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)

County Team of the Year 2014 - The Bowlers

Last week I selected my top four batsmen and wicketkeeper of the English domestic season, and now it's the turn of the all-rounders and bowlers. Samit Patel, Ben Stokes, Jesse Ryder, Tom Smith and Peter Trego were definitely in the running, but the Notts player was let down by his first-class bowling record (22 wickets at 45), Stokes by hs self-inflicted injury and terrible run of scores and the Somerset favourite only by his limited-overs bowling. Trego averaged more than 30 in all three formats and missed reaching the 50-wicket target in the Championship by a whisker. Smith was one of the few bright spots in Lancashire's season, but almost exclusively in the four-dayers. The former Black Cap Ryder was, perversely, a far more effective performer tthe ball than the bat, and he and Graham Napier bowled superbly for Essex. Jesse's lack of runs took him out of the running, though. Instead, the ever-dependable Kent man Darren Stevens and Glamorgan's Jim Allenby grab my five and six berths.

Had he been found guilty last winter of failing to report a corrupt approach Stevens could easily have missed the whole season and, at the age of 38, may have seen his career destroyed. Instead he continued to score runs and take wickets at regular intervals, especially in the Championship and T20 Blast. Glamorgan experienced another disappointing season. They have some fine players but didn't seem to win the games their squad deserves. There are none finer than Jim Allenby. Now 32, the Aussie is a mainstay at Sophia Gardens. He contributed nearly 1,700 runs and was one of the highest scorers in the NatWest T20 tournament, whilest taking 54 wickets at barely 20 apiece. Irreplaceable!

My two main pace bowlers both come from Division Two. Derbyshire's Mark Footitt's Championship tally of 84 wickets was by far the highest in the competition. At 28, the left-arm seamer has endured a stuttering career but 2014 has been his best year by a mile. He did OK in the 50-over competition, too, and amassed 106 victims in total for his county. Special mentions must go to Steve Magoffin (Sussex), Chris Rushworth (Durham, the only man to take fifteen wickets in a DAY) and Jack Brooks (Yorkshire). However, for consistent success in all three formats, another honorary Welshman from Down Under edges my decision. Michael Hogan makes my county Team of the Year for the second consecutive year. Despite missing the early matches, Hogan racked up 98 victims in all, averaging under 20 in four- and one-day cricket. Like Allenby he is always hard to score off and his long-striding run-up and high action make him a formidable attack leader.

Two spinners complete my Eleven. It wasn't a vintage summer for the slow bowlers - outside the T20 - but three stood out. Adil Rashid enjoyed one of his better seasons for Yorkshire but his batting slipped a bit. Saeed Ajmal may be facing an uncertain future with his unusual action but he was extraordinarily effective for Worcestershire in the first half of the Championship. In only nine fixtures, the Pakistani took 63 wickets at 16.47, including two ten-wicket games and a career-best analysis of 7-19 against Essex back in May. The county weren't quite the same without him but limped over the finishing line in second place.

My final selection was also officially the Most Valuable Player of the county season: Jeetan Patel. The 34 year-old Kiwi has been a revelation for Warwickshire in recent years and in 2014 took more wickets across all formats (107) than anyone else. He was particularly prolific in The Blast, taking 25 at 12.56, with a miserly economy rate of 6.11. With a swift first-class century against Middlesex, too, Patel's late-order runs also came in extremely handy. A most valuable player indeed!

In summary, my County Team of 2014 is: Hales (Notts), Lyth (Yorks), Joyce (Sussex), Vince (Hants), Allenby (Glam), Stevens (Kent), Foster (Essex + *), Patel (Warwicks), Saeed Ajmal (Worcs), Footitt (Derbys), Hogan (Glam).

Sad to see only three young Englishmen amidst the veterans and foreign contingent, and it will be interesting to see whether Hales, Lyth and Vince are rewarded with more international caps, thus making them less likely to shine for their counties in 2015. Could Jonathan Trott feature? What about the bunch of youthful Sams, Jacks and Bens who caught the eye? I can't wait for winter to pass and a promising summer of cricket to grab my interest once again.

Team of the Week: Bhuvi and Jesse Ryding high

For the week ending 18th July, there were some difficult choices, with the First Test at Trent Bridge, Championship and the two major T20 tourneys in full swing. Marcus Trescothick struck another first-class century but his T20 woes continued. Good on him for adding wicketkeeping duties to everything else given Kieswetter's nasty facial injury. Will Tavare of Gloucestershire's first innings 135 was balanced by a duck so my openers are Murali Vijay and Chris Gayle. The former showed Alastair Cook how to build an innings while Gayle was in fine form for Jamaica, including a 63-ball 111 against St Lucia.

Joe Root's ability to score heavily in Tests was demonstrated once more, keeping out teenagers Sam Hain (109* for Warwickshire) and Tom Kohler-Cadmore (99 for Worcestershire). Essex team-mates Ravi Bopara and Jesse Ryder were also extremely consistent. The former England Test batsman top-scored in each Essex innnigs in the win againast Hampshire, then made useful T20 runs. Ryder also enjoyed a good all-round Championship match before combining a five-for and half-century in the two biff-bang fixtures.

Gloucestershire's Will Gidman aggregated 164 runs against Derbyshire and also bowled tidily to earn a spot as my number six, just ahead of Tom Smith, who added another six to his impressive wicket tally for Lancashire. Top 'keeper is Alex Wheater who produced a 107 in adversity for Hampshire.

Luke Gregory stepped up to the plate magnificently for Somerset. His 6-47 helped create a healthy first innings lead against Northants then, with te bottom side threatening to create an upset, who delivered another five-for. Bhuvneshwar Kumar simply has to hold down the number nine spot, scoring a pair of 50s and taking 5-82 for India. Jimmy Anderson may have won the Man of the Match award but for me his bowling wasn't good enough to make my team of the week. Instead I've finished off with two spinners. Jeetan Patel claimed 7-77 in total in Warwickshire's defeat of Durham, followed by 4-19 in the T20 versus Yorkshire.

To end with, Saeed Ajmal has signed off his fabulous spell with Worcestershire with seven more wickets and 73 runs. Where on earth is the county going to get the necessary wickets without him? At least his departure means a space for someone else in my celebratory Elevens!

My team: Vijay (Ind), Gayle (Jam), Root (Eng), Bopara (Ess), Ryder (Ess), Gidman (Glo), Wheater (+, Ham), Gregory (Som), Kumar (Ind), Patel (War), Ajmal (Wor)

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)

Somerset get my summer going

It was a week of sun and showers, even in Taunton, but Somerset still had the measure of Sussex. Their six wicket triumph inside three days too the Cidermen to the top of Division One for the first time in ages. That elusive first Championship is still another eight matches away but it's a great feeling to see them in that position at the halfway stage. Ed Joyce and that bete noire Steve Magoffin threatened to derail the victory charge but a spirited late-order innings from Craig Overton, four wickets in four balls from Alfonso Thomas and some final big hits from Craig Kieswetter took us past the finishing line with a day to spare. Magoffin's first innings 6-60 took his career first class wicket tally past 400 and he remains one of the most dangerous seamers on the county circuit.

Yorkshire could have gone top had they not drawn against Nottinghamshire. James Taylor and Chris Read struck the only half-centuries in the game but too much play was lost on the first two days to achieve a result. There was less rain at Edgbaston but Warwickshire's even contest with Lancashire leaves the counties sixth and seventh in the league, respectively. The visitors' Steven Croft fired only his seventh century in four-day cricket.

In Division Two, the two leaders met at Worcester and the resulting draw leaves them dead level on points, 34 clear of third placed Essex. Worcestershire's 'keeper Ben Cox finally made his debut hundred, then Saed Ajmal's 7-63 forced Hampshire to follow on. However, England's loss was the county's gain as Michael Carberry helped stave off defeat with 125, aided by a predictably swifter 85 from Glenn Maxwell.

Evergreen Darren Stevens is also no slouch with the bat and his first day 105 for Kent came at more than a run a ball. However, Tom Westley (116) and Ravi Bopara (162) shared a second-wicket stand of 247 for Essex and their hosts were content to play out the final day for a draw. Essex's signing for the T20 season, Jesse Ryder is normally renowned for his brutal batting but this week he produced not one, but two five-fors with the ball!

It was also a week to remember for David Wainwright. The Derbyshire spinner took 5-54 and delivered a patient century as his side completed a nine-wicket win over Leicestershire, who had at least matched their neighbours for the first two days. Niall O'Brien top scored for the struggling home team in both innings but captain Ramnesh Sarwan continued his woeful form.

It wqas a rollercoaster affair at Bristol. Dunn, Tremlett and Roy rolled Gloucestershire over for 112, then Surrey coasted (see what I did there...?) to a mammoth 626-6 declared. Solanki and Roy each reached three figures while Rory Burns fell on 199, easily his best score so far. With two days left, Surrey must have fancied their chances of achieving a second success in the league this summer. However, Michael Klinger and Ian Cockbain dug their heels in and contrived to prevent a loss which looked almost certain when they faced a first innings deficit of over 500!

Derbyshire are now only nine points adrift of Amla and co and will leapfrog them by beating them next week. Hampshire could put even more daylight between themselves and promotion-chasers Essex in their clash at the Rose Bowl while Worcestershire have an easier task at winless Leicester.

Prior's Presence saves England's blushes

The celebrations amongst England players and fans alike after securing a draw in Auckland were wonderful to behold. Heaven knows how they would have celebrated a 3-0 whitewash. Actually I suspect it would have been a more muted affair with lots of comments like "New Zealand put up a brave fight" and "We just had a little more quality". As things turned out, despite the chasm in quality on paper, it was a reassuringly tight series.

If anything, the home side may have edged it overall. They shocked England right at the beginning in Dunedin, but were decidedly second best at Wellington where they were forced to follow on and rely on rain to save their bacon. The combination of Peter Fulton's runs and Trent Boult's wickets meant that England suffered a 239-run first innings deficit this week but Brendon McCullum decided to make England bat for their lives on the final day. And they only went and flaming did it!

I feel sorry for Peter Fulton. Thrust into the limelight and scoring twin centuries, his achievement will be forgotten. This will be known as Matt Prior's match. He top-scored with 73 in the first innings and then combined bloody-minded determination with some great strokeplay to strike a seventh Test hundred and steer England to an extremely unlikely draw. He doesn't boast a 45-plus average for nothing, and he has the knack of getting the best out of tailenders to either save or win Test contests that would otherwise have led to red faces. This 110 not out was one of his most heroic performances. His 97 Test innings include 17 not-outs and 26 50s in addition to those seven centuries, which is remarkably consistent for a number seven.

Let's not forget the contributions of Ian Bell and Stuart Broad. Bell has often blossomed in partnership with a Trott or Pietersen but this time he got his head down and patiently occupied the crease for six hours or so. That was more important than the 75 runs he scored. Same went for Broad. Six runs from 77 balls must have frustrated the NZ attack no end and when his departure heralded the arrival of Monty Panesar, Southee and co must have thought luck may return to their favour. It didn't happen, and a Prior defensive stroke was to earn one of the biggest cheers of 2013 cricket! Panesar has been part of last-wicket match-saving before, of course. Remember Cardiff 2009 against Australia?

However, the match belonged to Prior. His runs, keeping and general chirpy demeanour came together in one glorious five-day grouping. England may have missed KP and Swann, and no doubt the Black Caps will find the England tour considerably more difficult, but all bar the under-cooked Jonny Bairstow had something to offer in the past month or so. Maybe NZ have uncovered new stars in Williamson, Boult and Rutherford, but they will surely be overpowered this summer. While the shocking assault on Jesse Ryder today also puts cricket into perspective, it is heartening to see a low-ranking side give the big boys a real run for their money. Meanwhile, Prior will continue to keep English spirits high - along with his amazing Test batting average.