of 372, involving England’s Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow. Kumar Sangakkara and Steven Davies scored more than half of Surrey’s runs but didn’t get the support.

The champions lead the table by one point, but Lancashire advanced to second, and have a game in hand. Procter, Hameed and Petersen racked up a big first innings lead of 347, leaving Hampshire more than two days to defend in between rain breaks. Jimmy Anderson and Simon Kerrigan boasted combined figures of 60-31-88-8 and the visitors couldn’t hang on for long enough. To make matters worse, they secured only a single bonus point and now prop up Division One.

Somerset were enjoying the best of their match at Warwickshire before the final day washout. Tom Abell’s patient 102 and a couple of quicker half-centuries from Peter Trego were supported by some useful bowling by the Overton twins but the home side were spared the chance to bat a day or attack a 300+ target.

The Middlesex-Nottinghamshire fixture lost two whole days, but not until Sam Robson had struck his third first-class hundred of the summer. However, the England selectors are persevering with one of his opponents, Alex Hales who did at least contribute a useful 73 in the cause.

In Division Two, it was four draws out of four, leaving Essex still on top. Ed Joyce (250) and Luke Wells (116) put on 310 for Sussex against Derbyshire, while colleague Lewis Hatchett’s 5-58 was the week’s best bowling performance in the Championship.

Elsewhere, Kent’s Sam Northeast delivered his highest First-class score of 189 against Gloucestershire, for who Hamish Marshall continued his sprightly early-season form. Young ‘keeper Adam Rouse claimed eight catches for Kent, too.

At Leicester, the cricket didn’t match up to the football, but the home county’s lofty position in the league is almost as surprising as the Foxes’! Neil Dexter scored 98 and took three cheap Northants wickets but the lack of play on Day 3 proved crucial. There wasn’t much play at Cardiff either, but enough for Brett d’Oliveira and Joe Clarke to fill their boots again. The Worcester pair shared a third-wicket partnership of 253 and the opener made an impressive ‘double’.

Next week, Lancashire’s bid for the top spot could be halted by Durham, while Yorkshire must be confident of a decent return from Taunton, weather-permitting. Leicester are giving the Sri Lankans some pre-Test practice, so Essex should extend their lead at home to Derbyshire.

Team of the Week:
D’Oliveira (Wor), Joyce (Sus), Root (Yor), Bairstow (+ Yor), Northeast (Ken), S Davies (Sur), Trego (Som), Roland-Jones (Mid), Haggett (Ken), Patterson (Yor), Anderson (Lan)

County Team of the Year 2014 - the batsmen

My twenty-odd Teams of the Week consisted of more than 160 individuals, each of whom produced something special at some point, whether in a Test, County Championship, women's cricket, one-dayers or any number of T20 knockabouts. Nobody appeared five times but several were mentioned on four occasions. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Gary Ballance owed much to their performances on the international stage, three make my Team of the Year and Luke Wright narrowly missed out.

It was a summer when number nines broke all sorts of batting records, from Kumar's two half-centuries in a Test to Jack Shantry's ten wickets and century. Alfonso Thomas claimed four wickets in four balls for Somerset against Sussex but was strangely ineffective in the short formats, traditionally his strength. Club player Richard Oliver epitomised the rags to riches story. He was plucked from Reigate Priory and Worcestershire Seconds obscurity to play T20 before striking a maiden First-class hundred and earning a contract through 2015 for good measure. September saw Derbyshire's eighteen year-old wicketkeeper Harvey Hosein take no fewer than eleven catches on his debut, a world record.

So what about those whose consistency throughout a hectic domestic season merits inclusion in the all-important Mike's Spin on Cricket County Team of 2014?

My openers are Alex Hales and Adam Lyth. Last year the Nottinghamshire batsman was earning plaudits for his T20 strokeplay but dropped by his county in first-class cricket. In 2014, he stepped up not only to the England ODI side but also to the Notts first XI. He passed 1,000 runs in the longer format and reached four figures in List A and T20 combined. He looked a more confident player but by no means a Test opener. Not yet, anyway. Adam Lyth scored more first-class runs than anybody else (1,619) including eight centuries. His partnership with Alex Lees played no small part in Yorkshire's march to the title and he also took more catches than any non-'keeper in the county game. Honourable mentions go to Varun Chopra (Warwickshire), Chris Rogers (Middlesex), Daryl Mitchell (Worcestershire) and, for their one-day exploits, Jason Roy (Surrey) and Jacques Rudolph (Glamorgan).

Like Roy, Luke Wright has a fearsome reputation in twenty-over cricket, and his 153 in 66 balls at Chelmsford in July was the highlight of the Nat West Blast. He averaged 52 in the first-class game, too, but he doesn't make my team! The Irish-English-Irish star Ed Joyce enjoyed a productive start and end to the season for Sussex, accumulating 1501 Championship runs. With Steve Magoffin's wickets, he was the main reason for Sussex's third place in Division One. Hampshire's young James Vince was also knocking on the England selectors' door with some fine knocks in all competitions and he edges out fellow contender James Taylor (Nottinghamshire), Dawid Malan (Middlesex), Sam Northeast (Kent) and Alex Gidman (Gloucestershire).

Wicketkeepers often hang around at the top for years but, boy, thhey have to work hard for it! Chris Read, Tim Ambrose and Mark Wallace are all consistent catchers and scorers, but two players stood out for me. Sam Billings seems to have finished Geraint Jones' Kent career with his batting exploits in the Royal London Cup, and he had 59 Championship victims behind the stumps, too. Nevertheless the evergreen James Foster wins my place for his glovework and vital runs for Essex which took them remarkably close to promotion.

Next time I'll review the all-rounders and bowlers who lit up the domestic season in 2014. And there were some crackers!

Team of the week: Will Smith is the fresh prince of Hampshire

Often it's hard to find two outstanding performances by openi batsmen but this time there was an embarrassment of riches from which to pick. Thus I had to omit Chris Rogers (Middlesex, 203 not out), Jake Libby (Notts, 108 in only his third first-class match), Daniel Bell-Drummond (Kent, 153) and Kane Williamson (two fine T20 innings for Northern Districts). In their place come Sussex's Chris Nash and Hampshire's Will Smith. Nash aggregated 263 runs in the victory over Nottinghamshire, including his first century of the summer. Smith's contributions were 11 and 142 not out, but that second innings score was the difference between draw and a defeat which would have left the county even more vulnerable to Essex in the promotion chase. In the context of Hampshire's whole season, that was superb.

Ed Joyce has enjoyed a great summer and in the penultimate round of Championship games, his second knock of 149, at almost a run a ball, set up what at the halfway stage had seemed an unlikely victory. James Hildreth has been a disappointment for Somerset in 2014 but he crafted a valuable 182 at Taunton against Middlesex. In the Test against Bangladesh, Shivnarine Chanderpaul boosted his career average even further with unbeaten scores of 84 and 101, but you can't accuse him of Boycott-esque greed this time; it was all in the cause of a routine win.

Ben Stokes contributed no weight of runs or clutch of wickets but he did OK in Durham's win against Northants and his 2-25 and 38 saw his side home to success in the Royal London Cup Final. My other all-rounder is the considerably less well-known Ben Raine. No, me neither! However, in the final of the Second Eleven competition at Chelmsford, the 23 year-old representing Leicestershire scored 208 and took 3-37 on the way to victory. The way the first XI have played this season and with their best players lured away by the big boys, watch out for him in the first-class arena in 2015.

In a week of excellent performances, Harvey Hosein's must be up there with the best, not only this week but the whole summer. At The Oval, the 18 year-old wicketkeeper claimed no fewer than eleven catches for Derbyshire - on his debut! Nobody has ever come near that, and only Bob Taylor has ever taken as much as seven in an innings for the county in their history. And he played for them for more than twenty years!

Derbyshire's Mark Footitt was the beneficiary of five of those dismissals, and he added nine wickets to his already impressive haul, more than anyone else in the Championship. However, my two remaining bowlers stand out; each took fifteen wickets in a single match. Chris Rushworth has plugged away all summer for Durham but nobody was expecting his 9-52 and 6-43 in the trouncing of Northants. He also contributed a useful 2-24 in today's cup final. Saqlain Sajib is another unsung hero, whose spin claimed 9-82 and 6-50 for Bangladesh versus Zimbabwe in an A international.

Congratulations, one and all:- Nash (Sus), Smith (Ham), Joyce (Sus, *), Hildreth (Som), Chanderpaul (WI), Stokes (Dur), Raine (Lei 2nds), Hosein (Der, +), Sajib (Ban A), Rushworth (Dur), Footitt (Der).

Sussex Re-Joyce and Durham in a Rush-worth

In the penultimate round of Championship fixtures, neither of the top two played, but Nottinghamshire failed to make an impression in their last match. They were roundly beaten by Sussex who bounded up to fourth place with a superb final two days. Chris Nash produced his first century of the summer, but a maiden hundred from Jake Libby and an eighteenth by James Taylor gave Notts a slender first innings lead. Sussex then went for broke, passing 400 at almost a run a ball, with skipper Ed Joyce leading by example, before Steve Magoffin claimed 4-51 to ensure a dismal conclusion for the home team.

Durham simply steamrollered sorry Northants at Chester-le-Street. Borthwick and Collingwood each outscored the opposition on their own - twice! - while Chris Rushworth snatched 15 wickets for 95. James Middlebrook led the side but they looked demoralised from the start, and Northants' two innings combined lasted barely 40 overs! At Taunton, Somerset racked up 523-9 thanks largely to James Hildreth's 182 and Peter Trego's 91. Great to see Craig Kieswetter back after his horrific facial injury earlier in the year. He scored a useful 69, too. That Middlesex recovered from 64-7 to 223 owed much to a century stand by Morgan and Roland-Jones. A fine unbeaten 203 by Chris Rogers staved off defeat and means his team should avoid relegatin provided they avoid a heavy defeat by Lancashire next week.

In Division Two, Essex turned the screw on Hampshire by notching a fourth consecutive victory, this time against a Leicestershire side who capitulated inside two days! James Foster made 132, while David Masters and Jesse Ryder claimed thirteen wickets between them Josh Cobb's men now face the ignominy of failing to record a single win in two full Championship seasons. I don't think that has happened since WW2, although they used to play more games in those days.

Hampshire were forced by Kent to follow on at the Rose Bowl, with only Sean Ervine's 121 preventing an even greater first innings deficit. Will Smith then almost single-handedly rescued the home team by carrying his bat for 142. Tomlinson's 26-ball 2 not out at the other end kept Riley and Tredwell at bay before time was called. Those extra points for a draw could prove critical as they lead Essex by ten going into the final week. A win at Glamorgan will be enough.

In the other game, Derbyshire were surprisingly good value against lacklustre Surrey. Apart from Billy Godleman's partnership with Pujara in the fourth day run chase, it was a game for the bowlers, notably Mark Footitt, who extended his wicket tally for the season beyond 70, including a 6-60. Nevertheless, the star of the show was an 18 year-old debutant Harvey Hosein. The lad from Chesterfield's haul of eleven catches was a record for a 'keeper on his first-class debut. Meanwhile, Surrey could slip to sixth if Kent and Derbyshire win their fairly easy fixtures. I'll try not to laugh too loudly.....

Team of the Week: Yorkshire's Finest

For the week ending 12th September, it's tempting to select the entire Yorkshire Eleven which clinched the County Championship in such style, albeit perhaps without naughty captain Andrew Gale! However, I must stick to my guns and pick players on their performances around the grounds.

That doesn't meanm I can't name the White Rose opener Adam Lyth, back to his best in 2014 and hammering on the door of England's Test team while Sam Robson desperately tries to lock it from the other side. His 122 laid the foundation for the hefty first innings total at Trent Bridge, with which Nottinghamshire simply could not compete. Bangladesh bowlers couldn't contain West Indian number one Kraigg Brathwaite either; he plundered 212 in their easy Test match victory.

Some big middle order scorers must leave the week disappointed. Apologies to Northeast, Trott, Roy and Borthwick but you just missed out. Ed Joyce seems to be ending the summer the way he started it. The Sussex veteran struck 137 and 79 to beat Lancashire and leave them facing relegation square in the face. My four and five together produced a record partnership for Gloucestershire against poor Leicestershire. Skipper Alex Gidman led the way with 264 in 274 balls, aided and abetted by South African 'keeper Gareth Roderick's 171. He is fine form with the bat in first-class cricket and, with a British passport, he could yet represent England. He takes the gloves in my fantasy XI despite taking no catches at all in the match. He just edges out Niall O'Brien, who claimed six victims and a century for Leicestershire in the same game.

Teenager Sam Hain hit his maiden double-hundred for Warwickshire, alongside the man he might have expected to replace in the county line-up, Jonathan Trott. Ben Stokes found his batting form, too, plundering 164 in 113 deliveries and taking 1-50 in Durham's Royal London Cup semi-final victory over Notts, who had a pretty shoddy week all round.

Nevertheless, the star all-rounder was Jack Shantry of Worcestershire. Their promotion campaign train seemed heading for a fatal derailment until his 89-ball century and last-day 4-44, giving him ten wickets for the match and a chance to play again in the top flight next year.

Sulieman Benn has been largely eclipsed by Narine lately in West Indian spin circles but he returned 5-39 and 2-44 in that 499th Test. Keith Barker's eight dismissals played a big part in Warwickshire's trouncing of Northants but the last place goes to another Yorkshireman. Old curlylocks himself, Ryan Sidebottom, has spearheaded the Yorkshire attack with Jack Brooks brilliantly all season, and his 6-30 in the second innings was the best bowling analysis of the week.

Celebratory (white) roses go to: Lyth (Yor), Brathwaite (WI), Joyce (Sus), Roderick (Glo +), Gidman (Glo *), Hain (War), Stokes (Dur), Shantry (Wor), Benn (WI), Barker (War), Sidebottom(Yor).

Team of the Week ending 13th June: Rory, Ravi and Roy rip it up!

No double-centuries in the County Championship this week, but 23 year-old opener Rory Burns came pretty close. He was one of three Surrey centurions in the drawn game against Gloucestershire but, one short of a first-ever 'double', Alex Gidman caught him off Liam Norwell's bowling. Michael Klinger also reached three figures in the home side's response but my other opener of the week is Michael Carberry. Dropped by England for the Sri Lanka Test series, the Hampshire man struck 125 in the top-of-the-table clash with Worcestershire, adding a 25-ball 38 in the T20 a few days later.

Ravi Bopara was also back on county duty, thumping runs for fun in both formats. His brilliant 162 for Essex preceded two brutal 20-over blasts - 81 against Kent and 66 off the Gloucestershire attack. Ed Joyce has been in fine form for Sussex all summer and he added another century in Sussex's defeat to Somerset. He also demonstrated that he is not a one-trick pony by knocking 45 in 32 balls in the biff-bash Surrey game.

I've already mentioned the Burns 199 but his team-mate Jason Roy also achieved a career best for Surrey. In the same innings, he destroyed the weak bowling with 121 in 71 balls, and took 3-9 for good measure. In the T20 clash with Sussex, his unbeaten 81 from 43 balls helped his side to a ten-wicket triumph. Jesse Ryder normally earns plaudits for his beefy batsmanship but his bowling stats were radically improved by a double five-wicket haul for Essex in the Championship. His T20 cameos may not have been in the Bopara class but nonetheless wins him a place in the week's XI.

Darren Stevens is never far from contention and the Kent all-rounder was his county's outstanding performer yet again. His 105 in the first-class draw with Essex was followed by 3-22 and a 39-ball blitz to smash Kent back in the game with Glamorgan and snatch a tie. Another top-notch piece of multi-tasking was delivered by Derbyshire's David Wainwright. Best known as a slow left-arm spinner, his batting has improved in recent years. Both skills were to the fore as his 109 and second-innings 5-54 were instrumental in beating Division Two wooden spoon rivals Leicestershire.

The latter's only bright spot was wicket-keeper Niall O'Brien's scores of 89 and 71. The Irishman's batting just edges out Tim Ambrose and Worcestershire's Ben Cox, despite the latter's long-awaited debut hundred. Cox's colleague Saeed Ajmal produced another spin masterclass - a 7-63 against Hampshire while the final seamer spot was a race between David Masters (for his economy in rare T20 outings), Steve Magoffin for his 6-60 at Taunton and Alfonso Thomas (5-40) in the same contest. However, not even the Sussex match could achieve the rare feat of capturing four wickets in four balls, as the Fons did in Somerset's victory.

In short:- Burns (Sur), Carberry (Ham), Bopara (Ess), Joyce (Sus), Roy (Sur), Ryder (Ess), Stevens (Kent), O'Brien (Lei, +), Thomas (Som), Wainwright (Der), Saeed Ajmal (Wor)

Team of the Week ending 6th June: All Hales to - er - Mankad?

It was a week of the IPL final, prolific opening batsmen and a controversial run-out. Yorkshire's openers Adam Lyth and Alex Lees put on 375 in the Championship and, with the former's astonishing acrobatic catch 'assist' in the T20 win over Lancashire accompanying his 230, Lyth is a shoo-in for my first position. Lees doesn't join him, and neither does Durham's Mark Stoneman (187) because Alex Hales produced a couple of peaches. Given carte blanche to go for his shots by Notts skipper Chris Read, Hales thumped 167 in 133 balls in a first-class game, followed by a more familiar T20 blast against Derbyshire.

Stoneman's partner and occasional England leg-spinner option, Scott Borthwick almost hit a 'double' in the rain-truncated Middlesex draw, and is my number three. At four I was even tempted to include Vinoo Mankad. His name was mentioned more often than just about any other cricketer this week, as the alleged originator of the bowler-runs-out-non-striker dismissal in the 1940s. However, he misses out only because he has been dead for nearly 36 years. He is eclipsed by my wicket-keeper selection. No, not Jos Buttler. His brilliant ODI 121 for England took him close but his failure to heed two warnings of excessive backing up by Senanayake let him down. Instead, Wriddhiman Saha's IPL final heroic innings of 115 in 55 balls merits recognition. No winners' medal but he can look back proudly on his place in my Team of the Week!

Samit Patel keeps on scoring runs and taking wickets for Nottinghamshire, and this week was no exception. Yet he still can't get anywhere near the England set-up. His 156 was narrowly overtaken by Ed Joyce's unbeaten 164 for Sussex in the same match, and both players keep out other high run-makers in Moeen Ali and Alviro Petersen.

Like Saha and Buttler, Darren Christian's blistering short-form innings with Middlesex was in a losing cause. His T20 assault of 129 in 57 deliveries included twelve fours and no fewer than ten sixes. He even added a pair of wickets, too. Two other all-rounders were in fine form for their respective counties. Glamorgan's Jim Allenby contributed almost a hundred runs in the Championship then blitzed 96 not out at Taunton in a classic T20 encounter. They won despite a typical Trego onslaught, as Peter plundered 94 in a run chase which fell just a few runs short. His 3-37 and 3-25 in the four-day game versus Lancashire showed he is more than just a limited-overs specialist. But then we Somerset fans have known that for years!

My team bats well down the order this week but my final two are bowling specialists. Danny Briggs has played T20 for England but his Championship 5-50 and 2-22 for Hampshire against Derbyshire make him the top spinner of the past seven days. Palladino and Shantry had their moments but Reece Topley made it a return from injury to remember. He claimed ten wickets for Essex against Glamorgan, including a first innings 6-41. In my view, he is a left-armer with more potential than Gurney.

To summarise: Lyth (York), Hales (Nott), Borthwick (Dur), Saha (Kings, +), Patel (Nott), Joyce (Sus, *), Christian (Mid), Allenby (Gla), Trego (Som), Briggs (Ham), Topley (Ess). Twelfth man: Mankad (Ind)....

Cook and Bell find form, Sussex on song

Sussex made it two wins out of two, and skipper Ed Joyce also achieved a double; two centuries against Warwickshire's lauded attack which secured a seven-wicket win. His opposite number Ian Bell had a mixed match, starting with a duck but redeeming himself with an unbeaten 189 which at least gave his bowlers something to aim at. After a poor opening performance, Middlesex showed what they can do in dominating their home fixture against highly-fancied Nottinghamshire. Sam Robson continued his hot winter streak, contributing more than 200 runs to the cause, while Steve Finn took another nine wickets. At this rate, both could find themselves in the England team next month. Notts' marquee signing, Peter Siddle, ended his debut with figures of 0-113. I'm sure he'll do better next time out.

Down in Taunton, the sun shone on a batting belter. Just 24 wickets fell in four full days. There were twelve half-centuries but only Yorkshire's Adil Rashid went on to reach three figures. Somerset went for an extra batsman but their bowling looked really thin with no Kirby, Trego, Jamie Overton or, on he final day, his twin brother Craig. When I peeped through the Garner Gates this lunchtime all I saw were South African spinners Myburgh and Petersen in action. Even James Hildreth delivered six overs, but he did capture the wicket of Adam Lyth. It was a draw, of course.

In Division Two, Essex achieved a remarkable turnaround at Chelmsford. Skittled on the first morning for just 94, Footitt and Groenewald each claiming a five-for, Essex fought back with David Masters' 6-46. Alastair Cook then led from the front, striking 181 out of a total of 425, and the bowlers did the rest. Napier and Mills each took 3-49 to help Essex take their first victory of the season. Hampshire lead the table thanks to an eight-wicket, maximum-point defeat of Gloucestershire. James Vince and Michael Carberry each scored centuries against a patchy attack but Gloucester's Will Tavare, a chip off uncle Chris' old block, produced his first career hundred in senior cricket.

It was a relatively low-scoring affair at Worcester. The home side's 'keeper Ben Cox was a surprising high scorer with a second innings 89, while the most notable bowling performance came from Kent's Doug Bollinger. Gareth Andrew's match analysis of 8-85 was also eye-catching and and, with Jack Shantry and Charles Morris, he humbled Rob Key's men who lost all wickets still 125 runs short. Hampshire have a third consecutive match next week and, if they beat Derbyshire, can open up a substantial lead even at this early stage in proceedings.

In the top flight, Sussex will remain top this time next week without playing, regardless of results elsewhere. It will also be interesting to see which other players step up to the plate and establish their England credentials in the wake of Vince, Robson et al.