Surrey County Champions!

If last week was a haven for spinners, this one was definitely one for the pacemen. The outcome was the same: wickets tumbled and you were lucky indeed for games to stretch into a fourth day. Only seven centuries were scored from the nine Championship fixtures but it was significant that the highest aggregate by an individual player was the 188 attained by Rory Burns, whose Surrey side win yet again to clinch the Championship pennant for the first time since 2002.

They had to survive a spirited challenge from Worcestershire, notably by opener Tom Fell, but it was fitting that Morne Morkel and Rikki Clarke were at the crease to wrap up the three-wicket triumph which propelled them to an unassailable 62-point lead at the top. In a dismal week for county wicketkeeper-batsmen, Ollie Pope picked up a couple of near-50s but Burns’ first-outing 122 and Morkel’s second innings 5-24 were the crucial contributions. Surrey may have enormous resources but they had by far the best blend of youth and experience, sufficient to withstand various international call-ups for the Curran brothers and Pope and, like Essex in 2017, had a trouble-free cruise to the title. Strange that they were so useless in the one-dayers!

Surrey’s only obvious rivals in Division One were – amazingly – Somerset. However, having escaped censure for last week’s spinners’ wicket at Taunton, we were hammered inside two days at the Rose Bowl, where South African seamers Kyle Abbott (5-31 and 6-40) and Dale Steyn ran riot through the Somerset batting, for whom only Marcus Trescothick reached double-figures twice. With his county destined to be runners-up yet again, I wonder if Tres will now relinquish any smidgeon of hope of winning the elusive crown and call it a day.

Essex leap-frogged Nottinghamshire into third place, defeating their rivals by eight wickets at Trent Bridge. An opening stand of 204 by Tom Westley and India’s reject Murali Vijay finished things off. It seems odd that the Headingley Roses clash should be such a 32-pointer, as it were. Had Lancashire won, they would have left Yorkshire in deep do-do. However, it was the White Rose blooming proudly as Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s runs then Ben Coad’s wickets helped secure a 95-run victory. Jack Brooks’ Leeds farewell resulted in nine more wickets. The ‘Headband Warrior’ may be 34 but hopefully he can do a great job for Somerset, too, next season.

If Yorkshire beat Hampshire next week, Lancashire and possibly Worcestershire will be doomed. If Somerset can end Surrey’s spectacular sequence of successes, they’ll be confirmed as runners-up: an unwanted consolation prize.

The Division Two promotion race saw Sussex stumble on as they approached the finishing straight. They were well-beaten at Chester-le-Street by Durham, for whom Cameron Steel struck the county week’s highest score (160) and Chris Rushworth claimed the best wicket haul (12-100). Skipper Paul Collingwood subsequently announced his retirement at the end of the month. He has bowled infrequently this year although still capable of some decent innings.

Elsewhere, Warwickshire beat Leicestershire by an innings, Keith Barker starring with the ball, and Kent recorded their ninth victory of the summer, ending Middlesex’s hopes of a sift return to the top flight. Darren Stevens showed he’s not yet ready to slip over the horizon, taking seven cheap wickets and striking a 64. They now sit 21 ahead of Sussex with two games to go.

Derbyshire had a gutsy Harvey Hosein half-century to thank for their exciting one-wicket triumph at Northampton, while at Cardiff Glamorgan sank to another innings defeat, Gloucestershire this week’s beneficiaries. The Welsh side’s batting woes show no sign of ending, as it was their tail-enders doing most of the scoring. Robert Croft has a real job on his hands to get Sophia Gardens singing again in four-day cricket. They will struggle next week to beat Kent, for whom victory will ensure a long-awaited return to Division One.

Team of the Week: 

Steel (Dur), Burns (Sur), Fell (Wor), Kohler-Cadmore (Yor), Taylor (Glo), Stevens (Ken), Hosein (Der +), Barker (War), Abbott (Ham), Brooks (Yor), Rushworth (Dur)

Middlesex win Thrilling County Championship Climax

The county cricket season used to have its high point with the principal one-day final. This year, Warwickshire thrashed Surrey to take the cup in a game nobody other than Ian Bell, Man of the Match Jonathan Trott and the Bears fans will remember. On the other hand, we have just witnessed the most exciting climax to the unfairly maligned County Championship I can recall.

Right up to the final half-hour of the season, the pennant could still have been heading to any of three counties. It was already a rollercoaster ride just following Somerset’s match against Nottinghamshire at Taunton. The home side needed to win and collect a bonus point more than Yorkshire while hoping Middlesex didn’t beat the champions at Lord’s.

It started perfectly. Chris Rogers and James Hildreth put on 269 for the third wicket then, at 322-4, Imran Tahir and Jake Ball took five Somerset wickets for no runs! Despite a gallant effort by Dominic Bess, we failed to reach 400 to secure the fifth batting bonus point. Young Bess then shone with the ball to leave Notts 227 adrift. Rogers then rubbed the relegated side’s noses further in the mire, adding a second personal century en route for a declaration 540 ahead. Before day three was over, Leach and van der Merwe had finshed things off. Somerset had done the business but would that lost bonus point prove critical?

Meanwhile, the top two were engaged in a much tighter, slower contest. Would it be too much to hope that it would end in a draw to hand the title to Somerset, ending those 120-odd years of hurt? Reliable Middlesex opener Nick Gubbins struck 125 but Jack Brooks’ 6-65 put Yorkshire in front. However, at 53-4, the leaders were very much back in it. Enter Tim Bresnan. The ex-England bowler is very much a genuine all-rounder these days and, supported by Hodd and Azeem Rafiq, he helped overhaul their opponents’ total. If they reached 350 a Yorkshire win would bring the title back to Leeds by one point. At 349-9 rain stopped play. Now all we Somerset fans wanted was an immediate Middlesex wicket. Alas, it wasn’t to be, and they played on to 390.

Day 3 ended with the score on 82-2. Delicately poised. Clearly, with Somerset on top, a draw suited neither side; a competitive declaration was inevitable. Dawid Malan struck 116 and Stevie Eskinazi a swift 78 not out, and the whole season came down to an afternoon single-innings shoot-out: 240 runs and ten wickets. The Middlesex seamers kept the wickets falling but at 5.30pm, a draw looked the likeliest result. Come on!!! Bu along comes Toby Roland-Jones. He only goes and grabs a hat-trick! The four points deducted for slow over rates didn’t matter; Middlesex were the champions for the first time since 1993.

Somerset’s agony goes on. Rogers announced his retirement from first-class cricket after his side’s victory but before the final day’s incredible conclusion. To bow out with two hundreds in the same match is impressive but the county’s first-ever Championship would have been so much better!

The final relegation issue was also decided on the last day. After a couple of great escapes, Hampshire couldn’t convert a first-innings lead over Durham into the win they needed. In the end, Mark Stoneman and Steve Borthwick signed off their Durham careers with a 162-run partnership, setting up a six-wicket victory. The batsmen have taken the Surrey shilling (and a bit more!) but are leaving a side which finished a creditable fourth, one ahead of their new masters. Ha ha!

Hampshire’s defeat meant that the Warwickshire v Lancashire fixture was of less importance. In the end, the Midlanders triumphed with ease. In a low-scoring encounter, Tim Ambrose’s 59 not out was the highest individual score!

Coincidentally, the top pair in Division Two also met in the last week. The first day was lost to the weather. Then, with both Essex and Kent pretty much assured of promotion, Sam Northeast blasted his way to 178 not out, helped by bowling of mixed quality by almost all of the Essex eleven.

Worcestershire sealed third position by easing to a nine-wicket win over demoralised Derbyshire. Harvey Hosein and captain Wayne Madsen each reached three figures in a losing cause but Worcester’s reliable young Joes, Clarke and Leach, were the stars. Poor Brett d’Oliveira. He enjoyed a fabulous start to the season but ended with a ‘pair’. Hopefully he can kick on next year, but the county need more reliable bowling performances to retun to the top tier.

At Grace Road, Leicestershire snatched victory from the proverbial jaws thanks to Clint McKay and Charlie Shreck destroying the Glamorgan batting on the third afternoon. A familiar tale in this disappointing Championship campaign for the Welsh. In the other game, wicket-keepers Ben Brown and Phil Mustard were amongst the runs but neither side could secure a winning end to their season.

I’ll soon be reviewing the season’s top performances and identifying the most consistent players throughout the long summer. But now for my final County Team of the Week:-

Gubbins (Mid), Stoneman (Dur), Rogers (Som), Clarke (Wor), Northeast (Ken), Hosein (Der +), Bresnan (Yor), Leach (Wor), Roland-Jones (Mid), Brooks (Yor), van der Gugten (Gla)

Essex Almost There!

A funny two-tier week. Rain destroyed all four Division One fixtures on the last day but in the second group, three of the matches were wrapped up before the weather could do its worst. And so that’s where I’ll start.

For the second successive week, both Essex and Kent enjoyed victories by an innings, widening the gap between themselves and the chasing pack. Ryan Ten Doeschate’s side made mincemeat of third-placed Worcestershire at Chelmsford. The ever-reliable David Masters took 7-51 as the visitors slid to 230 all out. Alastair Cook popped in to score 66 but it was Tom Westley who outscored Worcestershire all on his own! Tendo also chipped in with a hundred of his own before Graham Napier’s five-for and a few wickets for that man Westley finished things off with a day to spare. Essex are now almost guaranteed promotion. It’s been a long time coming.

Down on the South coast, there were no centuries to celebrate, although Will Gidman was stranded on 99 in Kent’s first innings of 496. As has become customary this summer, their four main seamers shared the Sussex wickets fairly democratically and the job was done was minimal fuss.

Glamorgan looked in an unfeasible hurry to scurry home from Northampton. They surrendered meekly, twice bowled out for under 140. Last week, Rob Keogh made three figures. This time, he left the major run scoring to Ben Duckett and claimed amazing bowling figures of 9-52 and 4-73 with his occasional off-breaks. Graeme White polished off the remaining seven wickets. They seemed transformed and it seems odd that Northants have been so poor in the Championship. Perhaps Keogh’s performance highlights the paucity of their seam attack until Ben Sanderson’s recent good form.

In the race to the pennant, Middlesex and champions Yorkshire now look to be out on their own. The former seemed to be in the driving seat at Edgbaston when the rain closed in. Warwickshire’s Josh Poysden (8-133 match figures) and Middlesex’s Ollie Rayner (7-91) were the pick of the players.

Meanwhile at Southampton, Gareth Berg had Yorkshire concerned on day one, taking 6-56. However, Jack Brooks and Ryan Sidebottom restored White Rose supremacy on Thursday. After setting Hampshire 298 to win on the final day, the same bowlers looked set for a repeat performance. However, the weather was always going to win.

At Old Trafford I was optimistic about Somerset’s chances of staving off relegation as Tom Abell helped push the score past 200 with the loss of just Trescothick’s wicket. I was even more positive when Peter Trego accelerated on the second morning, eventually walking off with a career-best 154 not out, scored at almost a run a ball. More encouraging was ‘keeper Ryan Davies keeping him company and contributing an unheard-of 86 out of their eighth wicket partnership of 236. Alviro Petersen’s 155 made sure the game was drawn. We’re now fourth but not out of the woods.

Nottinghamshire, however, looked doomed after narrowing the gap behind Durham by a mere two points. They now have to win their final two matches and hope Durham lose theirs. Harry Gurney’s 6-61 and Jake Libby’s 144 gave Notts a first innings lead. but another big Keaton Jennings score (171 not out), his sixth this season ensured the home side remained out of the danger zone albeit in a precarious seventh. Jennings is now improbably the top scorer in Division One.

Durham now meet Yorkshire, Notts travel to a title-hungry Middlesex and Hampshire also have a difficult date at The Oval. It should go to the final week, and that’s how it should be!

Surrey rested at the end of the week but they were in high spirits after ending Yorkshire’s hopes of a double. Stuart Meaker took five wickets in their Royal London Cup semi-final triumph. Somerset’s ambitions for a first one-day final in years were also snuffed out by Warwickshire. Davies again was advancing the Westcountrymen’s cause in the chase before Jeetan Patel delivered one of his devastating spells, winning five lbw decisions to win by just eight runs. Ouch!

Team of the Week: Duckett (Nor), Jennings (Dur), Westley (Ess), Petersen (Lan), Trego (Som), Keogh (Nor), Bresnan (Yor), Davies (Som +), Brooks (Yor), Gurney (Not), Masters (Ess).

2015 County Cricket Team of the Year

So 2015 ended with Ashes success for England, a second Championship crown for Yorkshire, limited-overs trophies for Lancashire and Gloucestershire and a miserable finale for Sussex. But who were the individual stars of the summer? I’ve compiled my Team of the Year based partly on my Teams of the Week and partly on the end-of-season statistics.

Openers:
It wasn’t a vintage year for openers in first-class cricket, although Michael Carberry, Mark Stoneman and, in a September flurry, Marcus Trescothick each passed 1000 runs. However, there were some memorable summers for one-day pinch-hitters. Jason Roy and Steven Davies were superb for Surrey but for consistency I’ve gone for Michael Klinger and Alex Hales. The veteran Aussie arrived late but produced a devastating deluge of centuries in limited overs competitions, playing a major role Gloucestershire’s T20 Blast triumph. He also appeared in no fewer than five Teams of the Week in this blog. Hales chose to spend some time as a gun for hire overseas but when he put his mind to it, he scored heavily in all formats for Nottinghamshire. But will he get to partner Cook for England against Pakistan?

Middle Order
So many options here! James Vince outscored everyone in T20 but was unusually mediocre in proper cricket. James Taylor started poorly but gained ground to win back his international place in ODIs. Luke Wright was a ray of shining light in an otherwise dismal summer for Sussex, and James Hildreth likewise for Somerset. Indeed he was top scorer in Division One but was surprisingly short of runs in the one-day stuff.

My choice begins at Durham with Steve Borthwick. He still bowls some leg-spin in T20 but is more of a specialist batsman these days. He scored few centuries but chipped in regularly at number three. Kent’s young captain Sam Northeast also saved his best innings for Twenty20, and it was his hundred which thwarted Somerset in the match where Chris Gayle struck his 150.

The season’s greatest run machine was Ashwell Prince. The veteran South African delayed his retirement for just one season and how Lancashire must have been grateful for that decision. He was also part of that record-breaking 500+ stand with Alviro Pietersen. Niall O’Brien claimed the most dismissals, Ben Brown more runs but my wicketkeeper-batsman is Jonny Bairstow. He produced five three-figure scores for Yorkshire before he was brought in to replace Gary Ballance for England. His Championship average was a tidy 100-odd so who knows what he might have achieved with his county had his team-mate not lost form in Test cricket?

Amongst all-rounders, the evergreen Darren Stevens and Peter Trego were typically in the frame but I’ve gone for Samit Patel for his mixture of vital innings and handy wickets. Notts didn’t have a great year with the ball, so his off-spin rescued the side more than once.

Bowlers
Chris Rushworth made only one Team of the Week but he was the most prolific wicket-taker in first-class cricket, with 88. He rarely played in limited-overs fixtures but he has to be in this Eleven. Joining him as seamers are Surrey’s Tom Curran, James Harris of Middlesex and Yorkshire’s Jack Brooks.

Curran, helped by his 17 year-old brother Sam, was instrumental in hauling Surrey up to the Division Two title, while Harris’s Championship wickets and late-order runs gave Middlesex the impetus to be runners-up. It was hard to pick the final man in the Team of the Season.

Yorkshire’s success was built primarily on their attack. Twelve victories generally means bowling sides out twice, and the White Roses had strength in depth. Ryan Sidebottom missed some games through injury yet he claimed more than 40 wickets at under 18 apiece. Tim Bresnan, Steve Pattinson, Graeme Onions and Adil Rashid all contributed but the main man was Jack Brooks. If he wasn’t the wrong side of 30, the bandana man would have been in the England squad by now instead of Mark Wood.

The likes of Footitt, Rushworth and Brooks may have to content themselves with notching up hundreds of wickets in county cricket instead of the England kit, and their respective clubs will be grateful. Meanwhile, for all the talk of overseas stars, the only foreigners in my XI are Prince and Klinger. As far as England are concerned, I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of Curran, Northeast or Hales.

In short, my County Team of 2015 is:-

Klinger (Glo), Hales (Not), Borthwick (Dur), Northeast (Ken), Prince (Lan), Bairstow (Yor/Eng +), Patel (Not), Harris (Mid), T Curran (Sur), Brooks (Yor), Rushworth (Dur).

Lancashire and Surrey Up, Somerset Heading Down?

Last week began with Finals Day of the Nat West T20 Blast, in which the spin bowlers dominated the batsmen. Stephen Parry and Arron Lilley were particularly effective as Lancashire took the title.

Bank Holiday Monday saw the T20 double-header at Cardiff. I was there to witness two excellent and contrasting victories for England against Australia. Anya Shrubsole ripped out the first four Aussie women then Natalie Sciver took four wickets of her own before adding 47 decisive runs to earn that consolation win at the end of the Women’s Ashes series. Stars of the men’s game were Moeen Ali and Eoin Morgan for England, although Steve Smith threatened to take his side to victory. Sadly for him, he fell for 90, and Australia’s run chase went with him.

I’ll start my County Championship review in Division Two. As expected, both Surrey and Lancashire clinched promotion with two matches to spare. Surrey went top for the first time with an innings defeat of Derbyshire. Zafar Ansari did his international credentials no harm with a century and five wickets, but it was skipper Gareth Batty who concluded the win with a hat-trick.

Rain hit the other three games but Lancashire weren’t robbed of success. In fact, Kent forced them to follow on thanks to hundreds from Robert Key and his young successor as captain, Sam Northeast. At Chelmsford, Essex had the best of proceedings against Northamptonshire but a draw was inevitable. The result also hastened the sacking of the home coach Paul Grayson, paying the price for the county’s consistent under-achievement. Let’s hope the new crop of batsmen restore good times in Essex before the wealthy competitors lure them away. Leicestershire and Gloucestershire also played out an unremarkable draw.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire produced another devastating performance, twice bowling Somerset out for under 200. Ballance and Bairstow each passed 90, while Brooks and Sidebottom were the pick of the reliable seam bowling unit. Somerset were dragged back into the relegation fight as both Sussex and Hampshire enjoyed vital victories.

At Chester-le-Street, Durham succumbed to Hampshire inside three days. Ryan McLaren and Fidel Edwards each claimed seven wickets and Chris Rushworth took just two for Durham. Ryan Pringle (99 for Durham) and James Vince (16 fours in 76 not out) were the only players to make 50.

There were more runs at Worcester, where the home side were well beaten by a rampant Sussex. Luke Wright’s 226 was by far the top score of the week, and he was ably supported by Ben Brown and Chris Nash. Chris Jordan enjoyed a return to form with the ball, too. There was something for Worcestershire to savour; teenager Joe Clarke scored an unbeaten 104, his first Championship century. The loss of the first day meant Warwickshire’s contest with Middlesex was something of a damp squib.

While Worcestershire’s fate is far from sealed, just seven points from safety, they really need to win both remaining games. Somerset’s escape is in their own hands, facing both Sussex and Hampshire in the coming weeks. Yorkshire’s coronation as champions again should come this week at Lord’s. Just five bonus points will be enough to put both Middlesex and Nottinghamshire mathematically out of reach.

Team of the Week: Burns (Sur), Key (Ken), Smith (Aus), Sciver (Eng W), Wright (Sus), Northeast (Ken), Brown (Sus +), Ansari (Sur), Brooks (Yor), Parry (Lan), Shrubsole (Eng W)

Durham dominate, Buttler blasts

While England were rattling up a record ODI total against New Zealand, runs were distinctly hard to come by last weekend in the County Championship. On Day One, all batting sides were dismissed for under 300, although bowlers were less dominant a few days later.

Durham didn’t have it all their own way at Chester-le-Street. However, Somerset’s second innings batting frailties were again exposed, and Sunderland-born Paul Coughlin’s 4-10 finished things off with a day to spare, taking Durham to the top of Division One. Somerset, meanwhile, were consigned to bottom place, despite more effective bowling by Craig Overton (4-40 and 3-41).

Their cause was helped by Yorkshire’s four-wicket defeat of previous leaders Middlesex. Jonny Bairstow’s unbeaten 125 held the White Roses’ first innings together, and James Brooks bounced back with 5-44. Adam Lyth’s return after a successful Test match stint included a useful 67 which steered his side to victory, and within eleven points of Durham who have played a game more.

Hampshire recorded their first win of the season, easily beating Sussex at Hove. Gareth Berg enjoyed his best week of 2015, taking five wickets and sharing a 165-run partnership with Adam Wheater. He must have been gutted to be run out on 99, though. Fidel Edwards hastened Sussex’s defeat with his first five-for in two years, and his team escaped the relegation zone by three points. It’s already looking to be any two from Hampshire, Somerset and Worcestershire, as I thought at the start of the season.

Looking to replace them, Lancashire and Surrey both won again in Division Two. Despite another ten wickets for Craig Miles and a century from the in-form Michael Klinger, Gloucestershire went down by 91 runs. Lancashire’s veteran Glen Chapple made his first appearance of the summer and added another to his first-class wicket tally of 975, but Kyle Jarvis’ 4-67 and 5-39 proved more decisive. Meanwhile, Surrey made short work of Leicestershire in another low-scoring contest. James Burke took a wicket with his first ball in the Championship en route for match statistics of 6-54. Team-mate Tom Curran, son of the late Kevin who graced the county game a few decades ago, fared even better. He captured nine scalps and contributed an important 60 late-order runs on the first afternoon.

It was an even shorter match at Canterbury, where wickets tumbled early on. Mark Footitt (5-45), Wayne White (6-25) and Matt Cole (5-24) were the main beneficiaries. However, Derbyshire found batting somewhat easier second time around, and Billy Godleman and Chesney Hughes ensured they won by eight wickets.

Tom Westley struck the week’s highest individual score (179) as Essex played out a draw at Northampton. Jesse Ryder and the home county’s Richard Levi each contributed more than 200 runs, too, as the game petered out into a draw leaving Essex adrift of Kent by eight points at the foot of the table.

Next week, Lancashire ought to extend their lead by defeating Leicestershire, but Glamorgan should challenge Surrey in their Guildford encounter. Essex must beat Derbyshire to give themselves a positional boost. In the top tier, Durham can put daylight between themselves and Yorkshire if they overcome fourth placed Sussex. Meanwhile, Somerset can leapfrog Nottinghamshire and Hampshire by thumping Chris Read’s side at Taunton. Warwickshire could also be vulnerable to Worcestershire if Moeen Ali plays.

The England discard, Ali, along with Ian Bell, each scored rapid 90s for their counties in last weekend’s T20 fixtures, even outclassing another big innings for Chris Gayle. I’ve a ticket for what was to be his last appearance for Somerset at Cardiff on Saturday but, sadly, he's been allowed to head back to the Caribbean instead. Cheated, or what?! Oh, well. It'll probably be washed out anyway....

Team of the Week: Moeen Ali (Wor), Root (Eng/Yor), Westley (Ess), Klinger (Glo), Levi (Nor), Ryder (Ess), Buttler (Eng/Lan +), Curran (Sur), Jarvis (Lan), Brooks (Yor), Miles (Glo)

Yorkshire Victorious without their stars

In the first week of the 2015 County Championship, newly-promoted Worcestershire must have fancied their chances against Yorkshire. The champions were missing Lyth, Root, Ballance, Rashid and Bairstow, plus the suspended skipper Gale, yet still they enjoyed a ten-wicket win inside three days. Cheteshwar Pujara's debut resulted in a duck, but the bowlers Jack Brooks and Steven Patterson made the greatest impact, taking 9-29 between them in the second innings.

Somerset experienced their usual disastrous start at Taunton, falling to Durham for whom captain Paul Collingwood claimed a century and five-for, supported by Steve Borthwick's runs and wickets for Graeme Onions and Chris Rushworth. Hampshire at least pushed Sussex into a fourth day at Southampton before losing by 92 runs. Luke Wright and Ben Brown to a substantial first innings lead, then a solid display from all their bowlers finished the job.

Nottinghamshire had the better of Middlesex but a defensive masterclass from Nick Compton (85) and, in the last session, James Harris (36 not out in over two hours) ensured a draw. Chris Read and new opener Brendan Taylor each reached three figures for Notts.

Both Division Two fixtures were also drawn. A double-century partnership between Jacques Rudolph and Will Bragg gave Glamorgan a great start at Leicester before Angus Robson and Ned Eckersley almost matched them on day two. The home side had no time to achieve that elusive win but at lest they avoided defeat. Wooden spoon rivals Gloucestershire batted out the last day while losing only two wickets after a flurry of late Northants runs set up a safe declaration. David Willey smashed only his second first-class century to go with a similarly rapid first innings 62, but special mentions should go to Glos medium-pacer Craig Miles (6-63) and 'keeper Gareth Roderick, who notched two half-centuries and claimed six catches on the opening day.

The other counties were getting some pre-season batting practice against the universities. Kevin Pietersen made the headlines for his Surrey innings of 170 against Oxford, but we shouldn't overlook Essex batsman Nick Browne's twin centuries against Cardiff MCCU nor Martin Guptill's effortless 161 for Derbyshire at Fenner's. It's always pleasing to note good performances by students against the professionals, be they superstars or 'muppets'. So hats off to centurions Charlie MacDonnell (Durham), Nitish Kumar and Mike Burgess (both Loughborough v Kent) and Steve Leach (Oxford). Who knows? They may become England staples of the future.

Next week sees Yorkshire meet title rivals Notts, Warwickshire take on Hampshire and Sussex look to make it from two from two against Worcestershire. Hopefully Cardiff will attract crowds to see KP in action but hopefully he will be out for two golden ducks....

County Team of the Week: Lees (Yorks), Browne (Ess), Eckersley (Leic), Borthwick (Dur), Roderick (Glos +), Collingwood (Dur *), Read (Notts), Willey (Nth), Brooks (Yorks), Briggs (Hants), Miles (Glos)