County Cricket: Batsmen Fill Their Boots!

“Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree….” I remember singing this at school, a ‘round’ involving the choir singing different lines simultaneously. “Laugh, kookaburra, laugh…” it went, but it was the batsmen who had the last laugh facing the Kookaburra ball in this week’s County Championship fixtures. There were no fewer than 26 centuries in the full programme of nine matches. 

The Headingley Test proved that cricket can deliver an exciting contest spanning five days with runs a-plenty and produce a result. If only the Championship games had been allocated an extra day because seven of them ended in a draw, with bowlers unable to assert much authority on proceedings. 

Last week, Surrey surged to second in the Blast and they maintained that momentum into the red-ball competition. In fact, they needed only three days to despatch a weak Worcestershire by nine wickets. Contrary to the situations elsewhere, both sets of bowlers were on top. Ben Allison and Tom Taylor performed well for the home side, but ultimately it was the Surrey seam pair of Nathan Smith (6-38) and Matthew Fisher (4-47) who wiped out Worcester’s second innings and secured the victory. 

With Nottinghamshire failing to beat Yorkshire, the champions advanced ominously to within two points of the leaders. Notts opener Ben Slater made his fifth and sixth consecutive half-centuries, and even bowlers Dillon Pennington (61) and Liam Patterson-White (87) got in on the act in the first innings. In reply, Yorkshire lost Adam Lyth first-ball but Finlay Bean went on to rack up 224. Teenager Farhan Ahmed and Patterson-White toiled for 112 overs between them. Not since 1929 has a Notts bowlers sent down more balls in a single innings than NL-P’s 372, and he had just three wickets to show for it. 

Jofra Archer’s first-class comeback for Sussex after more than four years’ absence netted him the solitary wicket of Emilio Gay. He sent down eighteen overs, which might have landed him back in hospital but instead earned him an England Test recall. As for the match, it ended up as batting practice for Sussex, yielding centuries for Coles and Ibrahim. 

At Edgbaston, Somerset had the better of Warwickshire, but Latham and Hain dug deep to thwart the opposing attack on the final afternoon. The visitors had amassed 498 in the opening five sessions, including tons for Toms Kohler-Cadmore and Lammonby, but Warwickshire’s run rate was consistently below three an over. OK for five days, but they always seemed to be playing for the draw even if it meant Somerset swapping positions with them in the table. 

In the bottom half, Essex and Hampshire also played out a draw at Chelmsford. Kyle Abbott’s latest five-for put Hants in the driving seat, albeit frustrated by Charlie Allison’s 101. In response, Liam Dawson (139) and India’s Tilak Varma each made three figures, too. Varma is known as a white-ball specialist but he has a habit of making tons in the few first-class games he has played. At 131-5 second time around, Essex were heading for defeat, but a double-century stand between Tom Westley and the expansive Michael Pepper saved the day. 

In Division Two, front-runners Leicestershire couldn’t fashion another triumph despite compiling a massive 576-7 declared. Asa Tribe (107) had anchored a decent 353 for Glamorgan but Sol Budinger and Rehan Ahmed led a strong batting display to establish a healthy lead. However, not for the first time, the experienced duo of Northeast and Ingram rescued the Welsh side from 36-3 to earn the draw. 

It was a topsy-turvy affair at Bristol where Gloucestershire reversed a 211-run deficit to come within two wickets of bating Derbyshire on the final evening. Cameron Bancroft (176) and Graeme van Buuren (175) helped set Derby a stiff target of 316 in about five hours. To their credit, they accepted the gauntlet. Harry Caleb and Caleb Jewell galloped to 177-0 but once they fell, so did the run rate, and time was called twenty runs short. 

The scoreboard also ticked over rapidly at Blackpool. Lancashire topped 600, fuelled by hundreds from Luke Wells, Josh Bohannon and Ashton Turner, the latter’s 154 coming at more than a run a ball. James Anderson’s side had Kent’s second innings in deep trouble at 116-7 but Grant Stewart decided to risk an all-or-nothing approach. His luck was in, and he cracked nine sixes in a score of 130, leaving the Red Roses no time to wangle a win. 

The only victory occurred at Northampton where the home team edged Middlesex in a tight encounter providing almost 1,500 runs. Little-known Aussie quick, Liam Guthrie, took 7-94 while his colleagues enjoyed little success against Middlesex, for whom ‘keeper Joe Cracknell scored a maiden hundred. In the end, Northants won the match by four wickets. Captain Luke Procter (107) and James Sales (108) had to crack on at five an over to reach the target. 

This weekend, Leicestershire meet Middlesex while in the top flight, Surrey welcome Durham to The Oval and Notts visit Somerset requiring a victory to keep Surrey at bay.

Team of the Week:- Bancroft (Glo), Bean (Yor), Came (Der), Lammonby (Som), Coles (Sus), Ingram (Gla), Pepper (Ess +), Van Buuren (Glo), Abbott (Ham), N Smith (Sur), Guthrie (Nor)

Surrey Double eclipses Mr Bean

It’s been a great week for two Yorkshiremen, although neither played in the County Championship or the T20 Blast. Jonny Bairstow whacked England to an unlikely 3-0 Test whitewash of New Zealand, then today 20-year-old Finlay Bean ripped the record books apart, accumulating an all-time Second XI best 441 against Notts. Perhaps the two could be batting together in the not-so-distant future?

The county game featured both four-day and twenty-over formats and, although failing to register a victory this week, Surrey top both tables. In the Blast, they were defeated by Essex and Sussex but remain three points clear of Somerset, who were undone by Hampshire’s James Vince, who thumped an unbeaten 129 against them. It’s much closer in the North division, where the Bears, Lancashire and Derbyshire are level on sixteen points. Adam Hose’s 110 not out was instrumental in Birmingham’s 144-run rout of neighbours Worcestershire while Shan Masood and Wayne Madsen fuelled Derby’s home win against their Lightning rivals.

In the first-class game, no fewer than four players reached three figures in Surrey’s 673-7 declared. Amongst them, Sam Curran finally converted a fifty into a ton, while Hashim Amla and Epsom-born Ben Geddes were each dismissed for 124. The former is almost twice the age of the latter! Kent batted out a draw, with Daniel Bell-Drummond scoring a century in each innings.

The only decisive result in Division One came at Chelmsford where spinners were very much in control. Liam Dawson’s second-innings 7-68 reduced Hampshire’s victory target to 299 but Simon Harmer bowled 33 overs unbroken, adding seven wickets to his eight on Sunday and Monday, to deliver Essex a 12-run triumph and deny the visitors a chance to join Surrey at the head of the table.

At Northampton and Bristol, however, the batsmen were in charge. Luke Procter made a career-best 144 not out, putting on 226 with South African Ryan Rickelton to keep Warwickshire at bay. Opener Dom Sibley struck 102, as his 2023 switch back to Surrey was announced. His Warwickshire colleague, ‘keeper Michael Burgess, enjoyed an interesting all-round match. Besides hitting 77 runs and taking five catches behind the stumps, he claimed his first-ever wicket, that of first-innings centurion Richard Keogh!

In the second tier, the pace-setters Nottinghamshire and Middlesex played out a high-scoring draw at Trent Bridge. With Hameed and Lyndon James hitting hundreds, the hosts forced Middlesex to follow on, but Robson and Stoneman shared an opening partnership of 201 to keep Notts’ margin to eleven points. Glamorgan fought back from adversity to eke out a three-wicket success over Worcestershire at Cardiff. Warwickshire’s new signing Ed Barnard forced 131, and Joe Leach took 6-44, leaving the Welsh side in deep trouble. Enter the overseas seam pair Michael Neser and Michael Hogan, who took seven wickets between them, but Glamorgan still needed 332 to win. Colin Ingram (102) and Billy Root (99 not out) ensured they succeeded.

At Hove, Sussex also came from behind to beat Derbyshire by five wickets. Wayne Madsen and Anuj Dal contributed more than half of Derby’s first-innings total of 551-8 declared. Second time around, Jack Brooks had them in a mess but declaring overnight to set Sussex a 344 target still looked a reasonable decision. Oh, until you realise that the opposition feature Ali Orr and Mohammed Rizwan in their line-up. Despite early rain, and assisted by some useful cameos, the chase was completed with seventeen balls to spare, presenting Sussex with a first Championship in front of their home supporters for almost three years. Their next fixture pits them against bottom side Leicestershire while Notts visit Glamorgan.

In the interim, the Vitality Blast group stage will be completed, and the quarter-finals take place over four days. Surrey are pretty much there already, and Somerset may need to beat them on the last day to join them in the knockouts.

Team of the Week: Stoneman (Mid), Orr (Sus), Rizwan (Sus), Bell-Drummond (Ken), Madsen (Der), Keogh (Nor), S Curran (Sur), Burgess (War +), Dawson (Ham), Harmer (Ess), Neser (Gla)