3 in 3 for Worcestershire

While the big names have been diverted to the Hundred the One-Day Cup has given some of the lesser lights of the county circuit to showcase their skills. Worcestershire are the only side to have won their first three fixtures, thanks to last night’s rout of Essex by 182 runs. Jack Haynes and Brett D’Oliveira shared a county record opening stand of 243, and the latter also chipped in with three cheap wickets, as did Joe Leach. The impressive Haynes accumulated almost 300 across the week.

Warwickshire’s Rob Yates passed fifty three times, team-mate Matt Lamb struck his maiden List A century and there were similar achievements from Leicestershire’s Rishi Patel, Surrey’s Ryan Patel (ten sixes in his 131) and Yorkshire’s teenager Harry Duke. 

Somerset enjoyed two victories, including an exciting one-run nail-biter against Glamorgan. Earlier in the week, it was veterans James Hildreth and Steven Davies who starred with the bat but in their Severn Estuary derby clash it was young captain Ben Green (87 and 2-32) and rookie seamers Sonny Baker and Kasey Aldridge who just about did enough. A devastating early spell by Michael Hogan, old enough to be their dad, had given the Welsh a chance but Andy Gorvin could only strike a four not six from the final ball. 

Perhaps the best match of the week came at Scarborough. Graham Clark’s second ton in three games helped Durham to a challenging 335-4 but Bracey and Charlesworth kept Gloucestershire in the hunt at the death. Nevertheless they still needed 16 off the final over, from the redoubtable Chris Rushworth, but two sixes and a four by Jack Taylor gave the West Countrymen their first win. All-round performance of the past seven days must be that of Hampshire’s Nick Gubbins. In a comfortable defeat of Sussex at Southampton, he produced an unbeaten 131 then his part-time leg-spin yielded an excellent 4-38. 

Next week, the juiciest ties include Worcestershire’s hosting of Middlesex, Lancashire’s trip to Durham and the Surrey-Somerset encounter next Thursday, by which time the One-Day Cup will be warming up nicely. 

Team of the Week: Haynes (Wor), G Clark (Dur), Yates (War), R Patel (Sur), Gubbins (Ham), Cullen (Gla +), D Lamb (Lan), Hudson-Prentice (Der), Leach (Wor), Aldridge (Som), Hogan (Gla)

Cook and Porter steer Essex into Pole position

In a week when the Mumbai Indians fashioned an unlikely one-run triumph in the IPL final it was Essex who made longer-form cricket appear relatively easy in England.

Not only did they top their Royal London Cup group, thus advancing directly to the semi-finals, but their innings victory over Hampshire also took them to the top of the County Championship. Alastair Cook scored another century, while Jamie Porter’s 5-24 wrecked Hampshire’s first innings, from which they couldn’t recover. The newly-promoted side are beginning to look like potential 2017 champions, although the real test will come when Cook is absent later in the summer.

The Roses clash ended as a draw, with Handscomb, Leaning and Chanderpaul trading hundreds. Jack Brooks was a more unlikely centurion, doubling his previous best score, but he took only one wicket. Jimmy Anderson’s injury scare not only blunted Lancashire’s attack but also could weaken England’s cause in the forthcoming Test series.

The other local derby, Surrey’s trip across the Thames to Middlesex, was also inconclusive. The home team’s James Franklin was in cracking all-round form, but Kumar Sangakkara produced centuries in each innings, taking his first-class career tally to sixty. It seems a shame that the Sri Lankan legend has since announced his retirement from the red-ball game when he is stroking the leather around as fluently as ever.

Marcus Trescothick is two years older, but he signalled his determination to serve the Somerset four-day cause for a bit longer by scoring his sixtieth hundred for his county, taking him past Harold Gimblett’s long-standing record. Earlier in the week, he also passed the 25,000-run landmark in all first-class cricket, an achievement which I am sure will become extremely rare in the future. He was unable to help Somerset beat Warwickshire, though. Another ex-England star with a mental illness, Jonathan Trott, trumped him with a first-innings 175, and the Midlanders may well have taken the sixteen points for victory had the first two days at Taunton seen more play.

This weekend, eyes will focus on the clash between first and second, as Essex host Surrey at Chelmsford, which should be a cracker if the weather doesn’t break on Sunday.

Worcestershire made it three wins out of three in Division Two, giving Derbyshire a real hiding on their home turf. Daryl Mitchell and Brett D’Oliveira shared an opening stand of 243, but it was Joe Leach’s second-innings 5-32 which proved most decisive.

Nottinghamshire remain top of the table and could have opened up a significant lead had Glamorgan’s Colin Ingram and Chris Cooke not combined to thwart Broad, Patel et al throughout the entire final day. Indeed, the Cardiff outfit looked doomed when forced to follow on, but the in-form Ingram rose to the occasion yet again.

Another man who constantly delivers the goods for his county is Darren Stevens. After rain messed up days one and two, and Leicestershire racked up 420 all out, he thrashed a rapid 100 for Kent but there was insufficient time to find a way of generating a positive result, leaving Kent in second spot.

The highest scores of the week, both team and individual, were seen at Hove. Durham scrambled their way to 287 then on Saturday, Luke Wells and Stiaan van Zyl put on a whopping 376 for the third wicket. Wells alone scored a career-best 258, the highest score of the season to date, including 34 fours and seven sixes. Jofra Archer and Vernon Philander also enjoyed a powerful partnership, taking fourteen wickets between them, and Durham couldn’t quite bat out the final day.

All ten counties in Division Two are in action on Bank Holiday weekend. The most interesting may well be the traditional Tunbridge Wells encounter between Kent and Sussex, and Nottinghamshire versus Gloucestershire.

Team of the Week: Trescothick (Som), Mitchell (Wor), L Wells (Sus), Sangakkara (Sur), Ingram (Gla), Wessels (Not +), Franklin (Mid), Leach (Wor), Abbott (Ham), Archer (Sus), Porter (Ess)

Ballance saves Yorkshire, Livingstone Lifts Lancs

Yorkshire fans travelling to the Rose Bowl must have been drooling at a rare opportunity to see their England stars Root and Bairstow appearing with the white rose badge. However, the internationals managed a mere 18 runs between them as Hampshire made them follow on. Instead, it was the Test reject Gary Ballance who shone with the bat. The new captain followed his first innings 108 with a match-saving 203 not out in a game where his opposite number James Vince (147) also reminded us what he is capable of.

The only First Division county to win was Lancashire. For the second successive week, their opponents Somerset threw away an early lead, as Alex Davies and captain Liam Livingstone set up a 164-run victory. Unfortunately, the good form enjoyed by team leaders did not extend to Somerset’s young Tom Abell. His first four Championship innings in charge have yielded a pathetic two runs, and I don’t know how many more chances he can be afforded by Mathew Maynard.

Surrey remain top of the table despite failing to beat struggling Warwickshire at Edgbaston. The home team had Ian Westwood largely to thank for grinding out a draw, after his 205 run aggregate, after first innings centuries by Mark Stoneman and Kumar Sangakkara.

There were plenty of runs from Middlesex’s top three, too. Stewart Robson, Ed Gubbins and Stevie Eskinazi each scored hundreds in the first innings and fifties in the second. However, helped by bad light, Essex kept Finn, Roland-Jones et al at bay throughout the fourth day as the champions failed to capture the final two wickets.

In Division Two, Nottinghamshire and Kent made it three wins out of three. The former side lead the way courtesy of their maximum points at Trent Bridge, where they crushed Sussex by an innings inside two days. The home side must have had a prior engagement on Sunday because they blazed to 447 before day one was completed. Unsurprisingly, it was Riki Wessels who led the assault, slamming seven sixes and 22 fours in a maiden double-century. James Pattinson and Stuart Broad did much of the damage with the ball on the Saturday.

At Canterbury it was that man Darren Stevens who stole the honours yet again, with a peerless all-round performance, featuring 107 runs and nine wickets. It was a good, too, for stand-in ‘keeper Adam Rouse who narrowly missed out on his first Championship hundred and took five catches. It was another very short match at Worcester, too, in which the home team eked out a tight 20-run winning margin against Derbyshire. Moeen Ali’s first-day 50 proved to be the highest score of the game, while captain Joe Leach picked up a couple of five-fors.

There was little to choose between the counties at Grace Road, either, but runs flowed fluently on all four days. Both Leicestershire and Glamorgan reached 420 in their first innings, then a Mark Pettini century set up a pointless declaration on the last afternoon. After an early scare, Aneurin Donald’s 66 not out ensured there was to be no repeat of last week’s batting collapses for the Welsh.

In the other fixture, Paul Collingwood contributed 101 runs, two wickets and five catches for Durham at Bristol. However, Gloucestershire opener Chris Dent’s patient six-hour 101 meant there was insufficient time for the visitors to ram home their advantage, and a draw ensued.

We now have a four-week break in the Championship to allow the sadly-unloved Royal London Cup a run in what I hope will be the late Spring sunshine.

Team of the Week:
Robson (Mid), Westwood (War), Vince (Ham), Ballance (Yor), Wessels (Not), Livingstone (Lan), Stevens (Ken), Leach (Wor), Rouse (Ken +), Broad (Not), Pattinson (Not)

County Cricket Team of 2016

It was all change for the domestic trophies in 2016. Yorkshire relinquished the Championship pennant to Middlesex, albeit only after an incredibly close winner-takes-all final afternoon. Earlier, the 50-over competition was won by Ian Bell’s Warwickshire, and the T20 Blast by Northamptonshire, proving once again that the shortest format is the most unpredictable of them all.

For England, Joe Root’s all-round batting quality shone through, and it was wonderful to watch Chris Woakes finally make the step up from top-notch county stalwart to the international stage. Of course, playing for England deprives the domestic game of the best players for much of the season. It was nice to see Alastair Cook and Jonny Bairstow make some runs for Essex and Yorkshire before the ECB called them back for England duty, but they weren’t available for long enough to justify places in my county team of the year.
As before, this is based partly on my Teams of the Week and partly on the end-of-season statistics.

Openers:
In contrast to 2015, it was a fine year for opening batsmen. Marcus Trescothick, free from captaincy responsibilities and limited-overs cricket, enjoyed a fine 25th season for Somerset, Nick Gubbins’ runs were vital in Middlesex’s Championship success, and Mark Stoneman demonstrated why Surrey have prised him away from Durham. However, my places go to Adam Lyth and Keaton Jennings. The Yorkshireman may have been discarded by England, but he made runs in all competitions in 2016. The same is not true of Durham’s Keaton Jennings. Suddenly the Jo’burg-born left-hander found form of which I’d never dreamed him capable, doubling his career tally of first-class centuries in just one summer. He may not ‘do’ the one-day stuff but his dominance of the Championship run table (1,548 and 7 centuries), plus his record six Team of the Week appearances, earn him a spot in my Eleven.

Middle Order
It was a shock when James Taylor was forced to retire from cricket just as his international career was beginning to bloom. He left a big hole in the England middle-order which James Vince could not amply fill this summer. Steve Borthwick and Wayne Madsen were consistent performers but none could match Ben Duckett. The 21 year-old Northamptonshire man amassed well over 2,000 runs in all competitions. Hardly surprising then that he scooped both individual PCA awards and a place in the Bangladesh tour party. He is joined in my 2016 XI by Tom Westley of Essex and Kent’s Sam Northeast. They may have plied their trade in Division Two of the Championship but I wonder how long it will be before they also get their chance for England. Essex, in particular, have an encouraging talent pool of young batsmen.

All-rounders
Genuine all-rounders are a bit thin on the ground in the county game. Darren Stevens wasn’t his usual prolific self for Kent, while Samit Patel was unable to prevent Nottinghamshire from relegation. Somerset’s Peter Trego doesn’t bowl so much these days, helped by his county having the services of the Overton twins and Lewis Gregory. Nevertheless, he broke the 1,000 Championship run barrier in 2016 and struck a career best 154 not out against Lancashire. Now in his thirties, Tim Bresnan is carving quite a niche as a Yorkshire all-rounder these days. Besides supporting the likes of Sidebottom, Brooks and Patterson with the ball, Pontefract’s finest contributed essential runs in the lower order, culminating in his unbeaten 142 against Middlesex which almost clinched the third consecutive title.

Wicketkeepers
Ben Foakes (Surrey), Ben Cox (Worcestershire), Ben Brown (Sussex), James Foster (Essex) and John Simpson (Middlesex) each performed well with bat and gloves, but Tim Ambrose nicks it for me. He claimed more Championship victim than anyone else (57) and averaged a creditable 40 at the crease.

Bowlers
The reliable seamers Graeme Onions, Jack Brooks, Steve Magoffin, Clint McKay and Keith Barker each grabbed more than 50 Championship wickets as usual. Jamie Porter was promoted to new-ball duty for Essex and seemed to relish the responsibility. However, it was his 38 year-old team-mate Graham Napier, in his final season, who stole the glory. For so often he has taken the headlines for his six-hitting but in 2016 it was his wickets which did so much for Essex’s promotion challenge. Toby Roland-Jones seemed to enjoy match-winning performances at crucial times, none more so than the hat-trick which wrapped up the Championship on the very last afternoon. However, I have omitted him in favour of Worcestershire’s Joe Leach. He topped the Division Two table of wicket-takers (65), contributed another 20 in the T20 Blast and scored almost 600 runs in the four-day game.

The change in the toss rules was designed to benefit spinners and the jury’s out. I don’t suppose it made any difference to Jeetan Patel who underlined his reputation as the most consistent wicket-taker in county cricket. Ollie Rayner claimed 51 for Middlesex but the surprise name on the list was Somerset’s Jack Leach. The locally-born 24 year-old benefited from the county’s end-of-season turning track strategy and took his season’s tally of Championship wickets to 65, identical to his Worcestershire namesake.

It was encouraging to see so many different players emerging on the county scene. And I haven’t even mentioned Glamorgan’s Dutch-Aussie Timm van der Gugten, Nottinghamshire’s Jake Ball or Lancashire teenager Haseeb Hameed! How many will kick on in 2017 and will there be more promising newcomers filling the void left by England call-ups? I can’t wait to find out.

In summary, my County Team of 2016 is:-

Lyth (Yor), Jennings (Dur), Duckett (Nor), Northeast (Ken, *), Westley (Ess), Ambrose (War, +), Trego (Som), Bresnan (Yor), Joe Leach (Wor), Napier (Ess), Patel (War)

12th Man: Roland-Jones (Mid)

Great week for Middlesex and Surrey

The open nature of the County Championship was again much in evidence after the latest round of matches. Non-playing Somerset slipped to fifth but aren’t out of the running. Nor, it can be said, are Hampshire, in eighth place!

However, Middlesex’s crushing defeat of Durham, only their fourth of the season, extended their lead at the top to 26 points. Nicks Gubbins and Compton shared a second-wicket stand of 247, then Ollie Rayner was the star bowler (4-17 and 5-85) as the visitors crumbled twice. No Durham batsmen managed even a half-century.

Yorkshire have a game in hand but failed to beat their Roses rivals at Old Trafford in a high-scoring match. Alex Lees scored 199 runs for the away team but Lancashire opener Haseeb Hameed is on a hot streak right now. He picked up a couple of centuries, ably supported by Tom Smith, leaving Yorkshire, bolstered by Root and Bairstow, no time to meet the formidable target.

Surrey are also flying right now, leaping to third after seeing off Warwickshire by 226 runs with a solid all-round performance. Sam Curran’s 62 and match stats of 6-76 were probably the key contributions, along with Kumar Sangakkara’s 135 runs.

Hampshire won the battle of the bottom two by 176 runs, leaving Nottinghamshire in serious trouble. Wheater struck 102 early on but Scottish teenager Brad Wheal’s second innings 6-51 proved decisive.

In Division Two, Essex also collected win number four, making mincemeat of Derbyshire who have yet to record a single Championship success. Nick Browne pursued his penchant for big scores, making an unbeaten 229, before Ravi Bopara and Graham Napier led the way with the ball. The home team’s ex-Essex opener, now Derby captain, Ben Godleman did manage a hundred but all in vain.

At Northampton, Ned Eckersley scored his third successive century, and team-mates Cosgrove and Pettini also reached three figures for Leicestershire. However, Rob Newton was instrumental in depriving the opposition of a crucial victory, aggregating 224 without losing his wicket.

Sussex collected maximum points in their demolition of Gloucestershire at Hove. Luke Wells and Ben Brown stroked hundreds for the home side but Michael Klinger couldn’t follow his first-innings 129 with another big score and they failed to make Sussex bat again. Worcestershire’s promotion challenge faltered at home to Glamorgan, who delighted in a rare win. Bragg and Morgan scored the all-important runs and Mark Wallace bagged nine catches behind the stumps. A shame for Worcester’s Joe Leach, who was the stand-out all-rounder on display.

It wasn’t Worcestershire’s day, either, in the Royal London Cup quarter-finals. Somerset massacred them by nine wickets with several overs to spare at Taunton. Mahela Jayawardene rewarded his county’s patience with a beautifully-judged 117 not out. They will now take a trip to Edgbaston, after Warwickshire beat Essex by 70 runs. Jonathan Trott’s 101 set them on their way before his spinners finished the job.

It was a closer finish in the Yorkshire-Kent encounter at Canterbury, but the England trio of Willey, Plunkett and Adil Rashid wiped out the tail when Kent looked set for victory in their chase. However, you couldn’t have witnessed a more exciting climax than the one served up by Surrey at Northants. The home side had Surrey nine men down with 14 balls remaining and 27 required. That they succeeded was almost entirely down to the brilliance of Sangakkara, who farmed the strike, hitting a six and four in the final over. Had he not been dropped on seven, things may have been rather different!


Team of the Week: Browne (Ess), Newton (Nor), Hameed (Lan), Sangakkara (Sur), Bragg (Gla), Brown (Sus +), Franklin (Mid), Leach (Wor), Napier (Ess), Rayner (Mid), Wheal (Ham)

Gubbins and Klinger Club the Runs

It was all about 50 overs in county cricket last week and, with some decidedly dodgy weather at times, Gloucestershire must be delighted with four wins out of four, to secure a knockout phase place. Fellow Group A front-runners Surrey also had a 100% record in the past seven days, albeit from three matches.

Surrey owed much to their batsmen, Jason Roy, Stephen Davies and the evergreen Kumar Sangakkara, with Joe Burke chipping in with valuable wickets. Gloucestershire weren’t a one-man band either, although Michael Klinger’s incredible one-day form showed no sign of waning. Two more centuries and a round 50 boosted the Bristol-based side, but ‘keeper Garth Roderick also made three figures and Geraint Jones struck three half-centries. Seamer David Payne also collected eleven scalps including five against Durham.

In Group B, Nottinghamshire rule the roost. Riki Wessels produced one of his trademark innings to defeat Middlesex today. Seven sixes helped raise his score to 131, the third highest this week. However, the star player
was probably Samit Patel. A fine century against Essex and seven wickets did as much as anybody to take his side to the top.

Middlesex experienced a mixed week but, despite a duck against Hampshire, it was a fabulous seven days for their 21 year-old, Nick Gubbins. He aggregated well over 300 runs, the best being 141 in 113 balls against Sussex. In that game, he shared a massive stand of 268 with fellow centurion Dawid Malan.

Some compensation for me came in two victories for Somerset, for whom Taunton favourites Peter Trego and James Hildreth showed what they are made of. Wes Durston (Derbyshire) and all-rounder Scott Borthwick (Durham) were also consistently excellent, but a special mention should be made of Joe Clarke.

The Worcestershire teenager plundered an unbeaten 131 in 109 balls off Gloucestershire but still finished on the losing side. Sentimentality would have placed him in my Team of the week, but there were just too many other worthy winners, especially with the bat. Maybe next week, Joe? Colleague Joe Leach also made the headlines. Against Northants, he achieved the rare feat of a hat-trick with the first three balls of the whole match. Unfortunately for him, his side's batting was even worse than the opposition's and his spectacular opening was in vain.

Team of the Week: Klinger (Glo, *)), Davies (Sur), Borthwick (Dur), Durston (Der), Gubbins (Mid), Roderick (Glo, +), Patel (Not) – two weeks running!, Trego (Som), Rayner (Mid), Payne (Glo), Hannon-Dalby (War).